Think the Islamic State is bad? Check out the 'good guys' US-backed Iraqi forces and their band of ruthless Shia militia groups have been carrying out atrocities of their own against Sunni civilians.

Think the Islamic State is bad? Check out the 'good guys'

US-backed Iraqi forces and their band of ruthless Shia militia groups have been carrying out atrocities of their own against Sunni civilians.

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Shia Muslim fighters loyal to Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr take part in a last combat training near the city of Najaf on Aug. 23, 2014, before joining government forces to fight Islamic State south of Baghdad. Iraqi officials were working to calm soaring tensions after 70 people were killed at a Sunni mosque. (Haidar Hamdani/AFP/Getty Images)

SULIMANIYAH, Iraq — Executing hundreds of prisoners without trial. Arbitrarily arresting villagers along sectarian lines. Hanging bodies from power lines to instill fear in the local community. Gunning down dozens of civilians as they gather to pray.
If this sounds like a checklist for the Islamic State, or IS, try looking across the front line at one of the United States’ key allies on the ground. While the world is focused on the IS terror threat, the US-trained and backed Iraqi government forces and their band of ruthless Shia militia groups have been carrying out atrocities of their own against Sunni civilians, on a scale that in some ways parallels their “terrorist” counterparts.
“Atrocities are being committed on both sides [by government-backed Shia militias and IS],” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's senior crisis response adviser. “The crimes being committed by Shia militias throughout Iraq amount to war crimes. These are not one-off cases. They are systematic and widespread.”
The Sunni extremist IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has grabbed headlines with their ruthless tactics in Iraq. Their systematic executions of Yazidis, Shia Muslims and Western hostages have been widely reported.
But Sunni civilians have also suffered. They are often labeled “terrorists” or “Islamic State supporters” by Iraqi authorities and civilians alike based on no more than ethnicity or sect. They also face arbitrary arrests and even execution at the hands of government forces.

“As incredible as it may seem, the IS-controlled areas are safer [for Sunnis] because if you do not step out of line, by and large they leave the Sunnis alone.”

~Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International

“The Kurds and minority groups have places that are relatively safe within the [Kurdish region]. Shias also have safe havens and Iraqi government protection, but for Sunni families it is really tough,” said Rovera. “Most are really quite terrified, especially the Sunni males and parents with young sons.”
An Amnesty International report released Tuesday titled "Absolute Impunity: Militia rule in Iraq," documented hundreds of abductions of Sunni civilians by Shia militias. In Samarra alone, an area that sits on the IS-Iraqi government border, Amnesty outlined 170 abduction cases since June. In many instances the groups demanded ransoms from family members, only to kill their loved ones after payment.
Iraqi lawyer Kassim Ali, who has dedicated his career to fighting for Sunni rights, said the bodies of victims of Shia militia groups were sometimes displayed in the streets of his hometown Baquba to “deter anyone from sympathizing with IS.” He personally has seen four Sunni men hanging from electricity poles. Local reports from July 29 described 15 bodies displayed in the Baquba public square that day.