Family members of actual or perceived ISIL members, affiliates and supporters

UNOCHA, writing in September 2018, assessed that ‘women and children with perceived affiliations to extremist groups have been identified as the most vulnerable category of those who remain displaced. This population is discriminated against and segregated within IDP camps, prevented from returning to their homes, denied humanitarian aid and subjected to sexual violence.’³⁴⁸ In a September 2018 report UNHCR stated that ‘tribal leaders, security actors and communities continue to impede or deny permission to families with perceived links to extremists to return to areas of origin in Anbar, Kirkuk and Ninewa.’³⁴⁹ Human Rights Watch reported that local officials have ‘forcibly displaced hundreds of families of suspected ISIS-members in Anbar, Babil, Diyala, Salah al-Din, and Ninewa governorates’.³⁵⁰

The DIS/Landinfo 2018 report noted the existence of designated camps for family members of former ISIL members.³⁵¹ Because of fear of retaliation from the victims of ISIL crimes, the locations of these camps are often unknown. Wives and children of ISIL fighters are stigmatised and isolated from the rest of the society. They are banned from returning to their area of origin; they are exposed to harassment, threats and abuses; they are unable to obtain civil documents, and they are often disowned and/or treated as socially outcasts Female-headed households are met with the same treatment. They are also not allowed to re-enter their home community. Many live in camps with significant limitation on their freedom of movement. Often, they are not allowed to leave the camps. There are two such camps outside Mosul, two or three more elsewhere in Ninewa Governorate, in addition to many more in Syria.³⁵²

In April 2018 Amnesty International reported that government forces, including PMUs, have been preventing families with perceived ties to ISIL from returning to their home or places of origin. Iraqi forces, including the PMUs, have also regularly arrested and forcibly disappeared men with perceived ISIL ties directly from IDP camps. Women and children with perceived ties to ISIL have been subjected to human rights violations and collective punishment. Sexual exploitation of women in IDP camps by members of the PMUs was also reported. Upon returning to their places of origin families with perceived ISIL ties have been subjected to forced displacement, evictions, arrests, looting of their homes, house demolitions, threats, sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination by, amongst others, PMU and local militias.³⁵³ Amnesty International describes a so-called ISIL family as follows:

‘Perhaps the most determinative factor is if the family has a relative who was a member of IS. The perception of an affiliation to IS can exist even if the relative is a distant relative, with no relationship by blood. It may also exist in cases where the relative was not an IS fighter or commander, but worked in noncombat roles, such as an administrative employee, driver or cook. Other determinative factors include: if the family lived in an area that was a stronghold of support for IS; if the family lived in an area that was controlled by IS and then fled that area at a late stage in the hostilities; if the family belongs to a tribe of which the majority supported IS; or if one

348 UNOCHA, Iraq Humanitarian Snapshot (as of 30 September 2018), 30 September 2018, url.

349 UNHCR, Iraq protection update- September 2018, 30 September 2018, url, p. 2.

350 Human Rights Watch, Iraq: Events of 2017, January 2018, url, p. 4.

351 Denmark, DIS, Norway, Landinfo, Iraq: Security situation and the situation for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the disputed areas, 5 November 2018, url, p. 10.

352 Denmark, DIS, Norway, Landinfo, Iraq: Security situation and the situation for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the disputed areas, 5 November 2018, url, p. 28.

AI, The condemned. Women and children isolated, trapped and exploited in Iraq, 17 April 2018, url, pp. 5, 17, 29, 34, 36.

or more male members of the family were arrested as they fled IS-held territory or after they arrived at an IDP camp.’³⁵⁴

In a December 2017 report, Lifos, the Centre for Country of Origin Information and Analysis of the Swedish Migration Agency, also noted the situation of family members of ISIL affiliates and supporters. An Iraqi parliamentarian whom Lifos/Landinfo spoke to in Baghdad stated that ‘immediate family members’ of ISIL affiliates are considered to include father, son, or husband. The same parliamentarian further stated that accusations of ISIL affiliation are often unfounded, speculative, or arbitrary.³⁵⁵ Interviewed by Niqash, Hisham al-Hashimi, a researcher into armed militias in Iraq who also advises the Iraqi government, considered the treatment of ISIL families as a major challenge after the victories over ISIL. Hisham al-Hashimi further remarked that ‘there are around 100,000 people in families with a connection to the ISIL group and there is a likelihood that, if the harsh treatment continues, they will make up the next generation of the ISIS group.’³⁵⁶

In its report on human rights in Iraq in the July to December 2017 period, UNAMI expressed its concern about attacks on families of suspected ISIL members, seemingly intended to expel them or prevent them from returning to their homes.³⁵⁷ UNAMI further stated that ‘attacks targeting families of suspected ISIL members and their property continued, with the reported objective to expel them, or prevent them from returning to their homes, particularly in Anbar and Salah al-Din governorates.’³⁵⁸ Reporting on the Protection of Civilians in the context of the Ninewa Operations and the retaking of Mosul City, in the 17 October 2016 – 10 July 2017 period, UNAMI makes note of threats to families alleged to have ISIL-affiliated members.

Evictions of such families were also reported. In some instances, unidentified groups made the threats through so-called night letters. In other cases, local authorities were responsible.³⁵⁹

Describing human rights situation in Iraq in the period from January to June 2017, UNAMI also noted instances of threats to, and forced evictions of families alleged to have ISIL affiliated members. UNAMI names local authorities and unidentified groups as those responsible.³⁶⁰ In March 2017 Human Rights Watch documented instances of PMUs taking part in evictions and in the demolition of houses belonging to families said to have familial ties to affiliates of ISIL.³⁶¹ In December 2016, UNAMI reported that some local government authorities issued orders to forcibly evict family members of people known to or perceived to have been supporters of ISIL.³⁶²

The following are examples of treatment of family members of actual or perceived ISIL affiliates or supporters.³⁶³

354 AI, The condemned. Women and children isolated, trapped and exploited in Iraq, 17 April 2018, url, p. 12.

355 Sweden, Lifos, Thematic report: The security situation in Iraq : July 2016- November 2017, 18 December 2017, url, p. 43.

356 Niqash, Fuelling the fight, never-ending story of extremism in Iraq, 16 November 2017, url.

357 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: July to December 2017, 8 July 2018, url, p. vi.

358 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: July to December 2017, 8 July 2018, url, p. 3.

359 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the context of the Ninewa Operations and the retaking of Mosul City, 17 October 2016 – 10 July 2017, 2 November 2017, url, p. 3.

360 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq – January to June 2017, 14 December 2017, url, p. 2.

361 Human Rights Watch, Iraq: displacement, detention of suspected “ISIS families”- Troops force residents out, demolish homes, 5 March 2017, url.

362 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 November 2015 – 30 September 2016, 30 December 2016, url, p. II.

363 The examples cited pertain to abuses committed against family members of actual or perceived ISIL affiliates or supporters without asserting that such is the sole reason for the mistreatment endured.

Ninewa

 Between November 2015 and January 2016, at least 80 families were forcibly relocated from Aski Mosul and Huteina villages of Wana sub-district of Tilkaif, to Garmawa IDP camp in Duhok Governorate. Some families claim they were ordered to leave their villages by the KR-I Asayish on account of being related to an ISIL member.³⁶⁴

 In January 2017, around 80 individuals alleged to have family members belonging to ISIL were evicted from Hamam al-Alil subdistrict of Mosul district by a decision of a local committee, led by tribal leaders and assisted by members of security forces.³⁶⁵

 In June 2017, men of the al-Jabouri tribe announced a campaign to expel families whose members are alleged of being linked to ISIL from al-Qayyarah. The next day, 90 families who felt threatened fled the area.³⁶⁶

 In April 2018, according to Human Rights Watch, local armed forces in the district of al-Ba’aj, issued an order in February 2018 that relatives of male ISIL members could not return to the area. It was estimated that out of the 12 000 residents of al-Ba’aj who were still in camps about 20 % have an immediate relative who joined ISIL and therefore will not be able to return.³⁶⁷

 In September 2018 security actors forcibly relocated at least 22 families from villages near Mosul to camps in Ninewa. It concerned female-headed households alleged to have affiliations with extremists.³⁶⁸

Babil

 In July 2016, the Babil provincial council ordered the demolition of the homes of individuals convicted of being members of ISIL and expelled their family members from the governorate.³⁶⁹

Salah al-Din

 On 11 August 2016 at least 60 families in Dhuluiya (Salah al-Din) were notified by police that they must leave. According to sources the police stated families of ISIL collaborators were expelled for seven years.³⁷⁰

 On 30 August 2016, the Salah al-Din Provincial Council decided to expel all the families of members of ISIL from the governorate for a period of 10 years. Those outside the governorate were barred from returning if a family member had ISIL involvement.³⁷¹

364 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 November 2015 – 30 September 2016, 30 December 2016, url, p. 24.

365 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the context of the Ninewa Operations and the retaking of Mosul City, 17 October 2016 – 10 July 2017, 2 November 2017, url, p. 27.

366 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the context of the Ninewa Operations and the retaking of Mosul City, 17 October 2016 – 10 July 2017, 2 November 2017, url, p. 40.

367 Human Rights Watch, Iraq: Local Forces Banish ISIS Suspects’ Families, 26 April 2018, url.

368 UNHCR, Iraq protection update-September 2018, 30 September 2018, url, p. 2.

369 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 November 2015 – 30 September 2016, 30 December 2016, url, p. 28.

370 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 November 2015 – 30 September 2016, 30 December 2016, url, p. 27.

371 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 November 2015 – 30 September 2016, 30 December 2016, url, p. 27.

 In September 2016, local PMU forces destroyed hundreds of homes in al-Aithah (Salah al-Din Governorate). They targeted not only the families thought to be affiliated with ISIL, but also families that had fled because of the fighting.³⁷²

 According to Amnesty International in early 2017 ‘Sunni tribal militias within the PMU known as the Hashad al-Ashari, alongside Iraqi government forces, forcibly displaced at least 125 families from Salah al-Din Governorate perceived to be affiliated with IS, following a decree issued by local authorities authorizing their displacement. The families were then held against their will in an IDP camp functioning as a detention centre near Tikrit.’³⁷³

 In January 2017 PMU forces evicted a woman and her relatives from their home in al- Shakrah village (Salah al-Din Governorate) because her husband’s brother had joined ISIL.³⁷⁴

 In March 2017, Sunni tribal groups, within the PMUs, and Iraqi soldiers forcibly displaced at least 125 families said to have familial ties to affiliates of ISIL. The families, all from Salah al-Din province, were held in a camp near Tikrit. The PMUs also destroyed some of the families’ homes.³⁷⁵

 Between 8 and 20 November 2017, unknown perpetrators blew up at least 20 residential houses in three villages on the western side of Shirqat district, north of Tikrit city in Tikrit, Salah al-Din Governorate. All of the houses belonged to families perceived to have an affiliation with ISIL.³⁷⁶

Anbar

 On 13 October 2017, the ISF notified families of suspected ISIL members to leave Heet city, Anbar Governorate within 72 hours. On 26 October 2017, three houses were attacked with explosives and two houses were burnt in Heet city. On 4 November 2017 two houses were burnt in separate incidents in the Khidir and al-Dawara areas of Heet city.³⁷⁷

Kirkuk

 In early January 2018, Iraqi forces forcibly displaced at least 235 families of suspected affiliates of ISIL. All were from villages in the Hawija area, west of Kirkuk, and were brought to Daquq by Iraqi forces because they allegedly had ISIL-affiliated relatives.

Human Rights Watch reported that groups within the PMUs, also known as the al-Hashd al-Sha'abi, destroyed some of their homes, forced some parents to leave children behind, stole some of the families’ livestock, and beat at least three of the men.³⁷⁸

In the fall of 2018 government-affiliated armed groups in Abbassi sub-district in Kirkuk Governorate instructed the local Mukhtars to direct families perceived to have affiliations with extremists to leave the area for Kirkuk city or camps within one week.

372 Human Rights Watch, Iraq: displacement, detention of suspected “ISIS families”- Troops force residents out, demolish homes, 5 March 2017, url.

373 AI, Amnesty International Report 2017/18 - Iraq, 22 February 2018, url.

374 Human Rights Watch, Iraq: displacement, detention of suspected “ISIS families”- Troops force residents out, demolish homes, 5 March 2017, url.

375 Human Rights Watch, Iraq: displacement, detention of suspected “ISIS families”- Troops force residents out, demolish homes, 5 March 2017, url.

376 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: July to December 2017, 8 July 2018, url, p. 3.

377 UNAMI/OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: July to December 2017, 8 July 2018, url, p. 3.

378 Human Rights Watch, Families with ISIS Relatives Forced into Camps, 4 February 2018, url.

The Mayor of Abbassi, however, referred the issue to the Governor of Kirkuk and the action was suspended.³⁷⁹

KRI

 In 2017, 46 Arab IDPs, most of them from Anbar Governorate, were ordered to leave KRI by the Asayish, due to family relations to members of ISIL. After intervention from humanitarian actors, they were allowed to return to Sulaimaniyah.³⁸⁰