MOSCOW (Sputnik) — "After escaping the horrors of war and tyranny of IS, Sunni Arabs in Iraq are facing brutal revenge attacks at the hands of militias and government forces, and are being punished for crimes committed by the group. Iraq is currently facing very real and deadly security threats from IS, but there can be no justification for extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture or arbitrary detention," Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International Philip Luther said as quoted in the report, entitled "Punished for Daesh's crimes."
In one instance, at least 12 men and four boys were executed during the liberation of Falluja in May and June with at least 73 others still missing. In another case, some 1,300 men were seized with 643 never came back.
"The abductions and mass killings near Falluja are far from isolated incidents. Across the country, thousands of Sunni men and boys who fled IS-held territory have been forcibly disappeared by Iraqi security forces and militias," the report read.
If males who fled the Islamic State were not murdered or tortured outright then they all were subjected to security screening to determine whether they had links to the militants.
"The process [of screening] is opaque and often deeply flawed. While some are released within days, others are transferred to security forces and detained for weeks or months in horrific conditions, without access to their families or the outside world, and without being referred to court," the report continued.
The report highlighted that it was crucial that the Iraqi authorities took steps to ensure these appalling abuses did not happen again, especially with the operation to liberate country's second largest city of Mosul being underway.
