A statement in the light of the new leaks
Geneva, 05-06-2021
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Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) has received a set of video recordings documenting heinous violations by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), specifically Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq militia, whose members carry out mass killings of a number of innocent civilians, while chanting sectarian phrases they used to chant when committing such violations in cold blood.
Confirming that the graphic violations amount to crimes against humanity, GICJ reiterates its demand for the absolute necessity of dissolving all factions of the Popular Mobilization militias for the systematic, serious and widespread violations they commit against innocent civilians, and the absolute necessity, also, to hold their leaders accountable for all those violations.
The Centre recalls that the leaked videos are not the first of their kind for such crimes committed by the Popular Mobilization Forces, as many of them have already been documented and presented to the relevant committees of the United Nations, and within the meetings of the United Nations Human Rights Council. GICJ also documented and discussed it with the United Nations special rapporteurs who followed the file of extrajudicial or summary executions, the last of whom was Mrs. Agnes Callamard, who discussed these issues with the Iraqi authorities during her visit to Iraq two years ago.
All the facts and evidence collected by Geneva International Centre for Justice, confirm the systematic nature of these violations, which are committed by the Popular Mobilization militias, collectively or individually, and within a policy targeting specific areas of Iraq, planned, and supervised by the leaders of these militias, and therefore what the videos show is not just Isolated individual actions. Rather, they are part of the way to implement that policy whose pages include threats and forced displacement, and then arbitrary executions of the people of the targeted areas.
Although the leaked videos date back to previous years, of violations carried out by the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq militia and others under the pretext of the war on ISIS, we would like to reconfirm once again, that they are related to imprescriptible crimes that do not have a statute of limitations, and they fall within the international crimes that the countries of the world pledged to hold their perpetrators accountable regardless About their nationalities and the places where these heinous crimes were committed. While, we will continue to follow that course, we also reiterate our demand that all these violations should be referred, once, to the International Criminal Court by the UN Security Council, or the establishment of a special criminal court for Iraq to investigate and hold perpetrators accountable, as the Iraqi judiciary is unable to carry out this task due to corruption and pressure.
In this regard, Geneva International Centre for Justice, reminds the international community of the militias' continuing violations against the Iraqi people, including violations committed against peaceful demonstrators. We have documented the killing and torture of dozens of activists and human rights defenders in Iraq and prominent figures who have raised their voices to draw attention to crimes committed by militias.
More than ever, the competent bodies of the United Nations are required to exercise their role, and exerting serious effort to dissolve the militias of the PMF and ending the status of impunity by bringing their leaders to justice.
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