Fallujah escapees say tortured by government-backed militias
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Human Rights groups and the Iraqi officials raise concerns over the violations of rights as the Iraqi army and Hashd al-Shaabi operation continues in Fallujah.
Human Right Watch (HRW) released a report on Wednesday on the alleged abuses against the civilians fleeing Fallujah and surrounding areas, calling upon the Iraqi government to hold abusive forces accountable.
“Judicial officials should conduct a transparent and impartial investigation and assess command responsibility, and ensure protection for victims and witnesses,” HRW reported.
More than 600 civilians from the Jumaila Sunni tribes, captured by Shia militias following the liberation of the town of Saqlawiya, south of Baghdad, were released on June 5 and according to the HRW report, many of those transferred to hospitals “showed signs of torture, including burns, knife cuts, and bruising from beatings.”
Yahiya Muhammedi a member of the Anbar Provincial Council told reporters on Wednesday that 700 civilians from the town of Saqlawiya 9km north-west of Fallujah have been missing since the liberation of the town by the Iraqi army and Hasd al-Shaabi forces.
Fuad Masum, the Iraqi President in a statement released on Wednesday expressed his concerns about the abduction of Fallujah escapees and called for investigations on the allegations.
According to eyewitnesses speaking to HRW, Shia militias “altogether arrested 1,700 men, whom they beat and dragged bound to a moving car by a rope before releasing 605 men to receive medical treatment on June 5.”
Amnesty International released a report on June 8, stating that “men and boys fleeing the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) have been tortured and otherwise ill-treated by government-backed militias.”
“The treatment was very bad… we had nothing to drink or eat… Some people drank their urine. About four or five men would come into the room, and beat people with sticks and metal pipes,” one of the survivors told Amnesty.
Uzal al-Fahdawi, a member of the Anbar Provincial Council in a press conference late last month stated that "Due to the Hashd al-Shaabi bombardment on the city, 32 civilians were killed and 50 others wounded, including children and women.”
In a late night speech on May 22, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the offensive to retake Fallujah, the first Iraqi city to fall into the hands of Islamic State (IS) in early 2014.
Editing by Ava Homa