A/HRC/27/60 humanitarian law. ISIS carried out public executions to instil terror among the population, ensuring submission to its authority. 38. ISIS has committed acts of violence against the civilian population under its control in Ar Raqqah and eastern Aleppo governorates. That is a continuation — and a geographic expansion — of the widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population identified in document A/HRC/25/65. ISIS, a structured group, directs and organizes those acts of violence against civilians, evincing an organizational policy. While victims appear to be largely hors de combat fighters, the unlawful killings in Ar Raqqah governorate and in identified localities in Aleppo governorate form part of the attack. In perpetrating those killings, ISIS has committed the crime against humanity of murder. B. Hostage-taking 39. Parties to the conflict continue to seize hostages, in violation of international humanitarian and criminal law. The majority of the victims are women and children. 1. Government forces 40. As Government forces sought to take control of restive areas in Rif Damascus, they detained female relatives of wanted men to force the men’s surrender. In February, the mother and sister of a wanted man were arrested in eastern Ghouta. Their photographs were sent with the message that the women would be killed unless he surrendered, which he did shortly thereafter. In April, two women, one of whom had recently given birth, were arrested in separate incidents at Al-Jorjanieh checkpoint on the road to Zabadani. Women were also taken as hostages in Hawsh Arab in April. In all those instances, ultimatums sent to their male relatives stated that, if the men failed to surrender to Government authorities, the women would be killed. 2. (a) Non-State armed groups Anti-Government armed groups 41. Armed groups continue to hold hostages for extended periods. On 4 August 2013, groups, including Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra, abducted over 200 civilians during an operation on villages in eastern Latakia. On 23 September 2013, the Islamic Front kidnapped over 56 civilians from Zahra (Aleppo). In both instances, most hostages were women and children. While a small number of hostages in both cases have been released, the whereabouts of the majority remain unknown. (b) Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham 42. On 29 May, ISIS fighters in Minbij abducted 153 Kurdish schoolboys, aged 13 and 14 years old, as they returned to Ayn al-Arab from Aleppo city, where they had taken their year-end examinations. Five boys escaped and 15 were released on 28 June, reportedly as part of a prisoner exchange for three ISIS fighters held by YPG. The 133 remaining hostages are in ISIS-controlled territory. Negotiations for a prisoner exchange with YPG are said to be ongoing. (c) Unknown perpetrators 43. In December 2013, a pattern of holding hostages for ransom was documented in Damascus. In all cases, armed men abducted the hostages. It is unclear whether the perpetrators were armed groups or criminal gangs using the conflict for self-enrichment. 8