Baghdad, Iraq – Insurgent groups in Iraq are committing war crimes by targeting civilians in mass killings, abductions and beheadings, a human-rights group said Monday.
Human Rights Watch, which often has criticized alleged abuses by U.S. forces in Iraq, turned its attention in its latest report to insurgent groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq and Ansar al-Sunnah, which have claimed responsibility for attacks in mosques, markets, bus stations and other civilian areas.
The group also said the disregard for the lives of civilians in the mostly Muslim country was backfiring in terms of popular support for the insurgency elsewhere in the Arab world.
“There are no justifications for targeting civilians, in Iraq or anywhere else,” said Sara Leah Whitson, the region’s Human Rights Watch director. “Armed groups as well as governments must respect the laws of war.”
Iraq’s courts have convicted some insurgents, but there is no sign of a major push for an international war-crimes trial against the militants, even if al-Qaeda in Iraq’s leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is caught.
The Shiite-dominated interim government is focusing on the trial of ousted leader Saddam Hussein for alleged war crimes, set to begin Oct. 19.
Al-Zarqawi’s group has declared “all-out war” on Shiites, and suicide bombers have killed at least 1,345 people since the government took power April 28.
