ISIL executed scores of people around Mosul and are stockpiling chemicals in civilian areas, according to the UN.
The United Nations has released an account of ISIL executions and abuses in Mosul and confirmed the discovery of a mass grave in the town of Hamam al-Alil, just south of Mosul, in which more than 100 bodies were found.
In a brief published by its human rights office on Friday , the UN said the grave in Hamam al- Alil was just one of several ISIL killing grounds and even this week scores of civilians were executed by the group.
40 people were executed by ISIL on Tuesday, with their bodies being hung from electricity poles, it said.
On Wednesday evening, ISIL reportedly shot to death 20 further civilians in the Ghabat Military Base in northern Mosul, on charges of leaking information.
Their bodies were also hung at various intersections in Mosul, with notes stating: "decision of execution’" and "used cell phones to leak information to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)".
"I've been in Erbil since he beginning of this military operation to retake the city of Mosul and we have documented hundreds of executions by ISIL," Belkis Wille, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch (HRW), told Al Jazeera from Erbil.
"We are not surprised unfortunately to see mass graves like this one [in Hamam al-Alil], it definitely is not the only one."
ISIL executed scores of people around Mosul and are stockpiling chemicals in civilian areas, according to the UN.
40 people were executed by ISIL on Tuesday, with their bodies being hung from electricity poles, according to the UN [Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters]
The United Nations has released an account of ISIL executions and abuses in Mosul and confirmed the discovery of a mass grave in the town of Hamam al-Alil, just south of Mosul, in which more than 100 bodies were found.
In a brief published by its human rights office on Friday , the UN said the grave in Hamam al- Alil was just one of several ISIL killing grounds and even this week scores of civilians were executed by the group.
40 people were executed by ISIL on Tuesday, with their bodies being hung from electricity poles, it said.
On Wednesday evening, ISIL reportedly shot to death 20 further civilians in the Ghabat Military Base in northern Mosul, on charges of leaking information.
Their bodies were also hung at various intersections in Mosul, with notes stating: "decision of execution’" and "used cell phones to leak information to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)".
"I've been in Erbil since he beginning of this military operation to retake the city of Mosul and we have documented hundreds of executions by ISIL," Belkis Wille, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch (HRW), told Al Jazeera from Erbil.
IN PICTURES: Life after ISIL on the outskirts of Mosul
"We are not surprised unfortunately to see mass graves like this one [in Hamam al-Alil], it definitely is not the only one."
Thousands of civilians fleeing battle for Mosul
The UN also said that they have gathered evidence of teenagers and young boys are being used by ISIL as suicide bombers in the battle for Mosul and young girls and women being sexually exploited by ISIL fighters.
"Since 27 October, ISIL has been relocating abducted women, including Yezidi women, into Mosul city and into Tel Afar town," the human rights body said in its brief.
" Some of these women were reportedly 'distributed' to ISIL fighters while others have been told they will be used to accompany ISIL convoys."
Stockpiling chemical weapons
The human rights body also said that they received reports of the armed group stockpiling large amounts of chemicals in civilian areas, to be used as weapons.
UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said four people died from inhaling fumes after ISIL shelled and set fires to the al-Mishrag Sulfur Gas Factory in Mosul on Oct. 23.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Shamdasani said reports indicated ISIL has stockpiled "large quantities" of ammonia and sulfur that have been placed in the same areas as civilians. She said international law requires protection of civilians near such chemicals.
Atrocities on both sides
But there were accusations of atrocities on both sides.
Sporadic reports are also emerging of retaliatory attacks, including allegations of revenge killings by civilians or by forces under the control of the Iraqi army, the UN human rights office said in its report.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said that he welcomed a statement by the Iraqi authorities condemning such acts, but he stressed the need for robust, transparent, human-rights based action by the Government to pre-empt and prevent the reprisals and revenge killings.
One video circulating on social media on Friday appeared to show a teenage boy being shot and run over by a tank used by what it appears an Iraqi-backed forces.
"I think we need to exercise extreme caution with videos like this," Belkis Wille of HRW told Al Jazeera. "We know that ISIL previously produced fake videos showing Iraqi forces committing abuses."
There is a possibility that this video had been faked by ISIL fighters, to shift the public opinion against Iraqi forces, she said.
"There is no flag on the tank in the video, that is a bit inconsistent with what I've seen on Iraqi force tanks," she said. "Also only one man in the video is wearing an Iraqi uniform, and there are no other armoured vehicles in the area."
But, she said, if the video is genuine, Iraqi authorities should take swift action to stop these kinds of extrajudicial killings.
"Unfortunately in the battle to retake Fallujah, we've seen multiple instances of abuses perpetrated by pro-government forces against the civilian population.
" And there is an extreme concern that this may happen again in Mosul."
On Thursday, Amnesty International accused Iraqi forces of torturing and executing civilians in villages near Mosul.
In a report the rights group said its researchers had gathered evidence that up to six people were "extrajudicially executed" last month in the al-Shura and al-Qayyarah sub-districts of Mosul over suspected ties to ISIL.
On the same day, Iraq's federal police issued a statement denying its forces had been involved in extrajudicial killings.
Battle for Mosul wages on
Meanwhile, Iraqi special forces said they pushed deeper into Mosul on Friday despite heavy resistance from ISIL fighters using civilians as cover, and were holding half a dozen city neighbourhoods seized in the last 10 days.
The elite Counter Terrorism Service troops broke through ISIL defence lines to enter the city early last week and have since been embroiled in a brutal, close-quarter combat with waves of suicide bombers and snipers.
The number of civilians killed in Iraq last month has nearly doubled since September according to recently released figures by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
The latest statistics reported 1,120 killed, up from 609 in September; and 1,005 civilian injuries, an increase from 951 in September.
 |
| 40 people were executed by ISIL on Tuesday, with their bodies being hung from the electricity pole according to the UN |
The United Nations has released an account of ISIL executions and abuses in Mosul and confirmed the discovery of a mass grave in the town of Hamam al-Alil, just south of Mosul, in which more than 100 bodies were found.
In a brief published by its human rights office on Friday , the UN said the grave in Hamam al- Alil was just one of several ISIL killing grounds and even this week scores of civilians were executed by the group.
40 people were executed by ISIL on Tuesday, with their bodies being hung from electricity poles, it said.
On Wednesday evening, ISIL reportedly shot to death 20 further civilians in the Ghabat Military Base in northern Mosul, on charges of leaking information.
Their bodies were also hung at various intersections in Mosul, with notes stating: "decision of execution’" and "used cell phones to leak information to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)".
"I've been in Erbil since he beginning of this military operation to retake the city of Mosul and we have documented hundreds of executions by ISIL," Belkis Wille, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch (HRW), told Al Jazeera from Erbil.
"We are not surprised unfortunately to see mass graves like this one [in Hamam al-Alil], it definitely is not the only one."
ISIL executed scores of people around Mosul and are stockpiling chemicals in civilian areas, according to the UN.
40 people were executed by ISIL on Tuesday, with their bodies being hung from electricity poles, according to the UN [Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters]
The United Nations has released an account of ISIL executions and abuses in Mosul and confirmed the discovery of a mass grave in the town of Hamam al-Alil, just south of Mosul, in which more than 100 bodies were found.
In a brief published by its human rights office on Friday , the UN said the grave in Hamam al- Alil was just one of several ISIL killing grounds and even this week scores of civilians were executed by the group.
40 people were executed by ISIL on Tuesday, with their bodies being hung from electricity poles, it said.
On Wednesday evening, ISIL reportedly shot to death 20 further civilians in the Ghabat Military Base in northern Mosul, on charges of leaking information.
Their bodies were also hung at various intersections in Mosul, with notes stating: "decision of execution’" and "used cell phones to leak information to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)".
"I've been in Erbil since he beginning of this military operation to retake the city of Mosul and we have documented hundreds of executions by ISIL," Belkis Wille, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch (HRW), told Al Jazeera from Erbil.
IN PICTURES: Life after ISIL on the outskirts of Mosul
"We are not surprised unfortunately to see mass graves like this one [in Hamam al-Alil], it definitely is not the only one."
Thousands of civilians fleeing battle for Mosul
The UN also said that they have gathered evidence of teenagers and young boys are being used by ISIL as suicide bombers in the battle for Mosul and young girls and women being sexually exploited by ISIL fighters.
"Since 27 October, ISIL has been relocating abducted women, including Yezidi women, into Mosul city and into Tel Afar town," the human rights body said in its brief.
" Some of these women were reportedly 'distributed' to ISIL fighters while others have been told they will be used to accompany ISIL convoys."
Stockpiling chemical weapons
The human rights body also said that they received reports of the armed group stockpiling large amounts of chemicals in civilian areas, to be used as weapons.
UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said four people died from inhaling fumes after ISIL shelled and set fires to the al-Mishrag Sulfur Gas Factory in Mosul on Oct. 23.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Shamdasani said reports indicated ISIL has stockpiled "large quantities" of ammonia and sulfur that have been placed in the same areas as civilians. She said international law requires protection of civilians near such chemicals.
Atrocities on both sides
But there were accusations of atrocities on both sides.
Sporadic reports are also emerging of retaliatory attacks, including allegations of revenge killings by civilians or by forces under the control of the Iraqi army, the UN human rights office said in its report.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said that he welcomed a statement by the Iraqi authorities condemning such acts, but he stressed the need for robust, transparent, human-rights based action by the Government to pre-empt and prevent the reprisals and revenge killings.
One video circulating on social media on Friday appeared to show a teenage boy being shot and run over by a tank used by what it appears an Iraqi-backed forces.
"I think we need to exercise extreme caution with videos like this," Belkis Wille of HRW told Al Jazeera. "We know that ISIL previously produced fake videos showing Iraqi forces committing abuses."
There is a possibility that this video had been faked by ISIL fighters, to shift the public opinion against Iraqi forces, she said.
"There is no flag on the tank in the video, that is a bit inconsistent with what I've seen on Iraqi force tanks," she said. "Also only one man in the video is wearing an Iraqi uniform, and there are no other armoured vehicles in the area."
But, she said, if the video is genuine, Iraqi authorities should take swift action to stop these kinds of extrajudicial killings.
"Unfortunately in the battle to retake Fallujah, we've seen multiple instances of abuses perpetrated by pro-government forces against the civilian population.
" And there is an extreme concern that this may happen again in Mosul."
On Thursday, Amnesty International accused Iraqi forces of torturing and executing civilians in villages near Mosul.
In a report the rights group said its researchers had gathered evidence that up to six people were "extrajudicially executed" last month in the al-Shura and al-Qayyarah sub-districts of Mosul over suspected ties to ISIL.
On the same day, Iraq's federal police issued a statement denying its forces had been involved in extrajudicial killings.
Battle for Mosul wages on
Meanwhile, Iraqi special forces said they pushed deeper into Mosul on Friday despite heavy resistance from ISIL fighters using civilians as cover, and were holding half a dozen city neighbourhoods seized in the last 10 days.
The elite Counter Terrorism Service troops broke through ISIL defence lines to enter the city early last week and have since been embroiled in a brutal, close-quarter combat with waves of suicide bombers and snipers.
The number of civilians killed in Iraq last month has nearly doubled since September according to recently released figures by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
The latest statistics reported 1,120 killed, up from 609 in September; and 1,005 civilian injuries, an increase from 951 in September.
Comments
Post a Comment