<div dir="ltr"><span class="" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:medium"><div id=":5" class=""><div class="" style="padding-top:0px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:9px;padding-left:400px;background-image:none;background-color:initial;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(229,229,229);white-space:nowrap;margin-top:4px"><div class="" style="text-align:right"><div class="" style="display:inline-block"><div class="" style="white-space:nowrap;text-align:right;padding-right:0px;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span id=":v9" class="" style="font-size:13px;margin-top:0px;margin-right:8px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:8px"><b>43</b> of <b>111,341</b></span><div id=":v5" class="" tabindex="0" style="display:inline-block;border-top-left-radius:2px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:2px;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;margin-right:0px;height:27px;line-height:27px;min-width:34px;outline-width:0px;outline-style:initial;outline-color:initial;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;background-color:transparent;background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(top,rgb(245,245,245),rgb(241,241,241));color:rgb(68,68,68);border-top-width:1px;border-right-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-left-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-style:solid;border-top-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-right-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-bottom-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563)"><span class="" style="margin-right: -3px; "> </span><img class="" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="width: 21px; height: 21px; background-image: url(https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/sprite_black2.png); background-color: initial; margin-top: -3px; vertical-align: middle; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></div><div id=":r0" class="" tabindex="0" style="display:inline-block;border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;margin-right:0px;height:27px;line-height:27px;min-width:34px;outline-width:0px;outline-style:initial;outline-color:initial;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;background-color:transparent;background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(top,rgb(245,245,245),rgb(241,241,241));color:rgb(68,68,68);border-top-width:1px;border-right-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-left-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-style:solid;border-top-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-right-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-bottom-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563)"><span class="" style="margin-right: -3px; "> </span><img class="" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="width: 21px; height: 21px; background-image: url(https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/sprite_black2.png); background-color: initial; margin-top: -3px; vertical-align: middle; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></div></div></div><div class="" style="display:inline-block"><div id=":pr" class="" title="Settings" tabindex="0" style="display:inline-block;border-top-left-radius:2px;border-top-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-left-radius:2px;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;margin-right:0px;height:27px;line-height:27px;min-width:54px;outline-width:0px;outline-style:initial;outline-color:initial;padding-top:0px;padding-right:8px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:8px;background-color:transparent;background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(top,rgb(245,245,245),rgb(241,241,241));color:rgb(68,68,68);border-top-width:1px;border-right-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-left-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-style:solid;border-top-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-right-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-bottom-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:16px"><div class="" style="display:inline-block;background-image:url(https://ssl.gstatic.com/mail/sprites/general_black-16bf964ab5b51c4b7462e4429bfa7fe8.png);background-color:initial;height:21px;width:21px;vertical-align:middle;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"></div><div class="" style="height:6px;width:7px;background-image:url(https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/zippy/arrow_down.png);background-color:initial;vertical-align:middle;font-size:0px;margin-left:3px;display:inline-block;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> </div></div></div></div><div class="" style="height:0px;clear:both"></div></div></div><div class="" style=""><div id=":4" class="" style="background-image:initial;background-colo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ing-top:2px;padding-right:2px;padding-bottom:2px;padding-left:2px;background-color:rgb(221,221,221);color:rgb(102,102,102)"><div class="" name="^i" title="Search for all messages with label Inbox" tabindex="0" style="padding-left:4px;padding-right:6px">Inbox</div></td><td class="" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font:normal normal normal 11px/normal arial,sans-serif;padding-top:2px;padding-right:2px;padding-bottom:2px;padding-left:2px;background-color:rgb(221,221,221);color:rgb(102,102,102)"><span class="" name="^i" title="Remove label Inbox from this conversation" tabindex="0" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:1px;padding-left:4px">x</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div class="" style="height:0px;clear:both"></div></div></div><div class="" style=""><div class="" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(34,34,34);padding-top:4px;padding-right:8px;padding-bottom:4px;padding-left:0px;min-width:502px"><div class=""></div><div class=""></div><div class=""><div class="" tabindex="-1" style="padding-bottom:0px;max-width:100000px;clear:both;outline-style:none;outline-width:initial;outline-color:initial"><div class="" style="margin-bottom:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;border-top-style:solid;border-right-style:initial;border-bottom-style:initial;border-left-style:initial;border-top-color:rgb(239,239,239);border-right-color:initial;border-left-color:initial;border-bottom-color:initial;border-top-width:0px;border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;float:left;width:788px"><div class="" style="padding-top:0px;background-color:transparent;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;border-right-style:initial;border-bottom-style:initial;border-left-style:initial;border-right-color:initial;border-bottom-color:rgb(216,216,216);border-left-color:initial;border-top-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-color:rgb(216,216,216);border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px"><div><div id=":pm"><div class="" style="padding-bottom:20px;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:transparent;padding-left:4px"><div class="" style="float:left;padding-top:6px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px"><div class="" style=""><img id=":0_31-e" name=":0" src="https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/profile_mask2.png" class="" style="width: 24px; height: 24px; display: block; background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "></div></div><div class="" style="margin-left:30px"><div class="" style="padding-left:0px;padding-bottom:3px;padding-right:0px;padding-top:10px;font-size:13px"><table cellpadding="0" class="" style="border-collapse:collapse;margin-top:0px;width:auto"><tbody><tr class="" style="height:16px"><td class="" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;text-align:left;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:8px;vertical-align:top;width:509px;padding-top:0px"><table cellpadding="0" class="" style="border-collapse:collapse;table-layout:fixed;width:509px"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><h3 class="" style="white-space:nowrap;max-width:92%;display:inline-block;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;margin:inherit"><span name="CPTnet: the news service of CPT" class="" style="font-size:13px;font-weight:bold;white-space:nowrap;display:inline;vertical-align:top;color:rgb(34,34,34)">CPTnet: the news service of CPT</span> <span class="" style="vertical-align:top;color:rgb(85,85,85)"><span>&lt;</span><a href="mailto:cptnet@mailman.cpt.org">cptnet@mailman.cpt.org</a><span>&gt;</span></span></h3></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;text-align:right;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><div class="" style="padding-top:0px;padding-right:2px"><span></span><span id=":w6" class="" title="Thu, Aug 27, 2015 at 11:56 AM" alt="Thu, Aug 27, 2015 at 11:56 AM" style="vertical-align:top;margin-right:3px">11:56 AM (8 hours ago)</span><div class="" tabindex="0" style="display:inline-block;height:20px;outline-width:0px;outline-style:initial;outline-color:initial"><span class="" style="display:inline-block;height:19px;text-align:center;width:19px;padding-top:2px;padding-right:2px;padding-bottom:2px;padding-left:2px;margin-right:0px;margin-left:0px"><img class="" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="margin-top: 0px; vertical-align: top; "></span></div></div></td><td class="" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;text-align:right;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;color:rgb(34,34,34)"></td><td class="" rowspan="2" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;text-align:right;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><div class="" tabindex="0" style="display:inline-block;border-top-left-radius:2px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:2px;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;margin-right:0px;height:27px;line-height:27px;min-width:32px;outline-width:0px;outline-style:initial;outline-color:initial;padding-top:0px;padding-right:8px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:8px;background-color:rgb(245,245,245);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(top,rgb(245,245,245),rgb(241,241,241));color:rgb(68,68,68);border-top-width:1px;border-right-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-left-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-style:solid;border-top-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-right-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-bottom-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563)"><img class="" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="height: 21px; width: 21px; background-image: url(https://ssl.gstatic.com/mail/sprites/general-51d583f1fd064eadd1975a8bdef3ef93.png); background-color: initial; vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -3px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></div><div id=":xq" class="" tabindex="0" style="display:inline-block;border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-right-radius:2px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;margin-right:0px;height:27px;line-height:27px;min-width:21px;outline-width:0px;outline-style:initial;outline-color:initial;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;background-color:rgb(245,245,245);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(top,rgb(245,245,245),rgb(241,241,241));color:rgb(68,68,68);border-top-width:1px;border-right-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-left-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-style:solid;border-top-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-right-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-bottom-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563);border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.0976563)"><img class="" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="background-image: url(https://ssl.gstatic.com/mail/sprites/general-51d583f1fd064eadd1975a8bdef3ef93.png); background-color: initial; height: 21px; width: 21px; margin-top: -3px; vertical-align: middle; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></div></td></tr><tr class="" style="height:16px"><td colspan="3" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><table cellpadding="0" class="" style="border-collapse:collapse;table-layout:fixed;white-space:nowrap;width:681px"><tbody><tr><td class="" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;white-space:nowrap"><div class="" style="white-space:nowrap;max-width:92%;display:inline-block"><span class="" style="vertical-align:top;color:rgb(119,119,119)">to <span dir="ltr" name="inbound+cptnet" class="" style="vertical-align:top">inbound+cptnet</span></span></div><div class="" style="display:inline-block;margin-left:5px;vertical-align:top"><img class="" id=":xp" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" alt="" style="background-image: url(https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&amp;view=dim&amp;iv=amo1tqfqsw2s&amp;it=ic); background-color: initial; height: 12px !important; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 12px !important; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class=""></div><div class=""></div><div class=""></div><div class="" style="margin-left: -30px; "></div><div id=":xo" tabindex="-1"></div><div id=":w4" class="" style="font-size:13px;direction:ltr;margin-top:5px;margin-right:15px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-bottom:5px"><div id=":pn" class="" style=""><div><div><div><p><small>To view the on-line version <a href="http://cpt.org/cptnet/2015/08/27/iraq-isis-atrocities-denounced-human-rights-abuses-iraqi-forces-underreported" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">click here.</a></small></p><p></p><p>CPTnet<br>27 August 2015<br><strong>IRAQ: As ISIS atrocities denounced, human rights abuses of Iraqi forces underreported</strong></p><p>by Harmeet Sooden</p><p>[Note: Sooden&#39;s piece has been adapted for CPTnet.  The original appeared in <em><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&amp;objectid=11498976" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">The New Zealand Herald.</a></em>]</p><p>Iraq&#39;s civilians are caught between <a href="https://odysseustracks.wordpress.com/following-odysseus-footprints/step-9-scylla-and-charybdis/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">Scylla and Charybdis</a>—between two dire alternatives: on the one side, opposition groups including ISIS; on the other, the US-led coalition and Iran. While human rights violations committed by ISIS are widely condemned, those committed coalition partners, including Iraq, are underreported.</p><p>Since the beginning of the conflict, human rights organisations have been implicating coalition members in human rights violations that may constitute war crimes. Major coalition contributors such as the US, Britain and Australia have a poor human rights record in Iraq. The Iraqi Government, in particular, is responsible for widespread abuses, mainly against Iraq&#39;s Sunni population.</p><table border="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><img src="http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/201534/Sooden_620x310.jpg" width="618" height="310" class="" tabindex="0" style="outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: middle; "></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px"><span style="color:rgb(55,42,43);font-size:8pt">Harmeet Sooden (second from left) interviewing a displaced Iraqi family in Arbat IDP Camp in May. Iraqi forces <br>displaced up to 85 per cent of the camp’s 17,300 residents.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Iraqi security forces have engaged in torture, hostage-taking, and <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/17/how-iraqi-forces-are-destroying-their-own-best-shot-peace" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">summary execution</a> of civilians, including women and children; beheading, lynching, and immolating captives, desecrating corpses, and celebrating the atrocities in photographs and videos posted online; <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/03/18/after-liberation-came-destruction/iraqi-militias-and-aftermath-amerli" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">looting and wanton destruction of property</a>, and shelling and bombing residential areas and hospitals. Iraqi and Kurdish authorities sometimes prevent families fleeing the fighting from reaching safer parts of the country. Iraqi forces have also established &quot;<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/17/us-mideast-crisis-baghdad-specialreport-idUSKBN0JV10J20141217" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">death zones</a>&quot; around Baghdad.</p><p>Coalition airstrikes often precede abuses by Iraqi forces. Not only are the airstrikes effectively providing cover for what appears to be <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/28/the-united-states-is-providing-air-cover-for-ethnic-cleansing-in-iraq-shiite-militias-isis/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">ethnic cleansing</a> in areas re-captured from ISIS, but they are also directly causing civilian deaths that may amount to war crimes. According to the Red Cross, the airstrikes are compounding the humanitarian consequences of the conflict.</p><p>UN agencies warn that Iraq is &quot;on the brink of humanitarian disaster&quot; due to the escalating conflict between the US-led coalition and opposition forces, and the severe shortfall in international funding. At least 3.1 million Iraqis have been internally displaced since January 2014. A total of 8.2 million people now require immediate humanitarian support.</p><p>The situation has deteriorated to the point where &quot;[a]uthorities in Iraqi Kurdistan suspect that displaced people are selling their kidneys to feed their families.&quot; At the same time, it is becoming <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/24/us-ngo-risks-idUSKCN0HJ0VV20140924" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">increasingly dangerous</a> for humanitarian workers to carry out their work.</p><p>The UN has concluded that civilians are the <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/report-civilians-main-target-iraq-conflict-150713074526495.html" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">primary targets</a> of the conflict in Iraq.</p><p>In late June, New Zealand&#39;s Task Group Taji completed its first eight-week training course for troops from the 76th Brigade, a formation within the Iraqi Army&#39;s 16th Division. The division was formed to replace the US-trained units that collapsed in 2014 when ISIS seized the Mosul region. It is composed of new recruits as well as soldiers who fled during last year&#39;s assault.</p><p>The training cannot address the root causes of the coalition&#39;s human rights violations, including the structural <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/iraq-crisis-west-must-take-up-tehrans-offer-to-block-an-isis-victory-9537866.html" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">corruption and sectarianism</a> introduced into Iraq&#39;s military and state institutions after the 2003 US-led invasion. As the 76th Brigade deploys to the frontline, possibly to join the Ramadi offensive, the NZDF cannot eliminate the risk of the training offering the Iraqi army greater means to worsen the human rights situation.</p><p>Several Iraqi soldiers receiving training at Taji have openly <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/some-iraqi-troops-moonlight-with-militias-1428881598" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">told journalists</a> that &quot;they actively served on their days off with Shiite militia - some...still listed by the US as terrorist groups&quot;, some also sponsored by Iran. The UN has reported pro-government militias, including the popular mobilisation forces (PMF), &quot;seem to operate with total impunity, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake&quot; that often rivals the depredations of ISIS.</p><p>UNICEF has <a href="http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/CBDDCE1B91133BFD85257E61005746D0" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">confirmed</a> reports of militias from all sides, including those supported by the Iraqi Government, recruiting children. The PMF is <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraq-shiite-militia-summer-camps-teens-learn-combat-techniques-isis/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">reportedly</a> providing combat training to children in summer camps established throughout the country. Militias fighting alongside Iraqi and Kurdish forces are using armed boys and girls on the frontline - some as young as ten.  Enlisting children under the age of fifteen or using them to engage in hostilities is a war crime.</p><p>Sectarian abuses continue unabated under the government of the new Iraqi leader, Haider al-Abadi. Yet, the New Zealand Government <a href="http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nz-%E2%80%98confident%E2%80%99-iraqi-government-and-soldiers-brownlee-says-173825" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">insists on backing</a> a regime that is showing little regard for civilians. When coalition forces were poised to re-conquer Tikrit in March, Prime Minister al-Abadi said in a speech to the Iraqi parliament: &quot;There is no neutrality in the battle against ISIS. If someone is being neutral with ISIS, then he is one of them.&quot; His words epitomise the dilemma civilians face in areas where ISIS is active.</p><p> There is a straightforward way New Zealand can begin to protect the people of Iraq: namely, by withdrawing its support for the human rights violators in the coalition, and accepting that <a href="http://www.ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Testimony-CPC-hearing-ISIS-AUMF-3-17-15.pdf" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">worthwhile alternatives exist</a>. New Zealand policymakers can get away with reckless policies so long as New Zealanders keep silent and tolerate them.</p><p> <em>Harmeet Sooden was kidnapped in Iraq in 2005 while working for Christian Peacemaker Teams and held hostage for nearly four months. Sooden has recently returned from Iraqi Kurdistan, where he was working on a human rights project assessing communal tensions in a camp for internally displaced persons.</em></p><p> </p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div></div></div></span></div>