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‘No tolerance’ for repeat of abuses in upcoming Iraq campaign: U.S. envoy

The U.S. envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition said on Wednesday there would be "no tolerance" for sectarian torture and other abuses resulting from the planned offensive to recapture the group's de-facto Iraqi capital of Mosul. Brett McGurk, speaking at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, said the […]

Yara Bayoumy writes for Reuters:

The U.S. envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition said on Wednesday there would be "no tolerance" for sectarian torture and other abuses resulting from the planned offensive to recapture the group's de-facto Iraqi capital of Mosul.

Brett McGurk, speaking at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, said the coalition was already taking steps to ensure there would be no repeat of the abuses seen in the wake of the recapture of Iraq's Falluja in June, when Shi'ite militias detained, abused and tortured scores of Sunni civilians. Improved screening of people fleeing the city was crucial, he said, to ensure that ordinary residents received assistance and did not face abuses.

"We must make sure the screening process in Mosul is done professionally with some third-party observers at the screening centers, that is what we hope to have," McGurk told the meeting.