In fight against ISIS, Iraqi army committing 'gravest of abuses' with impunity: expert
Last week, The Current brought the story of Iraqi photojournalist Ali Arkady. He gained the trust of an elite security force in Iraq and documented them committing gruesome acts of torture and extrajudicial killings. Now, he's on the run for showing the world what his camera captured.
Belkis Wille, a senior Iraq researcher for the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, says the footage Arkady gathered warrant further investigation.
"I mean these are the gravest of abuses that you can see in the context of an armed conflict or even in peace time," Wille tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
Related: Iraqi photographer on the run for chronicling country's war crimes
"What he showed with his photo and video evidence are executions of individuals without having gone through any judicial process ... extreme acts of torture against these individuals in order to try and force confessions, or in some cases simply what looked like acts of revenge or retribution," she says.
As long as we allow those abuses to continue, we're never going to get rid of ISIS.- Belkis Wille, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch
From its battle for Mosul to how it treats its own citizens, there are long-held concerns about the Iraqi military.
"I would say the battle against ISIS … invites a certain level of impunity where armed forces are able to say, 'Well, but ISIS is so much more evil,'" she says.
According to Wille, these types of abuses have been committed before by Iraqi government forces, but many of these crimes are never prosecuted because of this attitude that is "pervasive at all levels of government."
The culture of impunity in the military is one of the driving forces behind the expansion of ISIS in Iraq.
"ISIS was able to draw on supporters and pull in recruits because of impunity that was following abuses that were targeting Sunni Arab men in Iraq," Wille explains.
"And as long as we allow those abuses to continue, we're never going to get rid of ISIS."
Listen to this segment at the top of the web post.
This segment was produced by The Current's Samira Mohyeddin.