<<previous | index | next>>
All armed forces in Iraqinsurgent groups, Iraqi forces and
the U.S.-led Multi-National Forceare bound to respect international
humanitarian law, or the laws of war. The law imposes on these warring parties
legal obligations to reduce unnecessary suffering and to protect civilians and
other non-combatants.
Previous Human Rights Watch reports have documented abuses
by the U.S. and Iraqi governments, and made recommendations to address those
abuses.2
In this report, Human Rights Watch calls on insurgent groups active in Iraq to:
- Cease all attacks against civilians, the civilian
population and civilian objects, both Iraqi and non-Iraqi. Civil servants,
politicians, religious leaders, humanitarian aid workers, journalists and
civilian employees of foreign governments are immune from attack;
- Cease all attacks that do not discriminate between
combatants and civilians, and attacks that cause harm to civilians or
civilian objects that is excessive in relation to the anticipated military
advantage;
- Take all feasible precautionary measures during military
operations to verify that objectives to be attacked are not civilian but
military, and take all feasible precautions in the choice of means and
methods of attack to avoid or minimize harm to civilians and civilian
objects;
- Take all necessary steps to ensure that insurgent group
members understand and respect the obligation to protect civilians and
captured combatants;
- Refrain from an attack when it becomes apparent the
objective or target is not a military one or where civilian loss would be
disproportionate;
- Give special attention to the potential of civilian harm
when operating in residential areas;
- Cease any and all abductions and hostage taking of
civilians. All civilians currently in detention should be released;
- Treat all detainees from the multinational and Iraqi
forces humanely. Prohibit and prevent the execution, torture and other
ill-treatment of detainees; and
- Discipline or expel fighters or commanders who unlawfully
detain or mistreat any person in custody, or who target civilians or use
indiscriminate or disproportionate force that unnecessarily harms
civilians.
Human Rights Watch calls on political, cultural and religious leaders in Iraq and other countries who have expressed support for the insurgency to:
- Publicly condemn the abduction and hostage-taking of Iraqi
and non-Iraqi civilians by any insurgent group;
- Publicly condemn any insurgent group for targeted attacks
against civilians and civilian objects;
- Publicly condemn any insurgent group for indiscriminate
attacks or attacks causing disproportionate civilian casualties; and
- Publicly condemn any insurgent group for the mistreatment
of those in its custody.
[2] Other
relevant Human Rights Watch reports on Iraq are: Leadership Failure:
Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the U.S. Armys 82nd
Airborne Division, September 2005; Getting Away with Torture: Command
Responsibility for the U.S. Abuse of Detainees, April 2005; The New
Iraq: Torture and Ill-treatment of Detainees in Iraqi Custody, January
2005; Claims in Conflict: Reversing Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Iraq,
August 2004; The Road To Abu Ghraib, June 2004; Off Target: The
Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq, December 2003; Hearts
and Minds: Post-war Civilian Casualties in Baghdad by U.S. Forces, October
2003; Climate of Fear: Sexual Violence and Abduction of Women and Girls in
Baghdad, July 2003; Violent Response: the U.S. Army in al-Falluja,
June 2003; and Basra: Crime and Insecurity Under British Occupation,
June 2003.
|