ISIS Accused Of Harvesting Human Organs To Finance Reign Of Terror
Islamic State Accused Of Harvesting Human Organs To Finance Reign Of Terror
Sara C Nelson— Huffington Post UK/ AP
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The UN Security Council has been asked to look into allegations that the Islamic State is using organ harvesting to finance its operations.
Mohamed Alhakim, Iraq’s ambassador to the United Nations told reporters that in the past few weeks, bodies with surgical incisions and missing kidneys or other body parts have been found in shallow mass graves.
"We have bodies. Come and examine them," he said. "It is clear they are missing certain parts."
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Members of the Kurdish forces view remains of Yazidis killed by IS on 3 February
He also said a dozen doctors have been "executed" in Mosul for refusing to participate in organ harvesting.
Alhakim briefed the council on the overall situation in Iraq and accused the Islamic State group of "crimes of genocide" in targeting certain ethnic groups.
The outgoing U.N. envoy to Iraq, Nikolay Mladenov, told the council that 790 people were killed in January alone by terrorism and armed conflict.
Mladenov noted the increasing number of reports and allegations that IS is using organ harvesting as a financing method, but he said only that "it's very clear that the tactics IS is using expand by the day."
He said Iraq's most pressing goal is to win back the vast territory that IS has seized in the past year.
The Sunni militants seized a third of both Iraq and neighboring Syria and imposed strict Sharia law.
"Especially worrying is the increasing number of reports of revenge attacks committed particularly against members of the Sunni community in areas liberated from ISIL control," Mladenov said.
Mosul Before and After ISIS
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In this undated handout photo provided by the Library of Congress taken during the autumn of 1932, men pause on a lorry on the road to Mosul, northern Iraq. (credit:Library of Congress / AP)
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Fighters from the Islamic State group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road in Mosul on Monday, June 23, 2014. (credit:AP)
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A 1932 image of Lady Surrma of the Assyrian community posing for a portrait in Mosul, northern Iraq. (credit:Library of Congress / AP)
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An Iraqi woman looking at a shop display in central Mosul after the Islamic State group ordered clothes shop owners to cover the faces of the mannequins on Monday, July 21, 2014. (credit:AP)
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In this undated handout photo provided by the Library of Congress taken during the autumn of 1932, the Tigris River stretches out in the distance as seen from Mosul, northern Iraq. (credit:Library of Congress / AP)
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File photo of smoke rising during airstrikes targeting Islamic State militants at the Mosul Dam on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014. (credit:AP)
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A 1932 image taken during the autumn of Nebi Yunis, the tomb of the prophet Jonah, in Mosul, northern Iraq, (credit:Library of Congress / AP)
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Iraqis walk in the rubble of the revered Muslim shrine after it was was destroyed on Thursday, July 24, 2014 by militants who overran the city in June and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law. (credit:AP)
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In this undated handout photo provided by the Library of Congress taken during the autumn of 1932, Iraqis pause in the market in Mosul, northern Iraq. (credit:Library of Congress / AP)
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Demonstrators chanting pro-Islamic State group slogans as they carry the group's flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul on Monday, June 16, 2014. (credit:AP)