Iraq’s government should allow the International Criminal Court in The Hague to take action on alleged crimes against humanity committed by Islamic State jihadists, the UN’s top human rights official said Thursday.
“This type of situation, where massive gross violations and abuses are taking place … is precisely why the International Criminal Court was created,” said UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
His statements accompany the release of a report that details atrocities and sectarian violence committed by Islamic State militants and associated groups in Iraq that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Issued by the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN mission in Iraq, the report found that the militants have attacked, killed, abducted and raped civilians, and that they have been recruiting children by force.
“Gross human rights abuses and acts of violence of an increasingly sectarian nature, committed by armed groups, have exacerbated the effect on civilians,” the agencies said in the report, which covers the period from early July to early September.
The Sunni extremist group has used ethnic cleansing and suppression to systematically target minorities such as Yezidis, Christians, Turkmens and Shiites, the report said.
Serious human rights violations and war crimes were also committed by Iraqi government forces, the UN agencies found, including indiscriminate airstrikes, killing of Islamic State prisoners and abductions of civilians.
About 9,300 civilians have been killed and 17,400 wounded this year as the militant group has battled Iraqi government forces and local Kurdish militia, according to the latest UN statistics.
GNA
