As we appreciate the efforts of all parties involved in helping Iraq in its fight against terrorism and the sacrifices they made, including the international coalition to fight Daesh, where all these efforts contributed to defeating terrorism and Daesh gangs in Iraq and Syria, thus we express our concern about the existence of official international reports shows that the number of victims in Iraq and Syria reached to 20 ,000 dead and wounded. These reports mentioned that the real number of victims as a result of aerial bombardment carried out by the International Coalition in the past four years amounted to about 11,800 civilians, including 2300 children and 1130 women were killed in addition to 8000 wounded by the bombing of the coalition in Iraq and Syria.

These numbers are much more than the official numbers that published by the International Coalition and differ radically , which were officially announced as, 1139 civilians. Where these numbers if are true, they will refer to clear violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention, which oblige all belligerents to abide by safety standards and to protect civilians in wars.

Therefore, we call on the international coalition to fight Da’ash to clarify the truth of these figures because the numbers mentioned are much higher than the official numbers of the coalition. We also demand the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to form a committee of concerned parties in the Iraqi government with the membership of the High Commission for Human Rights as an observer to verify the real number of the victims .

The Iraqi government is also concerned to demand compensation for the victims and their families from harm- causing parties and states, where the International humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols oblige all states and conflicting sides to safeguard the lives of civilians in war, and oblige also to search for persons who violate these conventions and human rights in war and conflict, as well as bring them to justice regardless of their nationality and affiliation.

We also call on all victims and their families who were killed by the bombing of the International Coalition to review IHCHR Offices to document their numbers and follow-up legal procedures for their rights.

Dr. Ali A. Al-Bayati

Member of IHCHR