UN:

Daesh atrocities in Iraq’s Mosul ‘intl. crimes’, must be tried by ICC

Rasa - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) says the atrocities committed by Daesh Takfiri terrorist group during its reign of terror in the Iraqi city of Mosul are “international crimes,” urging Baghdad to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the crimes.

News ID: 434547

Date: 03 November 2017 - 09:50

RNA - A 52-page report compiled by the OHCHR, with the help of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), said on Thursday that Iraqi courts currently did not have jurisdiction over atrocities such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Daesh against the residents of the northern city.

It also called on Baghdad to introduce amendments to Iraqi Criminal Law to grant jurisdiction to domestic courts over international crimes and to accept the ICC’s jurisdiction with respect to the specific situation Iraq is experiencing.

The report, which was published on Thursday, particularly focused on the crimes committed by members of the terror outfit during nine months of fierce battle between city-based Daesh terrorists and government forces. The offensive commenced in October last year and lasted until July this year, resulting in the total liberation of Mosul from the grips of the Daesh terror group.

“Daesh’s reign of terror has spared no one, inflicting untold suffering on unarmed residents whose only guilt is that they lived in the areas under ISIL (Daesh) control. Their evil acts did not stop at killing and terrorizing residents, as they wantonly destroyed cultural and religious monuments, including the city’s iconic leaning minaret, al-Hadba, in total disregard of history and Islam,” the report said.

The UN report also detailed various crimes the terror group committed against the desperate residents of Mosul, saying the information was mostly obtained directly from “the victims, survivors, or witnesses of violations and abuses of international human rights law and/or violations of international humanitarian law.”

It also said that more than 2,500 people lost their lives during the nine months of the battle to liberate Mosul and 137,339 families (824,034 individuals) were displaced in the same period.

Daesh terrorists took Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in the summer of 2014 and turned it into their de facto capital in the Arab country.

847/940