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Reuters
ERBIL, Iraq
Human Rights Watch accused Iraqi security forces on Thursday of forcibly relocating at least 170 families of alleged Islamic State members to a closed"rehabilitation camp"as a form of collective punishment.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced victory over Islamic State in Mosul on Monday, three years after the militants seized the city and made it the stronghold of a"caliphate"they said would take over the world.
Iraq's government now faces the task of preventing revenge attacks against people associated with Islamic State that could, along with Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian tensions, undermine efforts to create long-term stability in the country.
"Iraqi authorities shouldn't punish entire families because of their relatives'actions,"said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch (HRW)."These abusive acts are war crimes and are sabotaging efforts to promote reconciliation in areas retaken from ISIS (Islamic State)."
Speaking with reporters in Washington, an Iraqi military spokesman said he was not aware of the specific cases but denied that Iraqi forces relocated families by force.
"This topic, we didn't have precise information about what is going on, however there is no situation or scenario where the Iraqi forces will forcefully get people out of their homes as Iraqi citizens,"Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for the joint operations command, said through a translator.
"However, we try to secure safe pathways for them to avoid the battle area,"Rasool added. The HRW statement said the camp, which Iraqi authorities have described as meant for"rehabilitation", amounted to a detention centre for adults and children who have not been accused of any wrongdoing. Fakih called on the families to be allowed to go where they can live safely.
HRW said forced displacements and arbitrary detentions taking place in Anbar, Babel, Diyala, Salahuddin and Nineveh provinces had affected hundreds of families. It said Iraqi security and military forces had done little to stop the abuses and in some instances participated in them. The group said it had visited the Bartalla camp and interviewed 14 families, each with up to 18 members.
