A/HRC/30/66 13. In Baghdad, terrorist attacks with improvised explosive devices were made on a daily basis, killing and wounding civilians. Unidentified bodies continued to be found around Baghdad and its outlying areas. 14. UNAMI/OHCHR continued to monitor and report on the human rights situation. UNAMI/OHCHR has repeatedly called upon all armed groups to comply strictly with applicable international humanitarian and human rights law and to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians the effects of hostilities. UNAMI and OHCHR issued joint reports on the protection of civilians in the armed conflict in Iraq on 18 August 2014, 3 26 September 20144 and 23 February 2015.5 They also issued joint reports on the death penalty in Iraq in October 2014,6 and on the judicial response to allegations of torture in February 2015.7 The ongoing hostilities and violence have, however, had a severe impact on the ability of UNAMI and OHCHR to verify furthermore allegations in areas under the control of ISIL or to provide technical assistance in those areas. III. Human rights priorities and technical assistance needs A. Protection of civilians 1. Impact of the conflict on civilians 15. From 1 January 2014 to 31 May 2015, UNAMI/OHCHR recorded at least 46,114 civilian casualties (15,612 killed and 30,502 wounded) as a result of the non-international armed conflict in Iraq.8 Owing to severe limitations to the capacity of UNAMI and OHCHR to verify reports of civilian casualties, these figures should be regarded as the minimum. Additionally, the number of civilians killed as a result of secondary effects of violence, such as lack of access to food, water or medicine, is unknown. 16. UNAMI/OHCHR supported the Government’s efforts to fulfil its primary responsibility to protect civilians from the effects of conflict and violence, and to meet its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law. For instance, in May, it organized training courses for staff members of the National Operations Centre, composed of representatives of various government ministries, on State obligations in relation to international humanitarian law and human rights principles, including principles of proportionality and distinction, and reporting on incidents involving civilian casualties. 3 4 5 6 7 8 OHCHR/UNAMI, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Non International Armed Conflict in Iraq: 5 June – 5 July 2014. OHCHR/UNAMI, Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Iraq: 6 July – 10 September 2014. OHCHR/UNAMI, Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Iraq: 11 September – 10 December 2014. OHCHR/UNAMI, Report on the Death Penalty in Iraq, Baghdad, October 2014. OHCHR/UNAMI, Report on the judicial response to allegations of torture in Iraq, Baghdad. February 2015. The civilian casualty figures given in the present report include civilians and civilian police officers, including civilian casualties from Anbar Governorate. UNAMI was prevented from effectively verifying casualties in conflict areas owing to the prevailing insecurity. The figures for casualties from Anbar Governorate, provided by the Anbar Health Directorate, might be underestimated owing to the heightened volatility of the situation and disruptions to services. In some cases, UNAMI was able to verify only partially certain incidents in the governorate. 5