GENEVA – In a joint statement to the United Nations, the Geneva Council for Rights and liberties in conjunction with a coalition of 12 NGOs called on the United Nations to hold accountable Iran-backed militias for the threat they pose to security and stability in the region.
The statement said that the Iranian-backed militias act like the “Coronavirus” pandemic which targets everyone without exception including committing serious human rights violations in (Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon), Therefore, a significant international effort is needed to eradicate them
Recently, these militias have deliberately targeted demonstrators and activists in Iraq in an attempt to silence critical voices and repress public freedoms, in addition to targeting unarmed civilians in Yemen and Syria.
According to the statement, these atrocities are being rooted in a deliberate systematic policy adopted by the Iranian-backed militias. International and local organizations have documented these violations and crimes including (torture, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killing, demographic change, attacking peaceful civilian, repression of freedom o expression, and genocide crimes) and other grave breaches of international law.
The signatories reaffirmed to the international community that these militias have dangerous criminal records. They are committing gross human rights violations and are brutally targeting unarmed civilians on sectarian basis in a clear attempt to punish them for not submitting to them and implementing their plans in the Arab region.
The statement warned that these militias are seeking to maintain both their influence and Iran’s domination over the region by carrying out the project of ” non-state” and keeping chaos and lawlessness.
It also pointed out that the governments in these countries have demonstrated disregard for the basic principles of human rights by protecting these militias and legally justifying their actions, while they must establish effective mechanisms to ensure investigations into the violations they commit and hold those responsible accountable and bring them to justice.
As the Iranian-backed militias continue to commit crimes against humanity, the signatories of the statement urge the High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure that the militias and their leaders being held accountable under international law for their crimes against humanity and their violation of international human rights law.
The organizations also held the United Nations responsible for its silence and failure to address these militias’ crimes in safe societies.
Signatory Organisations:
Iraqi Center for War Crime Documentation
The Arab coalition for the Arab Court of Human Rights
European Gulf Center for Human Rights
The Lebanese Institute For Democracy And Human Rights (LIFE)
The Universal Message of Human Rights org
Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society
Ahwaz Organization for the Defence of Human Rights (AODHR)
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
Yemeni Alliance for Human Rights
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
Geneva Council for Rights and Liberties
The Human Rights Committee of the Iraqi National Charter
