A/HRC/37/72 3. Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant 45. In June 2017, the Syrian Democratic Forces and affiliated groups, including the Free Syrian Army and tribal elements from Raqqah governorate, 11 primarily, encircled and gained control over parts of Raqqah city with air support from the international coalition. By then, an estimated 200,000 residents had left the city, but some 50,000 remained trapped inside. While most of those who could do so left the city, others such as the elderly and the infirm had no choice but to remain. Some interviewees said that they had decided to remain because they feared that ISIL would confiscate their homes if they left. Initial reports that ISIL was preventing civilians from leaving emerged in late June 2017 and continued until the end of the offensive to repel ISIL from Raqqah city in October. 46. As the Syrian Democratic Forces gained territory, it became more difficult for civilians to escape. Before June 2017, ISIL allowed some civilians, including the sick, to move to Raqqah countryside under their control. However, once the Syrian Democratic Forces encircled the city, ISIL stopped the practice and ordered residents living in the outskirts of the city to move to the centre. In early August, ISIL ordered a family in Albu Saraya neighbourhood to move to another building, which was hit by an airstrike two hours later. An estimated 30 civilians were killed in that strike. After the encirclement, it also became increasingly difficult for civilians to escape to the south using the old bridge over the Euphrates River, as the area became a frontline and ISIL planted landmines in areas where it lost control, forcing many civilians to pay smugglers to guide them through those areas. 47. ISIL used a variety of means to prevent civilians from leaving Raqqah city, including ordering civilians to move from neighbourhoods whose control it had lost to the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as using snipers and landmines. An extended family consisting of more than 20 people were reportedly leaving the city in mid-July after the Syrian Democratic Forces approached their neighbourhood, but ISIL ordered them to move to a western area which was still under its control. When the family sought to escape at night using the old bridge, they were shot at by ISIL snipers. Fortunately, no one was injured. Another group using the same route in early August was shot at by ISIL snipers; and four people, including two women and a disabled 11-year-old girl, were killed when a landmine exploded. 48. By ordering civilians to move to areas that it controlled and actively preventing them from leaving by sniping and laying landmines, ISIL attempted to render Raqqah city immune from further attack by using civilians as human shields. By deliberately placing civilians in areas where they were exposed to combat operations, for the purpose of rendering those areas immune from attack, ISIL militants committed the war crime of using human shields in Raqqah governorate.12 Further, interviewees recalled that, from a doctrinal viewpoint, ISIL considered those attempting to leave Raqqah city as apostates who were leaving dar al-Islam (the territory of Islam) towards dar al-harb (the territory of war) and as such they were targetable. 49. Despite the fact that civilians were being used as human shields, international coalition airstrikes continued apace on a daily basis, resulting in the destruction of much of Raqqah city and the death of countless civilians, many of whom were buried in improvised cemeteries, including parks. Some of those interviewed said that they had attempted to recover bodies from under the rubble, but were often unable to owing to the lack of heavy machinery. As the number of fatalities mounted, international agencies expressed concern about the risk that the bodies posed to public health, including the spread of diseases. 11 12 Those elements were mainly from Al-Sanadid Forces militia and Jabhat Thuwar al-Raqqah front. See, for example, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić, case No. IT-95-5/18-T, judgment of 24 March 2016 (four volumes), p. 199, para. 525. 11