The Ishaqi massacre refers to the reported
mass murder of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
i
civilian
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...
s allegedly committed by
United States forces in the town of
Ishaqi on 15 March 2006.
After the massacre,
Iraqi police
The Iraqi Police (IP) is the uniformed police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law in Iraq. Its organisation, structure and recruitment were guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and it is ...
accused the US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people, including five children and four women, before blowing up their house. A
US military
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...
spokesman at the time responded that it was "highly unlikely that
he allegationswere true".
US authorities said US troops were involved in a firefight after a tip-off that an
al-Qaeda supporter was visiting the house. According to the Americans, the building collapsed under heavy fire, killing four people—a suspect, two women and a child.
Diplomatic cables released by
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
in 2011 revealed that
Philip Alston
Philip Geoffrey Alston is an Australian international law scholar and human rights practitioner. He is John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, and co-chair of the law school's Center for Human Rights and Globa ...
,
United Nations special rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, immediately raised questions about the incident.
In June 2006 the US indicated they were re-investigating the incident, after the
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group" that appeared to contain evidence supporting the allegations of the Iraqi police.
The investigation found that US military personnel had followed the proper procedures and rules of engagement, and were not guilty of misconduct. The
immediately rejected the results of the US probe, stating they would continue their own investigation.
Immediately after the US investigation was closed, the Iraqi government responded by opening their own investigation, with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki aide Adnan al-Kazimi stating that the US report "was not fair for the Iraqi people and the children who were killed."
In September 2011, the Iraqi government reopened their investigation after WikiLeaks published a
, appeared to support the version of events given by residents in Ishaqi. Alston cabled the
a few weeks after the incident. Alston stated that US forces handcuffed and executed the residents of a house on 15 March 2006. The residents included five children under 5 years of age. Autopsies later confirmed that "all the corpses were shot in the head and handcuffed".