A group of Iraqi soldiers has seemingly used their Instagram handle @iraqiswat to let its 80,000 followers to decide the fate of a captured militant - allegedly a Daesh member - then posting pictures of the outcome.
After capturing the combatant south of Mosul, the account holders posted pictures to Instagram with a caption indicating followers had one hour to vote and decide his fate.
"You can vote For (kill him or let him go) You have one houer to vote We will post his fate after one houer. Tag your friends and take your right take your reveng from isis right now," the caption read.
A follow-up photo showed the captive apparently dead on the ground, while other soldiers holding weapons stood behind him. The follow-up caption read, "thanks for vote."
Instagram removed the photos from the account hours later, but the @iraqiswat account remains active, posting other photos and videos of battle scenes.
This is not the first time the account holders have asked for a vote on a captive's life. In December, the same account acted out a similar scenario, later posting images of the captive's death.
A formal legal officer at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Gideon Boas, also told British daily the Guardian that if the images showing the deaths of captives were verified, it would "unquestionably" be evidence of a war crime.
“Whether or not that person is a combatant – and therefore receives the protection of prisoner of war status – or falls to be dealt with as a domestic criminal, either way, that person has to be subject to a criminal process," Boas said.
