UNITAD must stay
United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) was established after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted resolution 2379 (2017) which requested the Secretary-General to establish an investigative team, headed by a Special Adviser, to assist Iraq with efforts to hold Da’esh accountable by gathering, conserving and storing evidence in Iraq of acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Iraq, including the Yazidi genocide. When pursuing investigations, UNITAD says it should act impartially, independently, and credibly whilst being consistent with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and relevant international law, including international human rights law. Its investigations are meant to complement the investigations of the Iraqi government and respect the country’s sovereignty.[1] It tries to ensure effective cooperation with the Iraqi government by working in unison with the National Coordinating Committee (NCC). The NCC is made up of key national bodies, such as senior representatives of the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Security Advisory, and the Ministry of Justice, in addition to a representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government.[2]
UNITAD’s work is far-reaching. It has created multiple sub-units for its work, such as the Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes and Crimes Against Children Unit (SGBCCU) which has the obligation of ensuring that UNITAD effectively investigates sexual and gender-based crimes and crimes against children committed by Da’esh in Iraq. Investigators of this unit are international and national specialists versed in the investigation and prosecutions of serious sexual and gender-based crimes, and crimes against children. According to UNITAD, the SGBCCU takes suitable measures to ensure respect for the confidentiality, interests, and individual situations of victims, in the light of their age, sex, sexual orientation, gender and health. This includes taking into account the nature of the crime in its investigations, particularly, where it involves sexual violence, gender violence or violence against children. Additionally, The SGBCCU cooperates with UNITAD’s clinical psychologists to assist vulnerable victims, in particular children, women and victims of conflict-related sexual violence, who come forward to the Investigative team or other relevant bodies in order to provide such victims with appropriate support.[3]
UNITAD aims to provide this professional standard in all aspects of its mandate, including the worldwide promotion of the need for accountability for crimes by Da’esh. This is done by amplifying the voices of survivors and impacted communities which is meant to combat the global narrative created by Da’esh, thus undermining the legitimacy of the ideology that reinforces the group’s criminal activities. Moreover, in UNITAD’s programme of victim engagement, which started in 2020, the Special Adviser conducts several awareness-raising activities and consultations with Member States, international organisations, and victims’ groups, including hosting a series of meetings or conferences with national authorities to identify common challenges and potential areas for cooperation concerning the prosecution of members of Da’esh. These forums strive to, for instance, identify shared challenges in the prosecution of such cases. Additionally, UNITAD’s Special Adviser engages with Member States in which Da’esh-affiliated groups have made efforts to enlarge activities.[4]
A recent win for the Yazidi community at a German court, made possible by UNITAD, is the conviction of a Da’esh member for aiding and abetting genocide against Yazidis. UNITAD has supported the German prosecution by recognising and interviewing the key witnesses, a Yazidi woman who was held as a slave for 3 years by the Da’esh couple, and her husband. Special Adviser Ritscher commented on the prosecution: “This conviction and other similar ones constitute tangible progress towards justice and bringing some comfort to the families and victims. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together, as we continue to work tirelessly to support more prosecutions for Da’esh perpetrators. This is the justice we all want to see, in Iraq and throughout the world.”[5]
Though the UNSC recently voted to extend UNITAD’s mandate, there have been growing concerns that the mandate may not be renewed past September 2024, despite the tangible progress UNITAD has made. Thus, YLN wishes to underline the importance of UNITAD’s work. The aspects mentioned above make the mandate especially imperative as presently there is doubt about Iraq’s capacity to preserve evidence gathered by UNITAD, Iraq has no working legal framework in place to use UNITAD’s evidence, and it has no experience prosecuting international crimes.[6] Furthermore, Iraq has not communicated any plan to move the process of prosecutions forward without UNITAD’s expertise, nor has Iraq ratified the Rome Statute recognising the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court or responded to comprehensive propositions submitted by survivor groups to found a hybrid tribunal to prosecute Da’esh members for international crimes.[7] [8]
Presently, Iraq alone is not able to achieve meaningful justice for survivors.For UNITAD’s work to be stopped so suddenly, whilst Da’esh members have yet to be tried in Iraq for core international crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes), would be a calamity and a blatant act of injustice for survivors, Iraq, and the international community. It would undermine the purpose of legal frameworks across the globe, as all those who have been affected by these heinous crimes will never attain compensation and restoration, both of which are vital components of justice. Therefore, we, Yazidi Legal Network, implore the UNSC to keep renewing UNITAD’s mandate until justice is reached.
About the author
Meriam Holmström has volunteered for YLN since 2021. She holds an LLM in Transnational Law from King’s College London. In the past, she has written for organisations such as Lawyers Without Borders King’s College London division and the European Law Students’ Association.
Sources
Cover photo by: @hisham_art_74
[1] Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD), “Our Mandate” United Nations https://www.unitad.un.org/content/our-mandate
[2] Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD), ”Cooperating with the Government of Iraq” United Nations https://www.unitad.un.org/content/cooperation-government-iraq
[3] Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD), “Supporting Victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes and Crimes Against Children” United Nations https://www.unitad.un.org/content/supporting-victims
[4] Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD), “Promoting Da’esh Accountability Worldwide” United Nations https://www.unitad.un.org/content/promoting-da’esh-accountability-worldwide
[5] “Relentless Pursuit of Justice and Accountability Continues: 9 Years Since the Yazidi Genocide” Relief Web (3 August 2023) https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/relentless-pursuit-justice-and-accountability-continues-9-years-yazidi-genocide-enar
[6] “Press Statement by Nadia Murad and Amal Clooney on Renewal of UNITAD Mandate” Nadia’s Initiative (12 September 2023) https://www.nadiasinitiative.org/news/press-statement-by-nadia-murad-and-amal-clooney-on-renewal-of-unitad-mandate
[7] ”Iraq: Vote on UNITAD Mandate Renewal” Security Council Report (14 September 2023) https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2023/09/iraq-vote-on-unitad-mandate-renewal-2.php
[8] “Concerns about the non-renewal of UNITAD’s mandate in Iraq” Relief Web 13 September 2023 https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/concerns-about-non-renewal-unitads-mandate-iraq-enar