Who is responsible for the civilian cost of the battle for Mosul?

By A.C. Robinson

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – For Mosul civilians caught in the crossfire between Iraqi troops and ISIS militants it has been a living hell. They have suffered heavily from sniper fire, artillery shells and air strikes.

The military operation launched in October to retake the city from ISIS has now largely come to an end, but it  turned into a brutal urban warfare that killed hundreds if not thousands and displaced a million innocent people.

ISIS, a group known for its brutal treatment of civilians and disregard for life set itself up deep in residential areas and often took civilians as human shield. 

The forces liberating Mosul from this group have also been accused of violations and killings.

Human rights groups have reported alarming figures in civilian casualties on a daily basis, mistreatment of fleeing civilians at the hands of military forces, extrajudicial killings of alleged ISIS members by Iraqi forces or paramilitary units (PMUs) such as Hashd al-Shaabi, as well as “forced evictions” sending so-called “ISIS families” to “rehabilitation camps.”

Alarming number of civilian casualties

The most recent United Nations casualty report shows that 415 Iraqi civilians were killed in June alone, the majority of them in Mosul and as a result of the intense fighting between Iraqi troops and ISIS militants. Another 300 were injured in acts of violence, terrorism and armed conflict.

The UN’s office in Iraq (UNAMI) has also received information that a large number of casualties resulted from secondary effects of violence after having fled ISIS-controlled areas. This includes exposure to the elements as well as lack of food, water, medicine, and health care.

Rights monitor Amnesty International called the number of civilian deaths in the battle to oust ISIS from west Mosul a “catastrophe” in a report published this week. 

Mistreatment of Fleeing Civilians

Noting that ISIS used human shields and trapped civilians in their homes, Amnesty International accused Iraqi and coalition forces of failing to “take adequate measures to protect civilians, instead subjecting them to a terrifying barrage of fire from weapons that should never be used in densely populated civilian areas.”

The number of civilians killed is not currently known but Amnesty put it at “thousands.” A million others have been displaced according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

In the last weeks of the main military offensive, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) for Iraq, Jan Kubis condemned ISIS’ continued deliberate targeting of civilians who attempted to escape the last remaining areas of its control in and around Mosul and renewed his call for the protection of civilians in conflict.

“We are seeing the end of Daesh in Mosul as Iraqi forces closed in on the terrorists in the city’s old quarters, but there are civilians who remain trapped in the area or are held as human shields by the terrorists. The well-being of civilians is a matter of extreme concern for us,” he stated, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

At a screening center, security forces detained boys as young as 14 who they accused of belonging to ISIS and barred the elderly and sick from stopping to rest during the difficult journey out of the war-torn district, a more than kilometer-long trek on foot over mounds of rubble in 47°C heat. Many of those fleeing civilians didn’t even have shoes on.

Some Iraqi soldiers accuse civilians still inside the Old City of being relatives of ISIS fighters.

"We know they are all Daesh families, but what do we do, kill them all?" said a Special Forces solider, Amar Tabal, stationed deeper inside the Old City, as reported by Rudaw on July 6.

“They suspect we are all Daesh families, but we aren't," said Ruqaya Mahmoud, 24, who said she was originally from the Old City.

"Don't stop!" an Iraqi special forces lieutenant yelled as a wave of civilians trudged past his position in Mosul's Old City in the scorching heat. "Don't pretend you're tired! Keep going!"

Nearby, dozens of women and children, their hands raised, dropped their bags for security forces to search. Keeping the crowd at a distance, the soldiers yelled at the women to roll up their sleeves and empty everything they were carrying. Some 38 women suicide bombers blew themselves up in Mosul in June. One reportedly did so while carrying a child. 

"We know you're Daesh," the soldiers said.

Those emerging from the Old City at this late stage in the fight were weak, injured, gaunt, and pale. For months, the district has been bombarded by Iraqi and ISIS artillery and cut off from food and water.

The fight for Mosul is taking a "devastating" toll on the Old City's residents, Doctors Without Borders said in a statement last week. Only a "fraction who require medical attention are receiving it, and many are dying on the battlefield," the humanitarian organization warned.

Extrajudicial killings

Since the start of Iraq’s military operations for Mosul, at least 26 bodies of executed men, blindfolded and handcuffed, have been found in government-controlled areas, raising concerns about the involvement of government forces in extrajudicial killings.

A suspected ISIS militant. Photo: Felipe Dana/AP

According to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on Sunday, 15 of the cases had been killed by government forces who claimed the men were affiliated with ISIS. In the remaining cases, bodies were found in the same manner in other government-controlled areas.

It was also reported that the paramilitary unit Hashd al-Shaabi was responsible for the execution of 25 men in their custody and dumping the bodies in the Tigris River.

“The bodies of bound and blindfolded men are being found one after the other in and around Mosul and in the Tigris River, raising serious concerns about extrajudicial killings by government forces,” Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said. “The lack of any apparent government action to investigate these deaths undermines the government’s statements on protecting detainee rights.”

Extrajudicial executions are considered war crimes during an armed conflict and if they are systematic or widespread, they are considered to be crimes against humanity.

Rehabilitation Camps
The first "rehabilitation camp" for families of alleged ISIS members opened in Iraq this week. A human rights monitor said the camp “violates the laws of war.”

According to a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday, the first rehabilitation camp for so-called “ISIS families” opened on July 9 in Bartella, 14 kilometers east of Mosul, where Iraqi security forces have already forcibly relocated at least 170 families.

On June 19, the Mosul District Council issued a directive ordering the establishment of special camps that ISIS families were to be sent to in order to “receive psychological and ideological rehabilitation.”

The goal is to reintegrate these families back into society once camp authorities confirm they have responded to rehabilitation efforts. 

“Iraqi authorities shouldn’t punish entire families because of their relatives’ actions,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at HRW. “These abusive acts are war crimes and are sabotaging efforts to promote reconciliation in areas retaken from ISIS.”

Crimes against humanity?
In a meeting at the Pentagon yesterday, Iraqi officials downplayed the accusations by human rights groups.

"There are those who would like to make the victories made by the military of Iraq not as significant," Brig. Gen Saad Maan, a spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command and Iraq's Interior Ministry, said.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasul placed the blame for high civilian casualties during Mosul fighting on the tactics used by ISIS fighters as the Iraqi forces closed in on their positions.

"This terrorist organization was trying to cause the most civilian casualties knowing very well they had lost the battle of Mosul," he said.

"They booby-trapped everything. The small areas, the alleyways," Rasul noted. "They were using hundreds of booby-trapped vehicles and they used it among civilians."

Human rights groups have concerns of potential human rights violations and high civilian death rates as Iraqi forces remain engaged in clearing pockets of Mosul where ISIS fighters remain.

US officials estimate that a possible few hundred ISIS fighters are left inside old Mosul, but there could be as many as another 2,000 in other parts of Iraq.

"With the coalition's help the ISF [Iraqi Security Forces] will keep the pressure on this enemy while they are on their heels," Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said.

Human rights groups, as are most average people watching the brutality from afar, are still waiting for this bloody war against ISIS to end.

Too many deaths at the hands of extremists and military officials have taken place already. The civilians are suffering not only physically, but emotionally as well. Victims are waiting for the war to end, for ISIS militants to face justice, and for peace to return.