UN Human Rights Council Releases Report on ISIL Abuses in Iraq (March 19, 2015) [1]
On March 19, 2015, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a report [3] on “the human rights situation in Iraq in the light of abuses committed by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and associated groups.” According to the press release [4], the OHCHR found that the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) may have committed all three of the most serious international crimes – namely war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.” The report notes the investigation team found “that widespread abuses committed by ISIL include killings, torture, rape and sexual slavery, forced religious conversions and the conscription of children,” which amount to violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The report also urges the UN Security Council to consider referring the situation to the International Criminal Court.