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Taking a break from shoveling sand against the bottom of the tent his family has been assigned in Khazir Camp southeast of Mosul, Ahmed Ali Hamna, 39,relates how he spent two yearshiding from the self-styled"Islamic State" (IS).The former policeman recently arrived from Iraq's second city Mosul.

"When Daesh catches you, they will behead you," he tells DW, using the local Arabic name for IS. That risk was not new to him: As a police sergeant in Mosul, he was always at risk for not joining the group. "For two years, I hid, going from house to house. And when you do go out, you make sure your trousers are short and your beard long enough, so you nobody notices you."

A young woman appears from the tent. She is his widowed sister, Hamna says. "Daesh killed her husband, my cousin. They took him from his homebecause he was in the intelligence services before. After a month in prison, he was executed."

The victim was his brother, Abu Sabrine, 24, tells DW, sitting alone and watching how Hamna is now covering the tent with silver-colored sheets of isolation material. "My brother was betrayed by my cousin. And a second brother died because of a suicide attack by IS."

Waiting for documents made under IS occupation to be legalized

Splitting families apart

The story of this family shows how IS not only split society, but also families. Seven of his relatives complained about the intelligence past of his brother to IS, Abu Sabrine says, who is using a pseudonym to protect himself. At least four of his cousins actually joined the radicals. "They threatened me that if the army came and I reported them, they would kill me."

He felt very uncomfortable about the situation. "With Daesh in your family, they know all about your life and your past, and it is very hard to keep a low profile."

The young builder had to hide how much he loathed them, he says. "They killed young and old, took people's money and cars, killed two of my brothers! I hate them!"

Yet people around him would judge him mainly for his family ties with IS members, says thefather of two baby daughters. They would keep out of his way. "People distrust you, hate you. Nobody will get close to you anymore."

While the Iraqi army has so far liberated the eastern half of Mosul, the numberof people fleeing the city has also risen. Weekly, some 10,000 civilians reach the safety of camps for the internally displaced, like the one in Khazir, just outside the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, whichhouses over 30,000 people in more than6,000 tents. In total, some 150,000 people have fled the Mosul area since the battle started in October.

Reliving the suffering

Newcomers in the camp wait for NGO's to distribute aid

With their arrival, the suffering of two yearsunder IS occupationbecomes all too clear. Most people hardly talk about the recent violence, the mortars that hit their houses, the snipers, and the car bombs, even though half of all those who were wounded in Mosul are civilians. Some of their stories are about hunger and shortages, but most are about fear, suppression, deceit, and betrayal.

Some volunteer their stories, desperately wanting to share them with the world. Like Ahmed Hilla,18, who pulls up a trouser leg to show his badly maimed leg. "They pulled me behind a motorcycle through the street," he tells DW. "My leg was broken and has never been looked after."

He says he was targeted for not abiding by IS rules. He listened to music on his headphones, Shiite music, even though he knew how much IS hates Shiites - to which group he does not belong. And he must have been aware of the danger, as his brother had been executed by IS for working with the Americans. "I was bored," he says. "Yes, you can call it resistance. It was my neighbor who reported me."

IS is infamous for the way it punishes civilians. Fleeing is no guarantee for safety. Hillal arrived alone in the camp after his family was caught when they tried to cross the river that divides the city. "We were going across by boat. I got away. But I do not know if they are dead or alive."

Lucky to escape

Mouna Abbas, 24, recounts that she was lucky to escape alive. "We tried to escape in the night through a valley with a small river. Daesh forced us to hide in the cold water for hours. My father was frozen and can hardly walk anymore."

IS has torn apart the Sunni communities, she says. "It's hard to see a future. So many joined Daesh. They stormed the houses, scared the children, there are so many traumas. We cannot live with them anymore. My cousin now works with the camp security to make sure none of them will sneak in."

"Never!" says Haifa Ibrahim when asked if she would live next to someone connected to IS. She hugs her young daughter. "We will report anyone who has been with Daesh. There were some in our neighborhood of whom we had never expected it. They were normal people. You wonder how they changed so much."

Families of IS members have already been banned from a number of places in Iraq. Human Rights Watch (HRW) is alarmed, as the provinces Salahadin and Babel have issued decrees to prohibit them from returning and to confiscate their properties and belongings. Clemency is promised only tothose families who turned in therelative who worked with IS, or killed him. In Anbar province, the tribes decide who is allowed back. In areas under Kurdish control, dozens of villages have been destroyed because they housed IS members - in many instances innocent villagers who had nothing to do with them became collateral damage.

Those lucky enough to have fled the violence nevertheless carry the scars of IS occupation with them

"Cancer cells"

HRW points out that often families do not have the power to keep sons, daughters, or relatives from joining. For many, it has become unclear where they will be able to settle and puts in doubt any reconciliation process, the human rights organization warns.

The expectation is that the measures against IS families will differ from neighborhood to neighborhood and from tribe to tribe. People connected to IS may relocate to areas where nobody knows them, where they can possibly start afresh without the shadow of Daesh lingering over them.

Former policeman Ahmed Hamna points out that many who were with IS in Mosul had no alternative or were forced to join. "They are victims too." At the same time, he calls them "mafia" and "the cancer cells in our Mosul society with all its different groups. Everybody who was with Daesh, should be tried."

For his wife's brother-in-law, that is not enough. Abu Sabrine, who lost twobrothers but at the same time is looked upon with distrust because of his cousins' IS involvement, is very clear what he thinks should be done with IS members who are caught. "Execute them. They should all be hanged."

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'IS' splits Iraq's Sunni community and families - Deutsche Welle

Dhulfiqar Naqvi endured death threats and lived in fear for years before fleeing his native Iraq to build a new life as a refugee in the United States. But the hopeful beginning he carved out in Las Vegas was suddenly hollowed out two weeks ago, when he learned that his brother, Saif, and his family would not be able to join him as planned because of President Donald Trumps travel ban.

Naqvi, who already had found and furnished an apartment for his brothers family just a few buildings away from his own, was full of plans for Saifs early days in his new country and eager to hear how his parents were faring in their native land.

But those expectations were flattened when he learned that his brothers flight had been canceled by Trumps since-suspended executive order barring refugees from seven mostly Muslim countries, including Iraq.

We respect the rules, but now we are afraid the rules (are) not respecting us, Dhulfiquar said of his thoughts at that moment.

Dhulfiqars emotional roller-coaster reversed direction again on Friday. He was overcome with sheer joy as he saw his brother, his sister-in-law and three young nephews walking toward him through the domestic baggage claim section of McCarran International Airport.

IM IN HEAVEN RIGHT NOW

The brothers, who had not seen each other for nearly a year, wept and held onto each other as if, by the sheer force of their embrace, they could prevent anything from coming between them again.

Im in heaven right now, believe me, Dhulfiqar, 33, said. I want to go home and talk. My father and mother, I havent heard about them for a long time.

Saif, 35, spoke of renewal.

Now I can start my life again here with my kids, my wife, he said. No one now can threaten me. Its like a weight has been lifted from my heart.

The Naqvis were among 13 refugees bound for Las Vegas whose lives were upended by Trumps order on Jan. 27, which banned immigrants and refugees from Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya. In the ensuing days, after chaos ensued at airports around the world and the ban was blocked in federal courts, all but one of those 13 canceled flights was rescheduled.

Deacon Tom Roberts, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, the states official refugee resettlement office, said the ban sent shock waves through his Catholic Charities staff and the local refugee community.

Can you imagine, he said, after being in a refugee camp for a number of years and finally getting the chance to come and then literally at the 11th and half hour youre told youre not going? he asked.

Like other U.S. states, Nevada has a sizable refugee population, most of whom left their home countries because of terrorism or threats of death, fleeing for their lives, according to Roberts. Nearly 900 have resettled in the Silver State so far in fiscal 2017, and close to 12,000 refugees have relocated here since 2011.

The vast majority of those newcomers came from Cuba. But they hail from all parts of the globe, including a total of 1,481 from five of the seven Muslim-majority countries named included in the travel ban.

Catholic Charities finds housing for the refugees, provides them with intense English as a second language instruction and helps them find work, in addition to providing them with guidance during their first months and years in the United States.

Some are coming from very faraway places with a great deal of duress and trauma in their lives, Roberts said. We are the ones who welcome the stranger among us so they can feel comfortable in their new home.

The Naqvi brothers are in some ways typical of those they help.

Both worked for a U.S. military contractor in Iraq, with Dhulfiqar helping arrange entry and exit visas and Saif specializing in information technology.

THREATS AND THREE BULLETS

Their work and that of their father, an engineer who worked for an Italian company also contracted by the U.S. government, put the brothers and their families in the crosshairs of militant groups opposed to the U.S. presence in Iraq.

Death threats were a daily concern. At one point, Naqvi said, his familys home was broken into and threatening statements were written on the walls; at another, they received an envelope containing three bullets and a note telling the brothers and their father to leave the country.

Until they could qualify for refugee status, the Naqvis stayed on the move. They changed homes at least five times and sometimes slept in their offices. They drove as many as 15 different cars, repainting them often and changing their license plates and altered their driving routes.

Dhulfiqar, who has a wife and three children, was first to qualify, arriving in the U.S. in April and spending six months in Chicago before moving to Las Vegas in search of warmer climes.

Now, living in a two-bedroom apartment just a few miles from the Strip, he said hes thrilled that he can leave his home in peace, knowing that he can go to the store, do his work, run errands, and see the sites without fear of reprisals.

We left everything, he said and are starting anew in the United States with a new life, new friends Its difficult, he said, very difficult, but its safe for the kids and for my wife.

Bill Olds, a retired U.S. Army colonel and Vietnam veteran from Las Vegas, who has sponsored eight foreign nationals who relocated to the U.S., including two who were sponsored by Catholic Charities. He said Trumps order had an impact that extended far beyond those who were about to board flights.

He said six of those families contacted him when the order was issued seeking assurances that the Trump administration doesnt view them as ISIS sympathizers.

They wanted to know if they could be deported or prevented from visiting their families in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

Olds, 78, who voted for Trump, said he agrees with the goal of the presidents order, though he thought its implementation was unfair to those who risked their lives to aid the U.S. military, especially interpreters.

His intentions to ban ISIS, prevent them from entering the U.S. and fulfill his pre-election promises are excellent, he said. However the manner in which he announced and executed this executive order is the pits.

Review-Journal staff writer Keith Rogers contributed to this report. Contact Lucy Hood at lhood@reviewjournal.com or 702 387-2904. Follow @lucyahood on Twitter.

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Refugees' emotional roller-coaster: Brothers from Iraq reunited in Las Vegas - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Michael Fallon says the unit could be closed down as early as this summer. Photograph: Katia Christodoulou/EPA

The unit investigating claims of abuse by British forces in Iraq is to close down, the government has announced, saying it will also greatly reduce similar inquiries connected to Afghanistan and Northern Ireland.

Ministers said the decision was made after misconduct findings against a solicitor involved in many of the claims. However, rights groups said it was important abuse was not brushed under the carpet.

The Iraq historic allegations team (Ihat) will close as early as this summer, the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, said on Friday. Any remaining investigations expected to soon fall to about 20 from a peak of 3,000 will be investigated by the Royal Navy police.

They would be expected to complete any final investigations by the summer of 2018, Fallon added.

He said the decision was made after the campaigning human rights lawyer Phil Shiner was struck off this month over multiple professional misconduct charges, including dishonesty and lack of integrity.

Shiner had led legal claims against British troops for their treatment of Iraqi detainees after the 2003 invasion. His company, Public Interest Lawyers (Pil), was involved in passing on almost two-thirds of the 3,392 allegations received by Ihat.

Shiner had pursued the case of Baha Mousa, a Basra hotel worker whose death after 36 hours in British military custody prompted an inquiry which condemned the treatment of detainees.

However, other allegations turned out to be untrue. In 2014 the long-running al-Sweady inquiry rejected claims that British soldiers murdered insurgents and mutilated their bodies. Shiner later admitted paying an Iraqi middleman to find claimants, in breach of professional standards.

His downfall was the beginning of the end for Ihat, said Fallon. This will be a relief for our soldiers who have had allegations hanging over them for too long. Now we are taking action to stop such abuse of our legal system from happening again.

As part of this process, the Royal Military police is to discontinue about 90% of 675 allegations of abuse from Afghanistan, a Ministry of Defence statement said.

For historical investigations in Northern Ireland, the government will ensure veterans and former police officers are not dragged through the courts in disproportionate numbers compared with terrorists, the statement added.

General Sir Nicholas Carter, chief of the general staff, said credible abuse claims should be investigated. However, a significant number of claims made against our soldiers have not been credible, he added.

A winding down of abuse inquiries has been called for by some Conservative MPs and newspapers. But Amnesty International said the failings of Shiner and his firm should not mean all abuse claims were dropped.

As we know from Baha Mousas torture and killing as well as the fatal forcing into a canal of a 15-year-old boy in Basra, UK forces in Iraq did some terrible things to people in their custody, said Allan Hogarth, Amnestys UKs head of policy.

These werent isolated cases numerous other cases involving alleged abuses of Iraqi detainees by UK military personnel have been settled out of court by the MoD.

Weve always said its vitally important the UK sets an example internationally by making sure any credible allegations of human rights violations are both independently and thoroughly investigated.

The UKs military reputation is on the line any credible allegations of abuses by UK forces in Iraq and Afghanistan should be independently investigated, which must mean by a body that is separate from the military itself.

The government has previously committed to ending what it calls an industry of vexatious claims against soldiers by allowing the military to opt out of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) during future conflicts.

While derogating from the ECHR in times of war or public emergency is permitted under the rules of the Council of Europe, which oversees the treaty, the plan has also been condemned by rights groups.

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Iraq war claims unit to be shut down, says UK defence secretary - The Guardian

By Hameed Darweesh By Hameed Darweesh February 10 at 7:00 AM

Hameed Darweesh recently resettled to the United States after nearly 10 years working for the U.S. government in Iraq.

Protestors rally against the immigration ban at New York's JFK airport. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)

I started working with the U.S. Army, Bravo Company 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Baghdad on March 1, 2003. I joined because ofmy complete faith that the United States had come to Iraq to give us our freedom and dignity back and remove injustice.

Despite my decade of service to the United States, when I finally got my visa and arrived in New York late last month, I was detained for more than 18 hours at the airport because of the ban President Trump ordered on travel from Iraq and six other mostly Muslim nations. This was not the America I knew. Maybe the ban is not really reflective of America: It has been blocked by the courts so far, including a federal appeals court ruling Thursday night, sothat it cannot take effect while its being challenged.

When I was first detained, I was disappointed and surprised. But when I was released, my faith was again restored. I was moved by the crowds of people who came to welcome me. And Im so glad that I have come to live here with my wife and our three children.

I spent about a decade working for the U.S. government in Iraq, as an Army interpreter, an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers and for the State Department at the U.S. Consulate in Irbil. I helped Americans protect Iraqis from al-Qaeda terrorists, provide water and electricity, train local police and renovate utilities, roads, bridges, schools, libraries, clinics and hospitals. When I was with my Army colleagues, we were brothers in arms. We lived together, ate together and looked out for each other. They treated me like a soldier alongside them, and we were all one unit. I still have a very strong relationship with them.

[America needs to bring its Afghani and Iraqi interpreters home]

In 2005 in Baghdad, two of my Iraqi colleagues were tracked and killed by terrorists. I was also ambushed, but got away. The same terrorists tried to track me a second time. They knew my home address, and I expected them to attack any moment. I lived very carefully. The day that they came to my house, I ran away before they showed up. The next day, my family and I moved to another city. But after a year and a half, the terrorists found me again. They were looking for me in a public marketplace, and I was warned by neighbors to leave. We moved again, but we knew we would not be safe forever. So I decided to try to move us to the United States.

I contacted a friend who was an officer in the Army, and he gave me the email address for the International Refugee Assistance Project, a nonprofit based in New York that provides legal representation for people seeking refugee status. I contacted them, and their CUNY Law chapter took on my case in October 2014.

I waited for my visa for almost three years. I filled out many forms and submitted documents to the U.S. government. I had to travel back to Baghdad to be interviewed at the embassy. I was finally granted my visa on Jan. 20, 2017, the day Trump was sworn in. I received the visas for my whole family the following Wednesday.

That day, our representatives in New York called to say we should fly to the United Statesimmediately because an executive order would be issued soon that would prevent us from traveling. We didnt know it would take effect while we were in midair.

We had to leave most of our things behind; we didnt even get to inform our relatives that we were leaving. Our lawyers first booked us on a flight Thursday that would have gotten us to New York Friday morning. But the airline didnt let us board, because we didnt have a visa wed need to make two scheduled connections in Turkey. IRAP rebooked us on a flight out Friday morning, with just one stop in Istanbul, that would land that evening in New York.

We arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport around 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 27 an hour after the travel ban was signed. When we got off the plane, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer escorted me to another office without my family and asked me to wait. He held my passport with my U.S. Special Immigrant Visa inside, and he took an envelope I had been given at the embassy in Baghdad with additional documents. The officer said my family could wait outside by baggage claim.

They kept me in the back office.

At first, they didnt ask any questions. I could not see a clock, so I did not know how much time had passed. I started to worry: I knew our legal team was waiting for us in the airport, but I wasnt sure if they met my family.

After about two hours, I asked an officer, Why am I here? She said, You just wait. After a while, I asked again, and she got nervous. She told me they were waiting for a phone call. I asked if I was arrested or if they suspected me of something, and her answer was No. I told them I wanted to meet my attorney or make a phone call, but they did not answer.

After four or five hours, I realized it must be because of the executive order. When I was still in Iraq, my legal team had prepared me for the possibility that the order would make an officer detain and question me. They even prepared a letter for me to give to the officers, which I had done right away. There was no other reason they could have stopped me.

That night, I was confused and did not know what to do. I kept asking about my family, but I got no answers. What happened to them? How were they doing? I was sure they were scared. But I had no choice: I knew I should listen to the officers and keep calm.

[The U.S. once invited me here because Im Iraqi. Now Trump wants to ban me for it.]

At some point, they decided to move me to another part of the airport. Two officers asked me to empty my pockets. They put everything I had in a bag and informed me that they would move me to another terminal. They said they were preparing to send me back to Iraq. When I asked about my family, they told me I would meet them there and we would all be deported out of the United States and sent back to Iraq.

They said they would handcuff me until we arrived at the next building, telling me, It is for your safety, because it is a dangerous area. I told them I did not want any trouble, and they handcuffed me. It was the first time in my life I had been put in handcuffs. I tried to explain again that I served with the U.S. Army in Iraq, and had come to the United States because the government created a resettlement program to support people like me who worked with the Army. They didnt respond.

I was put in a chair in another room. I couldnt sleep, because I was very worried about my family. I thought there must be something wrong, a misunderstanding. It was clear the officers were confused and did not know what to do with me. I asked them, Are you arresting me? They said, No. Do you suspect me? No. I told them again that I had a Special Immigrant Visa. They could not answer my questions.

I was so confused. I had waited for so long and presented so many documents to the U.S. government over many years to prove my service. After all that, they were going to kick me out? They knew I was repeatedly threatened in Iraq. How could they treat me this way after all I had done? No one could give me any explanation for why they were holding me. People like me who served the United States should be welcomed. We have sacrificed and faced enough risks because of our service.

Around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, after nearly 12 hours in detention, one of the officers told me, You have a right to talk to your attorney. They called Jonathan Polonsky, my familys supervising IRAP attorney. He said they were working hard to release me, filing a lawsuit to challenge the ban alongside the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups. He told me, Do not worry about your family. They are safe with IRAP students. They have left the airport. Federal agents continued to hold me.

That day, one of the officers bought food for me with his own money. Finally, one of the officers told me they would help by filling out a form with my information, asking me some questions and asking me to sign it. We will return your stuff and you will be free with your family, one officer said. He apologized and told me they were just doing their duty and following an order. Welcome to the United States, and thank you for serving our country, he said. Thank you, sir, I told him. I understand. And then they released me.

When they escorted me into the airport, a crowd greeted me. They welcomed me to the United States. In that moment, I felt the greatness of America. Yes, this is the United States of America this is the America I knew from my work in Iraq.

Over the course of those 18 hours, I had grown more and more disappointed. They let me down by treating me as a criminal and putting handcuffs on me. But then, I was welcomed by good people cheering for me and for my release. I came from a country where there was no respect for human rights, no freedom of speech. So I was shocked to emerge from the airport and be greeted with cameras, members of Congress and reporters asking for my opinions. The people who welcomed me at the airport deserve all I did for their country they are the true Americans.

I can never thank IRAP, Reps. Nydia M. Velzquez and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), and the people who came to JFK to support me enough. Because of their compassion, I know that my hard work and risks were appreciated. I am grateful to my legal team: Polonsky, Gregory Fries, Amanda Candileri, Katy Naples-Mitchell and Whitney McCann. They worked hard for almost three years until I got here, and they continue to support me.

America is great because of its people. The American people have shown me that they are friendly, kind and generous. They believe in freedom, in human rights, in respect for other nations.

What happened to me did not make me cynical. I am very hopeful about my new life and the future of my family here in the U.S. I have a final message for the American people: You make up thegreatest nation in the world. Thank you for your help and support. May God bless you and your country. And may you stay united.

Read more:

I tried to fly home to the U.S. on Friday. Trumps new ban meant I couldnt.

Refugees are already vigorously vetted. I know because I vetted them.

Dont let the U.S. abandon thousands of people who worked for us

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I risked my life for the US Army in Iraq. But when I came here, I was nearly sent back. - Washington Post

The man was arrested by counter-terrorism officers at Gatwick airport and taken to a central London police station. Photograph: David Bebber/REUTERS

A man from Hertfordshire has been arrested at Gatwick airport as he arrived from Iraq on suspicion of plotting terrorist acts.

Scotland Yards counter-terrorism unit initially stopped the 44-year-old under schedule 7 of the 2010 Terrorism Act as he left the plane.

The man was later arrested under section 5 of the 2006 Terrorism Act suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts and taken to a central London police station where he remains in custody.

The schedule 7 powers allow officers to stop and search individuals without suspicion in ports and hold them for questioning for up to six hours but a mandatory detention takes place where an examination lasts for more than one hour.

A total of 21,651 people were examined under the power in Britain in the year to September, according to the most recent Home Office figures, of which 1,665 resulted in detention.

The official threat assessment to the UK from international terrorism is severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. Hundreds of Britons are suspected of travelling to Iraq and Syria in the last few years to fight for Islamic State and other extremist groups. Security services believe as many as half could have returned to the UK.

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Counter-terrorism unit arrests man arriving at Gatwick from Iraq - The Guardian