'Respect the laws of war'

2005-10-03 08:29

New York - Human Rights Watch said on Monday that Iraqi insurgents are committing war crimes by deliberately targeting and killing civilians, calling on Islamic religious and political leaders to condemn the attacks.

"There are no justifications for targeting civilians, in Iraq or anywhere else," said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division for Human Rights Watch.

"Armed groups as well as governments must respect the laws of war," Whitson said.

In a 140-page report released on Monday, the New York-based group documents how civilians have been terrorised and systematically killed in assassinations and bombings by armed insurgents.

Assassinations condemned

While some insurgents and their supporters in the Arab world have sought to justify the attacks, the report seeks to debunk their arguments.

"The deliberate targeting of civilians during an armed conflict constitutes a war crime," the group said.

The report describes the assassinations of government officials, politicians, judges, journalists, humanitarian aid workers, doctors, professors and those deemed to be collaborating with the foreign forces in Iraq, including translators, cleaners and others who perform civilian jobs for the US-led force.

"Political and religious leaders in Iraq and abroad who support the insurgency should also condemn unlawful attacks," said the report, entitled "A Face, A Name: Civilian Victims of Insurgent Groups in Iraq".

People repulsed by insurgent groups' behaviour

"People we have spoken with in the Middle East are increasingly repulsed by the behaviour of insurgent groups in Iraq, even if they support a withdrawal of US troops," Whitson said.

"It is time for political and religious leaders who support the insurgency to denounce the atrocities in public."

Human Rights Watch, which monitors civil liberties around the world, has previously criticised the United States over its occupation of Iraq, accusing the military and Iraqi government forces of using excessive force and torturing detainees.

The report states that the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and subsequent occupation resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths and "sparked the emergence of these insurgent groups".

- AFP