HRW: After Routing Islamic State Forces In Amerli Last Year, Iraq Shiite Militias Went On A Rampage Destroying Sunni Homes And Displacing Thousands

Satellite image of heavy black smoke rising from a building in the town of Habash, Iraq, captures an arson attack in progress on the morning of September 17, 2014. Satellite Image: © CNES 2015 / Distribution Airbus DS

Human Rights Watch: Iraq: Militia Attacks Destroy Villages, Displace Thousands

(New York) – Militias, volunteer fighters, and Iraqi security forces engaged in deliberate destruction of civilian property after these forces, following US and Iraqi air strikes, forced the retreat of Islamic State fighters (also known as ISIS) from the town of Amerli and surrounding areas in early September 2014, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Iraqi government should rein in the militias and countries participating in the fight against ISIS, including the United States and Iran, should ensure military operations and other related support in the fight against ISIS are not paving the way for such abuses.

WNU Editor: And if the past is indication .... expect the same to occur when Tikrit has finally fallen .... followed by the battle for Mosul.

More News On The Human Rights Watch Report Detailing Last years Atrocities Committed By Shiite Militias And Iraqi Security Forces In Amerli

After ISIS Retreats in Iraq, Evidence of Shiite Retaliation -- NYT
Report says Iraq forces turned on nearby villages after military victory -- Washington Post
A rights group says the Iraqi militias trying to drive out ISIS are torching villages and displacing thousands -- Reuters
Iraqi Forces and Militias Looted Sunni Villages, Rights Group Says -- NYT
Iraq forces looted, burned after breaking IS siege: HRW -- AFP
Iraqi Forces Looted and Burned Villages After Routing Islamic State, Rights Group Reports -- Vice News
HRW: Iraqi Troops, Militias Looted and Burned Homes -- VOA
Iraqi militias have destroyed villages and displaced thousands, NGO says -- The Guardian
Iranian-backed militias rampaged in central Iraq after freeing town: HRW -- Long War Journal
HRW Says Iraq Forces, Militias Looted, Burned After Breaking IS Siege -- Radio Free Europe
Iraqi Militias Destroy Civilians' Homes Following Operation Against ISIL -- Sputnik

US Military Official Repeatedly Warned Iraq That Their Troops Were Committing Atrocities

ABC News: Top US Military Official Repeatedly Warned Iraq About Troops’ Conduct

America’s top military official, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, repeatedly warned Iraqi leaders about the conduct of both the Iraqi military and the militias that fight alongside them, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.

The Iraqi government says it has launched an investigation into alleged atrocities committed by Iraqi troops and Shia militias, some captured in a trove of images and footage found online, as revealed in an ABC News investigation Wednesday. Today State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said the images amounted to “disturbing and serious allegations.”

WNU Editor: If the Iraqi Army is behaving this way .... one can only imagine how the Shiite militias are behaving. I must also wonder if U.S. advisers (or any other Western adviser) were present when this was happening.

More News On Iraq's Army Being Implicated In Committing War Crimes

'Dirty Brigades': US-Trained Iraqi Forces Investigated for War Crimes -- ABC News
US-Backed Iraqi Forces Face War Crimes Investigation After ABC Finds Gruesome Online Posts -- IBTimes
US-Trained Iraqi Forces Under Investigation for War Crime -- Sputnik
US-trained Iraqi units facing investigation over alleged ISIS-like atrocities -- FOX News
Reported atrocities by Iraqi forces could risk aid under U.S. law -- Reuters
Did American-Trained Iraqi Troops Commit War Crimes? -- Lucy Westcott, Newsweek

US-Trained Iraqi Special Forces Are Being Implicated For War Crimes

ABC News: 'Dirty Brigades': US-Trained Iraqi Forces Investigated for War Crimes

U.S.-trained and armed Iraqi military units, the key to the American strategy against ISIS, are under investigation for committing some of the same atrocities as the terror group, American and Iraqi officials told ABC News. Some Iraqi units have already been cut off from U.S. assistance over "credible" human rights violations, according to a senior military official on the Pentagon's Joint Staff.

The investigation, being conducted by the Iraqi government, was launched after officials were confronted with numerous allegations of “war crimes,” based in part on dozens of ghastly videos and still photos that appear to show uniformed soldiers from some of Iraq's most elite units and militia members massacring civilians, torturing and executing prisoners, and displaying severed heads.

WNU Editor: The above ABC News video is horrifying to watch .... and I suspect that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

United Nations: Islamic State Committing War Crimes On A Massive Scale

A resident of Tabqa city touring the streets on a motorcycle waves an Islamist flag in celebration after Islamic State militants took over Tabqa air base, in nearby Raqqa city August 24, 2014.

Credit: REUTERS/Stringer

UN Says Islamic State Imposing Rule Of Terror In Syria -- BBC

The militant group Islamic State is committing war crimes and imposing a "rule of terror" in areas it controls in Syria, a UN report says.

The report, based on more than 300 witness interviews, said IS was using "extreme violence" against civilians.

Men caught smoking have had their fingers amputated, while a female dentist who treated men was publicly beheaded, the report said.

The group has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq since June.

Read more ....

More News On The United Nations Accusing The Islamic State Of Committing War Crimes On A Massive Scale

Islamic State commanders liable for mass war crimes: U.N. -- Reuters
UN probe: Islamic State committing 'crimes against humanity' in Syria -- AP
UN: IS committing war crimes on 'massive scale' -- Deutsche Welle
ISIS War Crimes: United Nations Investigates Islamic State, Urges Criminal Prosecution In Syria -- IBTimes
ISIS accused of crimes against humanity -- Al Arabiya
UN: ISIL committing war crimes in Syria -- Al Jazeera

UN: ISIS commanders liable for war crimes on ‘massive scale’ -- Haaretz
UN: Islamic State committing ‘crimes against humanity’ in Syria -- Times of Israel
">UN: Islamic State denies food aid to hundreds of thousands -- AP

Will Israeli Leaders Be Charged For War Crimes?

Israel Braces For War Crimes Inquiries On Gaza -- New York Times

JERUSALEM — The fighting is barely over in the latest Gaza war, with a five-day cease-fire taking hold on Thursday, but attention has already shifted to the legal battlefield as Israel gears up to defend itself against international allegations of possible war crimes in the monthlong conflict.

Israel has excoriated the United Nations Human Rights Council over the appointment of Prof. William Schabas, a Canadian expert in international law, to head the council’s commission of inquiry for Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip.

The broader struggle will be over what some experts describe as Israel’s “creative” interpretation of international law for dealing with asymmetric warfare in an urban environment. More than 1,900 Palestinians were killed in the recent fighting, a majority of them believed to be civilians, while on the Israeli side 64 soldiers and three civilians were killed.

Read more ....

My Comment: The fix is in.