Rights violations in Mosul were individual acts, says Iraqi PM
baghdad — Iraqi forces committed human rights violations during the battle to retake the city of Mosul from the Daesh group, the country’s prime minister acknowledged, but insisted that these were “individual acts” for which the perpetrators would be punished.
The remarks by Haider Al Abadi, at a late night press conference on Tuesday, came after shocking videos emerged on social media following the victory in Mosul and showing troops throwing captured Daesh suspects off a high wall, then shooting their bodies below.
The US-backed nine-month-old campaign for Mosul is mired in violations committed by government forces and paramilitaries that international human rights groups have decried as war crimes, ranging from extrajudicial killings of Daesh suspects to forced displacement and detention to civilians.
Recent evidence are the videos that emerged even after Al Abadi last week declared “total victory” in Mosul. Another video showed a soldier gunning down an unarmed man kneeling in front of a car.
Al Abadi speculated that soldiers who committed such violations were either “ignorant” of the consequences or had struck a deal with Daesh “to defame us and the security forces”.
“Any violation against the law or any violation against a person’s dignity is not acceptable and we will chase them (perpetrators) down,” he added. “These are individual acts and not widespread and we will not tolerate such acts.”
Iraqi security forces are also accused by Human Rights Watch of forcibly moving women and children with alleged links to Daesh to a tent camp near Mosul that authorities describe as a “rehabilitation camp”.
The watchdog said the camp in Bartella, around 20km east of Mosul, had been opened recently, following a government directive to have Daesh family members undergo “psychological and ideological
any violation against the law or any violation against a person’s dignity is not acceptable and we will chase them (perpetrators) down. We are against collective punishment
Haider Al Abadi, Iraq Prime Minister
rehabilitation.” It houses at least 170 families, mostly women and children from areas of western Mosul.
“Iraqi authorities shouldn’t punish entire families because of their relatives’ actions,” said Lama Fakih, the Mideast deputy chief at HRW.
“We are against collective punishment,” Al Abadi said. “If their (Daesh militants) families cooperated with them in their crimes against civilians, then they will face legal consequences, but those who didn’t take part ... will not face anything.” —