Published On:Sunday, 19 February 2017
Posted by ARAB GAZETTE. weekly newspaper issued on Sunday morning - London, UNITED KINGDOMمؤسسة الوطن العربى الإعلامية - لندن ، المملكة المتحدة . WA MEDIA FOUNDATION - LONDON, UK
Iraq launches west Mosul offensive as torture videos emerge
Iraq launches west Mosul offensive as torture videos emerge
ARAB GAZETTE - Mosul
Iraqi government forces have launched an offensive to capture the western part of the city of Mosul from Islamic State.
Hundreds of military vehicles, backed by air power, were filmed travelling across the desert towards the jihadis’ positions in the city early on Sunday.
Government forces retook the eastern side of Mosul, the last major Isis stronghold in Iraq, last month. But military officials say the western side of the city, with its narrow, winding streets, may prove a bigger challenge.
According to Lt Gen Abdulamir Yarallah the latest attack began well, with the rapid response units capturing the villages of Athbah and al-Lazzagah near Mosul airport.
However, the launch of the new offensive was overshadowed by graphic videos of men in Iraqi security force uniforms carrying out beatings and killings of unarmed people on the streets of Mosul.
The violent scenes, posted on social media pages supporting Iraqi government forces, are reminiscent of Isis’s own propaganda and have been condemned by the UN and human rights groups.
The videos threaten not only to tarnish the image of security forces, but potentially to undermine public support for the Mosul offensive, human rights activists said.
“While this operation has seen so few incidents of abuse compared with earlier operations, it is vital that prime minister Haider al-Abadi takes them seriously when they do come up,” said Belkis Wille, who has documented human rights abuses in Iraq for Human Rights Watch. “We often see the authorities creating investigative committees – we rarely see results. Let’s hope it is different this time.”
Security forces have been broadly welcomed by residents weary of Isis’s brutal rule, and praised for their restraint through months of gruelling urban warfare, defying fears that the assault by Shia-dominated forces on a Sunni-majority city could spark a sectarian bloodbath.
But the videos appear to undermine that image and highlight underlying tensions within Mosul where many remain wary of Baghdad and the Shia militias that bolster its power.
In one of the bloodiest films, a man behind the camera urges on a group in Iraqi federal police uniforms as he films them clubbing four men in civilian clothes. “Well done – you did a good job,” he says, before the attackers drag the men down an asphalt road, and then killing three of them with machine guns.
Another of the images appears to show the men in police uniforms with whips. In other videos circulated on Facebook young men are beaten, or forced to imitate animals – one a dog, another made to bleat like a goat.
The men abusing the prisoners appear to wear the insignia of various security forces including federal police, the regular army, the counter-terrorism service and militias known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces.
The prime minister’s office has launched an investigation into the videos as a precaution, although it insisted it considered them a fabricated slur. “If it is proven that there were abuses, the perpetrators will be handed over to the courts. In other operations there were individuals who committed abuses and … some were sentenced,” a spokesman, Saad al-Hadithi, said.
Most of the videos and pictures were posted online after the second phase of the Mosul operation started in late December. They stand in stark contrast to matching posts on the official special forces Facebook page, which shows them posing for selfies with newly liberated residents, handing out food and water, and even feeding animals.
But though they show abuse, the images appear to have been posted by government supporters rather than whistleblowers, garnering thousands of likes and shares. The Facebook pages they appear on unofficially document the progress of the campaign.
The UN has voiced concern about civilians trapped Mosul, amid reports that they could number up to 650,000. Leaflets warning residents of an imminent offensive were earlier dropped over the west of the city.
Before the launch of the latest operation, Abadi said in a televised speech: “We announce the start of a new phase in the operation, we are coming to Nineveh to liberate the western side of Mosul.”
“Our forces are beginning the liberation of the citizens from the terror of Daesh [Isis],” he added, quoted by Agence France-Presse news agency.
