[JURIST] Iraq’s Parliament [official website] on Sunday warned that the UN decision to close many of the country’s health clinics will have a “profound effect” on its people. The parliament announced that the decision will affect over 3 million refugees [Rudaw report] within the country and at least half a million children. Abdulhussein Mousawi, a member of the parliament’s health committee, stated that the decision was more devastating than the war with the Islamic State (IS) [JURIST backgrounder]. He also criticized the Iraqi government for not providing the funds needed to keep the clinics running. According to estimates by the office of UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande [UN biographical note], 8.2 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, including 2.3 million living in areas controlled by IS. The centers provide critically needed services within the country, including childhood vaccinations against tuberculosis and polio. Grande also expressed concern [UN News Centre report] in June about keeping the clinics running, stating that the implications of closing the clinics would be “catastrophic” in an already volatile crisis with growing humanitarian needs.

The Islamic State has caused increasing international alarm over its human rights abuses [JURIST report] since its insurgence into Syria and Iraq in 2013. Last month, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee [official website] said that the extremist groups’ destruction of antiquities and heritage sites in conflict zones could amount to war crimes [JURIST report]. In March the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] reported that the actions of IS in Iraq may amount to genocide [JURIST report], crimes against humanity and war crimes. Also in March the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the OHCHR jointly released [JURIST report] a report detailing violations against Iraqi civilians under the spread of IS. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda stated in November that the ICC was contemplating bringing war crimes charges against IS jihadist fighters, but in March said that her office lacks jurisdiction [JURIST report] to open a formal investigation into the group. 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.