A/HRC/28/18 6. Throughout the summer of 2014, the Popular Mobilization Movement ‘volunteers’ and Shia militia moved from their southern heartlands towards ISIL-controlled areas in central and northern Iraq. While their military campaign against the group gained ground, the militias seemed to operate with total impunity, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake. B. Mandate and terms of reference 7. A special session of the Human Rights Council was requested inter alia by Iraq and convened in the light of increasing violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including unlawful killings, deliberate targeting of civilians, forced conversions, targeted persecution of groups and individuals on the basis of their religion or belief, acts of violence against members of ethnic and religious groups, as well as destruction of places of worship and cultural heritage sites.. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dispatched a mission to Iraq pursuant to Council resolution S-22/1, adopted on 1 September 2014 without a vote. In that resolution, the Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to dispatch a mission to Iraq to investigate alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law committed by ISIL and associated terrorists groups, and to establish the facts and circumstances of such abuses and violations, with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring full accountability. 8. Also in resolution S/22-1, the Council requested the High Commissioner to provide an oral update on the implementation of the resolution at an interactive dialogue during its twenty-eighth session. The present report, submitted pursuant to this request, covers events linked to the armed conflict involving ISIL which took place in Iraq between June 2014 and February 2015. All the information it contains is based on rigorous human rights investigations carried out in Iraq between December 2014 and February 2015. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also verified information received on human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law that have been perpetrated by other parties to the conflict and documents them herein.3 C. Methods of work 9. The mission reviewed all available information, including testimony from witnesses and victims and documentation from the Government of Iraq,4 Member States and relevant United Nations and non-governmental organizations. It followed up on reports of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Iraq to verify their veracity and establish further facts. The mission conducted investigations in Chamchamal, Dohuk, Erbil, Kalar, Suleimaniyah and Zakho, and camps for internally displaced persons in those areas. 10. Owing to insecurity and heightened conflict in some areas of the country, and logistical constraints, the mission could not conduct investigations in many areas of Iraq where serious human rights abuses and violations had allegedly taken place, such as Kirkuk governorate and Mosul, Tel Afar and Zummar in Ninewa governorate. For areas that were physically inaccessible, the mission undertook telephone interviews or, when possible, met victims and witnesses in more secure locations. 3 4 4 Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 48/141. See notes verbales in the annex to the present document.