Horrifying accounts of child rights violations emerge from survivors of violence in north-western Iraq | WPN World People News

Testimonies gathered from civilians who fled the recent offensive by armed groups in the Sinjar district of north-western Iraq have revealed appalling accounts of killing, abduction and sexual violence perpetrated against women and children, according to UNICEF.

"The type and scope of violations against children, women and minority communities in Iraq in the past weeks is one of the worst seen in this century, and is completely unacceptable by any standards or codes of conduct that govern conflict," said Dr. Marzio Babille, UNICEF Iraq Representative.

Child protection specialist teams sent by the agency have so far documented 123 separate cases of rights violations carried out by armed groups when they attacked Yazidi and other minority groups living in areas of Ninewa province close to the border with Syria. So far, 80 of these cases have been verified during investigations carried out by UNICEF under its work within the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on grave violations of children's rights in situations of armed conflict (see below**).

"Almost every individual we have spoken to has given a horrific account of violations they or members of their family or community have witnessed or experienced," said Ibrahim Sesay, UNICEF child protection specialist.

One sixteen-year old Yazidi girl told interviewers how she was rounded up with other women and girls selected to provide sexual services under a forced temporary marriage. The girl said she managed to escape but that others were taken away.

"The agony these girls and women are now suffering as a result of such ordeals requires an urgent scaling up in the provision of specialist mental health care, and medical support as part of the broader response to this unfolding tragedy," said Sesay.

UNICEF has so far provided psycho-social care and support to more than 3,000 distressed refugee children now sheltering in the Kurdish region of Dohuk.

Source: United Nations International Children Emergency's Fund