[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [official profile] urged [text] the Iraqi government to “take immediate measures to ensure that” those fleeing the city of Fallujah are “treated in strict accordance with international human rights and international humanitarian laws.” Zeid cited “credible reports” that fleeing migrants have suffered physical abuse at the hands of “armed groups operating in support of the Iraqi security forces.” These groups have reportedly been separating migrants by gender, detaining men for “security checks,” which largely amount to physical abuse for the sake of forced confessions. Zeid ended his remarks stating that while the Iraqi government has a legitimate interests in making vetting migrants to ensure that they do not impose security risks, such vetting should take place through the appropriate laws and in a “transparent manner.”

The Islamic State (IS) [JURIST backgrounder], which controls Fallujah, has caused increasing international alarm over its human rights abuses [JURIST report] since its insurgence into Syria and Iraq in 2013. In December UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned [JURIST report] rights violations against the of children in Iraq by the IS insurgents. In September members of Iraq’s Yazidi community met with the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in The Hague and urged [JURIST report] the court to open a genocide investigation in Northern Iraq. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum voiced support [JURIST report] for the Yazidi community’s efforts in November.