Around 3,500 people in Iraq, primarily women and children from the Yazidi community have been enslaved by the Islamic State militants, says a UN report.
The atrocities that were committed by the terrorist group amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the report says.
“This report lays bare the enduring suffering of civilians in Iraq and starkly illustrates what Iraqi refugees are attempting to escape when they flee to Europe and other regions. This is the horror they face in their homelands,” said the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein.
While conquering much of Anbar province and the plains of Nineveh as well as the city of Mosul, Isis has held large swaths of Iraqi territory since it rampaged across the border from Syria in a lightning offensive in the summer of 2014.
The cities of Ramadi and Sinjar, the homeland of the Yazidis, who are considered by the militants to be apostates whose death or enslavement is divinely sanctioned, were lost by the militant in several set back in the recent months.
Mosul, which remains the crown jewel of their self-proclaimed caliphate, is still under the control of the radical group and the pro-government forces face an uphill struggle in evicting Isis from Mosul. It is the largest population centre under the militants’ control.
Iraq’s existence as a state is threatened once the crisis has ended as the fighting has fuelled large-scale displacement and civilian deaths as well as sectarian bloodletting.
Centuries of coexistence in northern Iraq have been ended by Isis’s campaign. Choosing exile over slaughter or life under the Islamic State regime, the crisis has largely emptying Nineveh of its Christian population.
Treasures from the Assyrian and Akkadian empires and the Mosul museum were destroyed by the Islamist group along with countless artefacts and historical sites in the province of Mosul.
It was however unclear if the UN had simply relayed claims by local notables and Yazidi and Kurdish leaders regarding the figures or if they had attempted to verify these specific incidents or the numbers of slaves said to be held by Isis.
Direct testimony from victims, survivors or witnesses of rights abuses and interviews with the displaced was the basis of the report.
Documenting 18,802 deaths, the wounding of more than 36,000 people and the displacement of 3.2 million inside the country, including more than a million children of school age, the UN report tallies the staggering toll on civilians over the past two years at the hands of the Isis.
The UN report have verified and suggests that 800 to 900 children in Mosul have been abducted for military and religious training and has information about the murder of child soldiers.
The apparent murder of 18 boys under 18 by Isis after they deserted the frontlines in Anbar have been documented in the UN report. Video releases showing the killings of alleged spies and captives have shown that Isis has used child soldiers, dubbed the “cubs of the caliphate”.
In one such video, hostages were seen being shot at the back of their heads by children during the militants’ conquest of the historic city of Palmyra in Syria, at the city’s ancient Roman amphitheatre in the city.
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq and the office of the high commissioner for human rights compiled the report that covers the period from January 2014 to October 2015.
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
The atrocities that were committed by the terrorist group amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the report says.
“This report lays bare the enduring suffering of civilians in Iraq and starkly illustrates what Iraqi refugees are attempting to escape when they flee to Europe and other regions. This is the horror they face in their homelands,” said the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein.
While conquering much of Anbar province and the plains of Nineveh as well as the city of Mosul, Isis has held large swaths of Iraqi territory since it rampaged across the border from Syria in a lightning offensive in the summer of 2014.
The cities of Ramadi and Sinjar, the homeland of the Yazidis, who are considered by the militants to be apostates whose death or enslavement is divinely sanctioned, were lost by the militant in several set back in the recent months.
Mosul, which remains the crown jewel of their self-proclaimed caliphate, is still under the control of the radical group and the pro-government forces face an uphill struggle in evicting Isis from Mosul. It is the largest population centre under the militants’ control.
Iraq’s existence as a state is threatened once the crisis has ended as the fighting has fuelled large-scale displacement and civilian deaths as well as sectarian bloodletting.
Centuries of coexistence in northern Iraq have been ended by Isis’s campaign. Choosing exile over slaughter or life under the Islamic State regime, the crisis has largely emptying Nineveh of its Christian population.
Treasures from the Assyrian and Akkadian empires and the Mosul museum were destroyed by the Islamist group along with countless artefacts and historical sites in the province of Mosul.
It was however unclear if the UN had simply relayed claims by local notables and Yazidi and Kurdish leaders regarding the figures or if they had attempted to verify these specific incidents or the numbers of slaves said to be held by Isis.
Direct testimony from victims, survivors or witnesses of rights abuses and interviews with the displaced was the basis of the report.
Documenting 18,802 deaths, the wounding of more than 36,000 people and the displacement of 3.2 million inside the country, including more than a million children of school age, the UN report tallies the staggering toll on civilians over the past two years at the hands of the Isis.
The UN report have verified and suggests that 800 to 900 children in Mosul have been abducted for military and religious training and has information about the murder of child soldiers.
The apparent murder of 18 boys under 18 by Isis after they deserted the frontlines in Anbar have been documented in the UN report. Video releases showing the killings of alleged spies and captives have shown that Isis has used child soldiers, dubbed the “cubs of the caliphate”.
In one such video, hostages were seen being shot at the back of their heads by children during the militants’ conquest of the historic city of Palmyra in Syria, at the city’s ancient Roman amphitheatre in the city.
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq and the office of the high commissioner for human rights compiled the report that covers the period from January 2014 to October 2015.
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
