[JURIST] A United Nations [official website] expert on Friday exposed [UN report] the worsening situation in ISIL controlled territory where an estimated eight million people are currently living in fear. According to Ben Emmerson [official profile], the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, ISIL terrorists staged deadly ambushes against people attempting to flee the area and are promoting the belief that people in Syria and Iraq must, “assimilate, flee or face death.” Violent attacks have specifically targeted people of different religion and ethnicity. Violence against women was also reported to be particularly brutal and included the rape and torture of children as young as six. Young children have also been kidnapped and forced to join the ISIL fighters through various means of desensitization to violent methods adding to the strength and number of the terrorist group. The growing forces and threat of hidden civilian fighters have cultivated a constant state of terror in the territory. Mr. Emmerson called for an international coalition to engage in the protection of civilians in Iraq and Syria.

The Islamic State (IS) has caused increasing international alarm over its human rights abuses [JURIST report] since its insurgence into Syria and Iraq in 2013. In July the US and Turkey agreed [JURIST report] to establish a ‘safe zone’ for Syrian refugees fleeing the Islamic State. In March the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that the actions of IS in Iraq may amount to genocide [JURIST report], crimes against humanity and war crimes. In February IS led suicide bombings in eastern Libya, killing [JURIST report] at least 40 people and injuring 70 more. UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported in December that the IS executed [JURIST report] 1,878 people in Syria between June and December 2014.