Absolute impunity:
International Law and the conduct of militias in Iraq
Amnesty International,
2014
International humanitarian law (IHL, the laws of war) applies
in situations of armed conflict. In Iraq, there is currently a
non-international armed conflict involving Shi’a militias clearly operating
with the consent of the central government and in cooperation with government armed
and security forces and the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS). The
rules of IHL therefore apply and are binding on all parties to the conflict,
including Shi’a militias. These rules and principles seek to protect anyone who
is not actively participating in hostilities: notably civilians and anyone,
including those who were previously participating in hostilities, who is
wounded or surrenders or is otherwise captured. They set out standards of humane
conduct and limit the means and methods of conducting military operations.
The deliberate and summary killing of people in captivity – be
they civilians, suspected members of armed
groups or combatants captured on the battlefield – is a flagrant and serious
violation of international humanitarian law and constitutes a war crime.[1] Torture and cruel
treatment, rape and other forms of sexual violence, hostage taking, and
arbitrary deprivation of liberty are also serious violations of IHL and also
constitute war crimes.[2]
Under IHL, individuals, whether civilians or military, can be
held criminally responsible for war crimes. Leaders and commanders of militias
and armed groups must be particularly diligent in seeking to prevent and repress
such crimes. Military commanders and civilian superiors can be held responsible
for crimes committed by their subordinates if they ordered such acts or if they
knew, or had reason to know, such crimes were about to be committed and did not
take necessary measures to prevent their commission, or to punish crimes that
have already been committed.[3] Individuals are also
criminally responsible for assisting in, facilitating, aiding or abetting the
commission of a war crime.[4]
Unlike IHL, which applies only to situation of armed conflict,
international human rights law continues to bind the conduct of states in all
situations. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, Iraq has a duty to respect, protect and fulfil the rights to
life, to freedom from torture and other ill-treatment, and to liberty and
security of the person. [5] By allowing and even
encouraging the creation and growth of unaccountable militias and failing to
prevent and remedy unlawful killings, abductions and torture by these militias,
Iraq is violating its legal obligations and can be held responsible for these
gross human rights abuses.[6]
Excerpts from ‘Absolute impunity: Militia rule in Iraq’
AI index: MDE 14/015/2014
You can download the whole report at the link below:
http://bit.ly/1p7PO2L
[1] International Committee
of the Red Cross study, Customary International Humanitarian Law: Volume
1:
Rules, J-M Henckaerts and L Doswald-Beck, eds, 2005 (“ICRC Customary IHL
Study”), Rule 89 and
Rule
156.
[2] ICRC Customary IHL Study,
Rules 90, 93, 96, 99 and 156
[3] ICRC Customary IHL Study,
Rule 153
[4] Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court, Article 125
[5] International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, ratified by Iraq in 1971), Articles 6, 7 and
9.