ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi authorities are putting “thousands” of Iraqis with perceived links to the Islamic State (ISIS) at further risk of violence and abuse as Baghdad continues to close IDP camps across the country, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
Findings from the rights group show displaced Iraqis face renewed threats of abuse, violence and bureaucracy amid a wave of camp closures, according to a new report titled “Marked for Life: Displaced Iraqis in the cycle of abuse and stigmatization.”
“The Iraqi authorities and KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] must address the continuing collective punishment of IDPs with perceived links to IS as an integral part of any national plans to close camps – currently the only option for shelter for thousands of people,” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Scores of camps have been closed across Iraq in recent weeks, from Hamam al-Alil in Nineveh to the Habbaniyah Tourist Camp in Anbar.
With the sudden closures leaving little options for camp residents, Amnesty says fear of tribal reprisals and barriers to obtaining official documentation make life even harder for those suspected of links to the terror group.
“When the authorities label someone a suspected IS affiliate, it can leave them facing violence, further displacement, and other barriers to a safe future — even after being acquitted of any crime,” the group said.
One woman in Anbar told AFP that she would be forced to move to another camp, with tribal accusations of ties to ISIS preventing her from returning home.
“We can't go back home," she said. "I'm afraid they'll detain and massacre us."
The report also detailed accounts of torture and human rights violations at the hands of security forces and armed groups across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, with Kurdish Asayish (security) forces detaining boys as young as 14.
Of the 115 cases documented by Amnesty, Asayish detained 48 men and boys, while Iraqi military and security forces subjected 67 persons to enforced disappearance in Nineveh. Many were held for weeks without referral to judicial authorities, the group said.
All men and boys interviewed who were detained by Asayish were subjected to torture and ill-treatment in an attempt to extract confessions, the group said. Detainees also spoke of being beaten and threats of sexual violence against family members.
“Detainees brought to court in Erbil were frequently convicted under the KRI’s vaguely worded Anti-Terrorism Law. Their trials failed to comply with international standards for fair trial and, where applicable, juvenile justice,” it added.
KRG International Advocacy Coordinator Dindar Zebari has dismissed the report as “inadequate” and founded on “baseless accusations.”
“No one – civilian or terrorist - is arrested in the Kurdistan Region without a court order,” he told Rudaw on Tuesday.
“We have our own legal proceedings when arresting people.” he said. “I don’t believe in that report, we can set up international investigation committees to look into the matter.”
Iraqi and Kurdish authorities alike have been criticized for what is seen by some as a rushed effort to prosecute and punish suspected ISIS members, often under vague counter-terror legislation.
Baghdad’s approach towards ISIS suspects has come under renewed scrutiny following the hanging of 21 terror convicts in Nasiriyah on November 16. UN experts said last week that a further 50 prisoners were at imminent risk of execution, calling on the Iraqi government to enact policy to end such killings.
Iraq is one of the world’s top executioners, and has dealt the death penalty to both national and foreign ISIS suspects.
Human Rights Watch has repeatedly spoken out against enforced disappearances by Iraqi and Kurdish security forces, as well as militia groups part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) network.
