Iraq NGO: ISIS likely to implement FGM fatwa

The radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group has issued a religious edict (Fatwa) that all females aged 11-46 in and around the northern city of Mosul undergo genital mutilation (FGM). (File photo: Reuters)

An Iraqi human rights organization said Friday that the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of #Iraq and #Syria (ISIS) will likely implement a religious edict (Fatwa) that all females aged 11-46 in and around the northern city of Mosul undergo genital mutilation (FGM).

“We’re sure ISIS will follow through with what they’ve announced,” William Warda, head of media relations at Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, told Al Arabiya News

Women working for ISIS may be used to check whether or not females are genitally mutilated, said Warda, a leading member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement.

“ISIS has women, who have their faces veiled, carrying weapons to intimidate families,” he said.

Asked if these women were Iraqi, he said: “Their accents were particularly from Mosul itself.”

He added: “These women were either lured to work with ISIS or were forced.”

Women in Mosul are scared to leave their homes, Warda said.

Jacqueline Badcock, the number two U.N. official in Iraq, told reporters on Thursday that the ISIS order would potentially affect 4 million women and girls.

“This is something very new for Iraq, particularly in this area, and is of grave concern and does need to be addressed,” she said, according to Reuters.

“This is not the will of Iraqi people, or the women of Iraq in these vulnerable areas covered by the terrorists,” she added.

Meanwhile, ISIS has not officially confirmed or denied the report.

Doubts over the fatwa

The text of the purported “fatwa” being circulated on the internet, however, has raised questions of authenticity. It appeared dated July, 11, 2013 and referred to the group as the “The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.” Since the group declared an “Islamic Caliphate” last month, it rebranded itself as the “Islamic State.”

Besides, the document appeared to be stamped in the city of Aazaz, north of the Syrian province of Aleppo. ISIS has reportedly withdrawn from Aazaz under pressures by the Syrian Free Army several months ago.

Bushra al-Obaidi, a member of the independent Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, said FGM is illegal in Iraq and can cause death.

Obaidi said the commission has compiled a list of human rights violations by ISIS, and has sent it to the United Nations and the European Union.

Hundreds of Christians have fled Mosul after ISIS issued a deadline to either convert to Islam, pay a tax or leave.

Warda said the city’s tribes, which initially accepted ISIS out of resentment towards the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, will eventually rebel against the group.

The tribes “didn’t know about ISIS’ dark ideas,” he added.

Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, was seized in a lightening offensive on June 10 after ISIS allied with other forces seeking to oust Maliki. Al Arabiya