Yasir Alsalim – People’s Road Newspaper

Few days ago, videos widely shared on social media, revealed the abuses committed by soldiers against civilians from the people of Fallujah have raised a wave of resentment and societal and political controversial.
According to a statement of the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights, 609 citizens of the city who escaped from the hell of Daesh, were released – after being arrested- for proving their innocence during the investigation, four of them died for being beaten (as reported), and two others were taken to the hospital because of the seriousness of their health conditions.
As these violations occurred, we cannot simply shake our heads and overcome them; saying that it is individual practices carried out by members of the security services.

It is good that the prime minister spoke of the abuses against civilians, and instructed to investigate them, as he promised to hold the perpetrators accountable according to the law. It is also important that the Defense Minister has instructed the Intelligence Directorate in the ministry to investigate theses incidents. The other positive aspect is what are being said by the military leaders, that the military operations to liberate Fallujah could have been resolved in days if the safety of civilians and the preservation of the lives of innocent people were not the first priority.
This is a reassuring message in its content, but not enough, unless there are effective accountability for the perpetrators as soon as possible. There is no desire to inflate the size of the violations, as sectarian horns wish, because it would be a guarantee to avoid repeating the violations against innocent civilians.
The battle with Daesh is not over yet, and there are hundreds of thousands of victims, who are waiting for their salvation and liberation from the influence of terrorists. Therefore, abusive actions should not be allowed to cause concerns to those people from the liberation and salvation.

This is not the responsibility of the government, state institutions and political forces only, but also is a societal responsibility of the organizations and elites. Because the standing of those who pretend the sectarian representation against those violations is more dangerous than the violations itself.

There is no doubt, that the current juncture, which the country going through is the most dangerous, were its basic description is ‘the war on terror and the salvation from it’.

Therefore, I think that in a country going through a massive war, nothing is more important than putting the culture of respect for human rights as much as possible, in order to open the ways out of the current impasse.

In situations of war, especially those taking place within one nation, nothing spread more than a common spirit of hatred and revenge, and therefore extremism, and unbridled desire to (victory).

However, what is the value of the victory and the liberation of the cities from Daesh and its terrorists without bringing peace?
For me, maintaining the seeds of peace should be at the top of the agendas. Otherwise, victory is temporary, just from military side.
What achieves lasting victory is: lasting peace, and the available opportunity.