Amnesty International: the displacement of Kurdish forces to the Arabs of Kirkuk and the destruction of their homes, "a war crime"

Amnesty International: the displacement of Kurdish forces to the Arabs of Kirkuk and the destruction of their homes, "a war crime"



© AFP / Archives | Iraqi troops movement of families displaced from Hawija to Salahuddin province

Last Updated: 07/11/2016

Amnesty International expressed concern about the practices carried out by Kurdish forces in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk against Arab citizens, including expulsion from the city and the destruction of their homes. The organization condemned these practices, arguing that the removal and displacement of Arab population forcibly displaced from Kirkuk "illegal and cruel," and that it constitutes a "war crime."

Kurdish forces proceeded to destroy the homes of hundreds of Arabs and deported from the city of Kirkuk (north), in what it seems to reprisals in response to an attack by the "Islamic state" in recent times, as indicated Monday by Amnesty International , "Amnesty" .

Non - governmental organization and confirmed that in the wake of an attack by the "Islamic state" in Kirkuk on 21 October / October, proceeded city controlled by the Kurds to the destruction of homes and brutal Iraqi Arabs and asked them to leave the city authorities.

He told a man who has ten children to Amnesty, how the soldiers came to his neighborhood to inform the population to leave by morning.

He pointed out that at the dawn of October / October 25, a few days after the attack extremist organization, "have been evacuated and residents were forcibly demolished by bulldozers" hundreds of homes in the neighborhood, including his home.

Among those who have been forcibly displaced from Kirkuk and the surrounding villages, there are about 250 families who fled earlier than the original towns because of the violence, according to reports from the organization, referring to the cases of confiscation of identity cards.

The organization condemned the move, arguing that the "deportation and displacement of the population of Sunni Arabs were forcibly evicted from Kirkuk, is illegal and cruel."

And it asked the Kurdish authorities to end these practices, "immediately."

She continued, "Amnesty" that "similar destruction, and unjustified military necessity operations, constitute a war crime," arguing that "Ordering the displacement of the civilian population, unless (it) to keep them safe or that there be a military justification, is also a war crime." .

The multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk, located 170 km to the southeast of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and the last bastion of the "Islamic state" in the country.

With the start of the attack on the connector that involving Iraqi and Kurdish forces, the organization launched an attack on Kirkuk in order to divert attention, which resulted in the death of a jihadist 74 and 46 people .

Amnesty International accused in January Kurdish forces destroying thousands of homes in northern Iraq, in an apparent effort to deport the Arab population.

Also, the Kurds accused of forcibly displaced people return to areas they fled, even if security is not restored there.

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