ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday urging him to prevent any armed groups responsible for human rights violations to participate in the upcoming battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State (ISIS) militants. The letter strongly opposed the inclusion of several Popular Mobilization Forces (PMFs or Hashd al-Shaabi) Shiite militias in the Mosul operation. Previous abuses carried out by the Hashd al-Shaabi against Sunni Arab civilians in the recapture of Fallujah from ISIS in June were documented by HRW -- abuses which included torture, summary executions and the disappearance of civilians, including children, and the mutilation of corpses. These abuses, and the recruitment of child soldiers by groups in Hashd, led HRW to urge Abadi to "prevent armed forces under his command or control who have been implicated in laws of war violations, including the Badr Brigades, the Hezbollah Brigades (Kata'ib Hezbollah), and other groups with the Population Mobilization Forces, from participating in planned operations to retake Mosul." HRW also pointed out that an estimated 1.2 million civilians are estimated to be in Mosul ahead of this upcoming operation. "Civilians in Mosul have suffered under ISIS rule for more than two years and will need support if the city is retaken, but risk reprisals instead," said the deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa, Lama Fakih in an HRW statement. "The last thing the authorities should allow is for abusive forces to carry out revenge attacks in an atmosphere of impunity."
