Baghdad, Feb 27 (IANS) Minority communities in Iraq have been targeted by Islamic State (IS) terrorists with the aim of wiping them off large parts of the country, a report by a group of human rights organisations said Friday.
The research for the report shows very clearly that IS “has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly even genocide against religious and ethnic minorities in northern Iraq”, said Alison Smith, legal counsel of No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) organisation, Press TV reported.
“These atrocities cannot go un-remarked and un-addressed,” Smith added.
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO), a group involved in the report, also warned of a “looming humanitarian calamity” in Iraq in the face of IS violence against the Iraqi people.
Iraqi minorities face a “threat to their existence”, said another group, the Institute of international law and Human Rights (IILHR).
The IS controls parts of Iraq and Syria. It has been engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under its control.
The Suni radical group has threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and Yazidi Kurds.
The IS militants have particularly targeted the Yazadis. The terrorists have also kidnapped and enslaved many Yazidi Kurdish women.
Earlier this month, Iraq discovered a mass grave containing the remains of about two dozen Yazidis north of the country.