(VOVworld) - The UN Human Rights Council convened a special session on Monday on human rights in Iraq because of serious violations by the self-declared Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and associated armed groups. The meeting was held at the request of 30 member countries and 30 observers, including Iraq. Reports on human rights violations in IS-occupied areas of Iraq say the group has caused heavy casualties among civilians in addition to kidnapping, blackmail, torture, abductions, forced conversions, slavery, sexual abuse, the forced recruitment of children, and the besieging of entire communities because of ethnic, religious or sectarian affiliation. Those acts have seriously violated many human rights and fundamental freedoms including the right to live, the right to be treated humanely, the right to religious freedom, and the rights of children, women, and minority groups. Participants at the meeting condemned the IS’s actions, especially its arbitrary executions of detainees and the killing of civilians, adding that some of those could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.