(CBS) – Facing all-but guaranteed defeat in their last urban stronghold, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremists seem to be relying more heavily on the youngest of their recruits to carryout both attacks, and deliver their propaganda. For the first time, a child of purported U.S. origin has been put in front of ISIS […]
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(The New Arab) – In her right hand, Sakne holds the identity card belonging to her 16-year-old son, Mohammed. Her left hand tightens its grip on the wiry arm of her younger son, Abbas. On her face is a look of exhaustion – combined with a fierce determination. “I will come here every week until […]
(Reuters) – Iraq must ensure that women and girls subjected to sexual violence at the hands of Islamic State militants have access to justice and reparations, U.N. investigators said on Tuesday. Thousands of people, predominantly from Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities, have been subjected to sexual violence since Islamic State militants swept across vast swathes of […]
(BBC) – Mutassim is nervous. The 16-year-old has never flown in a plane before. He is looking around at the other passengers waiting at the departure gate in Athens airport. He is unsure of himself, so he mimics their actions, placing his boarding pass inside his passport, and queuing to board. Link
(UNICEF) – Around the world, conflict is exacting a devastating toll on millions of children. With increasing frequency, children are being deliberately and indiscriminately attacked and denied life-saving humanitarian assistance in breach of international humanitarian law. On World Humanitarian Day on 19 August, join the United Nations and its partners in standing together to demand that children […]
(Child Soldiers International) – The case of Linda W. the 16-year-old German schoolgirl reportedly associated with “Islamic State” (IS) and captured in Iraq in mid-July, could have far-reaching consequences for how justice systems treat children exploited by armed groups, particularly when they may have committed a crime. According to media reports, after leaving her home in the East […]
(Geneva Call) – The Iraqi conflict severely hit the Yezidi population, particularly the hundreds of women and girls who were allegdely victims of war crimes including organized rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage. Following these abuses, in 2015, a famous female Yezidi singer created an all-female armed unit—the Sun Girls Brigade. Geneva Call has recently trained […]
(Yazda, Global R2P, and Global Citizen) – Tomorrow, 3 August 2017, marks the third anniversary of the genocide against the Yazidi. In the summer of 2014, the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS) launched a systematic campaign of mass atrocities against civilians in northern Iraq. By 3 August that campaign reached Sinjar City and many other […]
(Al Jazeera) – Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children could not attend school for three years while the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group controlled the province of Mosul and other areas around it. But after an Iraqi government offensive that forced ISIL (also known as ISIS) fighters to flee the region, the UN stepped […]
(Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Today, 11 million Iraqis are in need of humanitarian assistance. Of that, 3.4 million are internally displaced. Many have been displaced multiple times. There is little doubt that Iraqis will be breathing a sigh of relief at the news that Mosul, after three long years, has been freed from the clutches of the Islamic […]
