United Nations investigators have found evidence ISIS are committing genocide against the Yazidi minority in Iraq . The human rights office published a horrifying report describing killings , torture , rape , sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers by the extremists , suggesting they may be guilty of 'war crimes , crimes against humanity and genocide . ' The report , based on interviews with more than 100 witnesses and survivors of attacks in Iraq between June 2014 and February 2015 , highlights brutal ISIS attacks on the Yazidis . Scroll down for video . Atrocities : Thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority were forced to flee a 2014 offensive by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq . They have made calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice at the International Criminal Court . ISIS , which controls a swathe of territory in Iraq and neighbouring Syria , launched a series of systematic and widespread attacks on the Yazidi minority 's heartland in the northern Nineveh province last August . The jihadists consistently separated out men and boys over the age of 14 to be executed , while younger boys were forced to become child solders and women and girls were abducted as the 'spoils of war ' , according to the investigators . Head of the investigation , Suki Nagra , said : 'These attacks were aimed at destroying the Yazidi as a group , ' suggesting ISIS was guilty of 'genocide ' against the minority . The report , which was ordered by the UN Human Rights Council last September following a request from the Iraqi government , pointed out that some villages 'were entirely emptied of their Yazidi population . ' Evidence of genoside : A mass grave containing the remains of members of the Yazidi community was discovered by Kurdish forces near the Iraqi village of Sinuni in February . Many Yazidi women and girls were sold into sexual slavery or handed over to IS members as 'gifts ' , the report said , adding that witnesses had described hearing girls as young as six screaming for help as they were raped in a house used by IS fighters . Boys as young as eight were forced to convert to Islam and given religious and military training , including being forced to watch videos of beheadings , the report said . 'One of the most shocking thing was how organised the attacks have been , ' Nagra told reporters . The Yazidis at first thought they would be given the same choice as Christians in places overrun by the jihadists : to convert to Islam , pay a tax or leave . But then the fighters received orders via telephone , and suddenly the men and older boys were being marched off to be executed . 'There was a clear chain of command , ' she said . Innocent : A Yazidi child whose family fled a 2014 offensive by Islamic State militants at the Dohuk shelter for displaced civilians in Iraq 's autonomous Kurdistan region . According to witness and victim testimony , foreign fighters from at least 10 countries , including a couple of westerners , had taken part in the attacks , as had some people from neighbouring villages . The Yazidis , whose ancient religion has elements of Christianity , Islam and Zoroastrianism , are considered to be devil worshippers by the Sunni Muslim militants . Other religious and ethnic groups have also been targeted , according to the report , including Christians , Turkmen , Kurds and Shia . 'No community has been spared , ' said Nagra , pointing to the thousands of Christians who fled their homes last June after being ordered by IS fighters to convert to Islam , pay a tax or leave . IS fighters attacked the Badoush prison that month , dividing the 3,000 inmates into groups , freeing the Sunnis and loading the remaining 600 mainly Shia inmates onto trucks , before driving them to a ravine and shooting them . The jihadists have also ruthlessly targeted anyone perceived to be connected with the Iraqi government , the report said , pointing to the massacre last June of up to 1,700 cadets from the Speicher army base , after they reportedly surrendered . One witness had described how the cadets were either shot or beheaded , and said he had seen several IS fighters 'kicking heads around like footballs , ' Nagra said . Displaced : Thousands of Yazidis fled across the border into Syria as the religious minority were subjected to mass killing , torture and rape during a 2014 offensive by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq . Outcry : Iraqi Kurdish protesters hold placards and shout slogans denouncing the ISIS threat to Yazidi women and girls during a 2014 demonstration outside the United Nations offices in Arbil . Faced with the horrific scope and details of these crimes , the investigators urged the Iraqi government to allow the cases to be tried before the International Criminal Court . They also called on the UN Security Council to refer the cases to the international court . 'Ensuring that there 's no impunity , that there will be accountability ' is of the utmost importance , said Hanny Megally , who heads the UN rights office 's Middle East branch . The investigators meanwhile said Iraqi security forces and affiliated militia had also been accused of a range of serious crimes during their operations against IS . A separate UN investigation into the situation in neighbouring Syria has also found that IS was committing large-scale atrocities in the war-ravaged country , likely amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity .
Report describes killings , torture , rape and sexual slavery by ISIS . Calls for perpetrators to be brought before International Criminal Court . Boys over 14 executed while younger ones turned into child soldiers . Women and girls sold into sexual slavery or gifted to ISIS members . 1,700 army cadets shot or beheaded with jihadis kicking heads as footballs . Report based on witness accounts of more than 100 survivors .