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HRW: Yazidi militia executed 52 civilians in Mosul, Iraq

December 28, 2017 at 2:30 pm

Human Rights Watch yesterday accused Yazidi militias of executing 52 civilians north-west of Iraq’s northern city of Mosul.

The rights group said in a report that it had met with relatives of the victims of the Imteywit tribe and had seen the crime scene. It added that Yazidi gunmen had forcibly detained then executed men, women and children belonging to eight of the tribe’s families who were fleeing the battles between Iraqi forces and Daesh.

The Yazidi militiamen were implicated in the enforced disappearance of members of the Imteywit and Jahayish tribes in late 2017.

Deputy Middle East Director at HRW, Lama Fakih, said: “As the ground fighting against ISIS [Daesh] winds down in Iraq, state security forces need to turn their focus to preventing retaliation and upholding the rule of law.”

Read: Nearly 10,000 Yazidis killed, kidnapped by Daesh in 2014, study finds

“Past atrocities against the Yezidis don’t give its armed forces a free pass to commit abuses against other groups, whatever their past,” she added.

The organisation pointed out that 52 Arabs were missing from a village near Sinjar, adding that local residents have confirmed the existence of a number of mass graves which include members of the Imteywit tribe.

It added that “a leader of the Yazidi community has provided Human Rights Watch with a list of five Yazidi fighters who were said to have executed those families.