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NEW YORK-BASED Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Iraq’s Kurdistan regional government yesterday of torturing children suspected of connections to Isis.
The children, who have not faced formal charges, recount being held in stress positions, burned with cigarettes, shocked with electricity and beaten with plastic piping.
More than 180 boys under the age of 18 are currently being held, HRW estimates, and government officials have not informed their families where they are.
The group said they interviewed 19 boys aged 11 to 17, without a security official or intelligence officer present, while they were in custody at a children’s reformatory in the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Irbil.
Human rights groups have warned that subjecting the child prisoners to inhumane treatment risks sowing resentment against security forces.
“If the authorities and the international coalition really care about combating Isis, they need to look beyond the military solution and at the policies that have empowered it,” said HRW senior researcher Belkis Wille.
