by the Rafidain International Center for Justice and Human Rights
Date: June 21, 2025
Based on the principles of international justice and the victims’ right to accountability and redress, the Rafidain International Center for Justice and Human Rights, representing the families of innocent victims, announces the completion of comprehensive and well-documented legal files concerning crimes and violations committed by armed militias operating under what is known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and affiliated groups. These militias have been implicated in a series of systematic crimes, including:
Premeditated murder
Brutal torture
Kidnapping and enforced disappearance
Forced displacement on sectarian grounds
Attacks on public and private property
Systematic violations of human rights
The Center has documented, with field and legal evidence, the involvement of these groups in the abduction and execution of more than 49,000 Iraqi civilians between the years 2014 and 2021, across the governorates of Nineveh, Anbar, Diyala, Salah al-Din, Baghdad, and Kirkuk, as part of systematic campaigns aimed at sectarian cleansing and internal terrorism.
Involved militias:
1. Kata’ib Hezbollah
2. Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq
3. Harakat al-Nujaba
4. Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada
5. Imam Ali Combat Division
6. Al-Tufuf Brigade
7. Babylon Movement
8. Liwa al-Fatimiyoun (backed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps)
9. Saraya al-Salam
10. Badr Organization
11. Ammar ibn Yasir Brigade
12. Assad Allah al-Ghalib Brigade
13. Promised Day Brigade
14. Saraya al-Zahraa
15. Dhulfiqar Brigade
16. Kafeel Zainab Brigade
17. Ansar al-Aqeeda Brigade
18. Al-Muntadhar Brigade
19. Badr – Special Groups
20. Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade
21. Jihad and Construction Movement
22. Popular Defense Brigades
23. Shiite Shield Battalions
24. Revolutionary Hezbollah
25. Al-Risali Current Battalions
26. Ashura Brigades
27. Malik al-Ashtar Battalions
28. Al-Abdal Movement
29. Islamic Movement of Iraq – Imam Ali Battalions
30. Army of al-Mukhtar
31. Popular Mobilization Forces (leadership and security apparatus)
32. Rab Allah
33. Islamic Resistance Army
Leaders under international sanctions:
Qais al-Khazali – Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq
Akram al-Kaabi – Harakat al-Nujaba
Rayan al-Kildani – Babylon Movement
Abu Zainab al-Lami – PMF Security
Faleh al-Fayyad – Head of the PMF Commission
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis – PMF Deputy Head (killed in 2020)
These crimes, under international law, are classified as crimes against humanity. The Rafidain Center affirms that it will take the necessary legal measures to submit these cases to the relevant international bodies, including the International Criminal Court.
Justice, though delayed… is coming.
