World getting accustomed to ISIL atrocities
The ISIL Takfiris are raging a sectarian war in Iraq while the world has gotten “used to the violence and atrocities,”by the terrorists, the United Nations says.
According to a joint report by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the militants have intentionally and systematically targeted a large number of ethnic communities in Iraq.
The report, which covers the period from September 11 to December 10, 2014, also held that the ISIL has breached international humanitarian law and committed grave abuses of human rights.
“I continue to be deeply shocked by the gross human rights violations committed by ISIL and associated armed groups. The targeting of civilians based on their faith or ethnicity is utterly despicable and we must not spare any effort to ensure accountability for these crimes,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said.
Killing of innocent civilians, execution of captured Iraqi forces, kidnapping, rapes, slavery and trafficking of women and children, forced recruitment of kids, destruction of religious sites, looting and depriving people of fundamental freedoms, are among the crimes the UN reports.
“Many of the violations and abuses perpetrated by ISIL may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly genocide,” the report highlights.
From January 1st to December 10, 2014, the ISIL killed at least 11,602 civilians and wounded 21,766 others, the report said, adding that at least 7, 801 civilians were also killed and 12,451 wounded when the Takfiris spread their scourge from Anbar Province to other areas.
“What really shocked me is that most of it is not news any more. In the beginning, when we did our first report soon after the ISIL takeover of Mosul, the world was shocked at the atrocities that this group was committing. It’s been now about nine months since then. We have done a number of these reports and we continue in them to register day after day horrible, horrible atrocities,” UN special envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said.
“To me, this is perhaps the most shocking thing. The world has gotten used to the violence and atrocities and this should not be the case. We should stand up every occasion that we can,” he added.
The joint report also said that an unknown number of civilians have died due to lack of access to food, water or medical care which are among the side effects of the conflict generated and fanned by the ISIL.
The terrorists started their campaign of terror in Iraq in early June 2014 and have since been carrying out horrific acts of violence against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.
Iraqi soldiers, police units, Kurdish forces, Shia volunteers, and Sunni tribesmen have recently succeeded in driving the militants out of some areas.
