Security Council: Briefing by Mr. Christian Ritscher Special Adviser and Head of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh / Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant

Mr. President,

Distinguished members of the Security Council,

I am honored to present the tenth report of UNITAD, the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for the Crimes committed by Da’esh/ISIL, and to inform you on the activities of the Investigative Team.

I present this tenth report, while also marking that it has been five years since UNITAD, established at the request of Iraq, began its work. As an international team with a unique mandate to investigate the horrific crimes of ISIL, UNITAD works in cooperation with national authorities, while promoting accountability for the crimes committed by ISIL throughout the world.

Today, we should pause for a moment and take stock of the progressive implementation of UNITAD’s mandate. Today, the commitment of the Iraqi Government, in partnership with UNITAD, to advance the fight against impunity, seek justice in the name of victims and survivors - most of whom are Iraqis -, and to address the remaining threat posed by ISIL, is stronger than ever.

Not long  after this esteemed Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2379 in 2017, a small team of less than ten people started working to advance the mandate of UNITAD. That small team has grown to about 150 UN staff members, along with approximately 60 contractors and consultants, all working with dedication and professionalism to achieve the goals of the Team. UNITAD now has eight specialized investigative units, has established a witness protection and support system, has set up a state of the art forensic laboratory, has established a specialized unit to assist the mass grave exhumation campaigns and the identification of human remains, and built up a team that supports the digitization of millions of documents which are now in possession of the Iraqi judiciary.

UNITAD has constantly been developing and readjusting strategies to improve its investigative work and the collection of evidence which is necessary to hold perpetrators accountable for the most heinous crimes codified in international criminal law. UNITAD is committed to supporting the efforts of our Iraqi counterparts towards the common goal of holding ISIL perpetrators accountable through evidence-based trials, which deal with their brutal attacks against all communities of Iraq, its people and the country itself, for international crimes, and not just for their membership in a terrorist organization. In administering their crimes in Iraq, ISIL focused on the victims, and the justice process should do the same.

Mr. President,

Over the last reporting period, my Team has continued to expand and develop, through professional investigative work, pioneering criminal knowledge about ISIL, and addressing the concerns and considerations of each victim group of the Iraqi society. I have personally continued to engage with religious and tribal leaders, representatives of affected communities, and survivors of ISIL crimes and I have been impressed by the support given to my team by the affected communities, especially the ones I  recently visited in Taza Khurmatu, in Hiit and in Ramadi. And I am grateful that UNITAD is able to work closely with all affected communities, and that my Team’s work is founded on openness and trust.

While in Najaf, I was deeply touched by the wise words of His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Sayed Ali Al Sistani,  who said that all ISIL victims matter equally, with no hierarchy. This same principle is the foundation of UNITAD’s work.

We must not forget that the survivors of ISIL international crimes are still deeply impacted. I saw this first-hand when I visited Taza Khurmatu earlier this year, while the town marked the anniversary of the not so widely known ISIL chemical attack against the population residing there and their agricultural land. On 8th of March 2016, ISIL weaponized several chemical agents and deployed these as chemical rockets and mortars, as well as improvised explosive devices, in the vicinity of Taza Khurmatu. Over the past months, I have prioritized and intensified this line of inquiry into ISIL crimes. My Team’s ongoing investigation has provided specialized insight and analysis on the munitions, remnants and materials that were recovered. Significant volumes of battlefield evidence, including ISIL payroll records and correspondence, were discovered, allowing the Team to identify persons of interest and establish links to potential senior ISIL members.

UNITAD has produced a case-assessment on the development and use of chemical weapons by ISIL. This  will be further detailed during a special event organized here at the UNHQ tomorrow, 8th of June, co-hosted by UNITAD, the Permanent Mission of Iraq and the Permanent Mission of India.

As you will have read in the 10th report, my Team has continued to advance its investigative work, covering ISIL crimes against all affected communities, and producing the full picture to expose the breadth of those crimes. This includes progress in our case-assessment reports on gender-based crimes and crimes against children, crimes committed against the Sunni population in Al-Anbar, and the against the Christian communities in Ninewa. 

Our investigations into ISIL attacks against the Yazidi community and the Shia community continue. Case-briefs have also been enhanced with additional evidence and analyses. The investigation on the destruction of Iraqi’s rich cultural heritage is another example of how UNITAD has shed light upon the full range of international crimes, committed by ruthless perpetrators motivated by a criminal ideology.

Mr. President,

It has been five years since UNITAD commenced its work on the ground in Iraq. For us, it is absolutely clear that only if we work side by side with Iraqi authorities, in particular with our counterparts in the Iraqi judiciary, UNITAD can be successful.

I think a legitimate question is: what constitutes “success”?

As a prosecutor leading an investigative team, I see the purpose of UNITAD’s work in Iraq is to not simply establish a record for ISIL crimes, but to hold ISIL members who committed such heinous international crimes accountable, through evidence-based trials and before competent courts.

But what do we need to achieve this?

I believe three elements are required: competent courts, admissible and reliable evidence, and an appropriate legal framework.

First, competent courts. This is the easier of the three. As I described earlier, my Team already works closely with competent investigative judges in Iraq, who fully support our investigations. In turn, UNITAD is enhancing their capacities and ensuring that Iraqi courts are ready to hold ISIL perpetrators accountable for their international crimes, when the moment comes.

Second, admissible and reliable evidence. There is a lot of discussion on the “evidence” on ISIL crimes. I can assure you that there is no shortage of evidence on ISIL crimes in Iraq, as ISIL was a large-scale bureaucracy that documented and maintained a state-like administrative system. The main challenge is: What should be done with this evidence? How can the significant volumes of documents and sheer amount of information be dealt with? And most importantly, how should the integral chain of custody for such evidence be maintained?

What we aim to do is to ensure that this evidence is admissible before any competent court, whether in Iraq or in other States where prosecutions of ISIL members for international crimes are taking place.

Allow me to be very clear – UNITAD is assisting the Iraqi judiciary to organize and access considerable volumes of ISIL records and battlefield evidence notably via a mega digitization project. Led by my Team, digitization operations have been launched at five courts in Iraq and two further Courts  will follow in the coming months. 

As of now, the impressive amount of 8 million pages of ISIL documents from the holdings of the Iraqi authorities, including Kurdish authorities, has been digitized. The recognised result of this is the ease with which members of the Iraqi judiciary can now make use of their holdings. Senior Iraqi Judges have informed me that their response times in relation to case files and requests for information have significantly improved, signalling lasting change because of these innovative efforts.

As a next step, UNITAD is establishing a central archive that will be the unified repository of all digitized evidence against ISIL. This will be located at the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq. Recently agreed with the Chief Justice, my Team will begin the launch of this archive in the coming days.

As a perspective for the future, this central repository will play a key role to support prosecutions of ISIL perpetrators for their international crimes in Iraq. Moreover, it could be a milestone to founding a comprehensive e-justice system in Iraq, which can be upheld as a leading example, not only in the region, but also globally.

The third and most important element is the adoption of an appropriate domestic legal framework that allows for such trials to happen. This can be considered the main challenge that needs to be addressed to yield the desired results in Iraq.

UNITAD remains committed to supporting the Iraq-led process for the implementation of a legal framework that enables the prosecution of ISIL criminal acts as international crimes -war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide- before national courts. The establishment of a joint working group in March 2023, with the Office of the Prime Minister, the National Permanent Committee for International Humanitarian Law, the Iraqi State Council and senior members of the judiciary, as well as key parliamentarians, is an important step forward in this regard.  UNITAD remains at the disposal of the Iraqi authorities to provide technical support, leverage international expertise and share best practices.

Mr. President,

As I have mentioned, five years ago UNITAD began implementing its mandate and started promoting accountability for the international crimes committed by ISIL in Iraq. From the very first day, the legal foundation of UNITAD’s investigations has been, and still is, customary international law. Once an appropriate domestic legislation on international criminal law has been adopted in Iraq, the way forward will be clearer. I remain hopeful that this will happen sooner rather than later.

In parallel, UNITAD has already begun to contribute to the preparation of future trials. The Team has intensified concrete cooperation with counterparts in the Iraqi judiciary, to jointly build cases against specific persons of interests and alleged perpetrators. We are now prioritizing persons of interest who are residing in other Member State countries. In doing so, UNITAD will work jointly with its Iraqi counterparts on a daily basis, and putting together information to achieve accountability for ISIL core international crimes, in line with the Team’s Terms of Reference.

These case building initiatives are designed to lead to a series of case files that contain information and evidence - contributed to by both sides, the Iraqi Judiciary and UNITAD. These jointly developed cases will pilot the direct sharing of evidence and further strengthen the close and trustful cooperation between my investigators and our Iraqi counterparts. Ultimately, this will lead to a better understanding of the investigative needs and methods of the Iraqi judiciary, and of UNITAD, when it concerns the provision of jurisdictional support globally.

Mr. President,

As outlined in Resolution 2379, UNITAD continues to complement investigations carried out by Iraqi authorities and, at their request, by Third States.

After five years of investigative work in Iraq, UNITAD has become a key facilitator for global efforts to hold ISIL perpetrators accountable for international crimes. Allow me to also say that UNITAD has become an indispensable member of the international network created to fight impunity for ISIL crimes. My Team is currently supporting 17 Third-State jurisdictions, conducting witness interviews, and providing expert testimonies and technical analysis in criminal proceedings against alleged members and supporters of ISIL.

Also, UNITAD can well contribute to solutions concerning the challenges of an effective repatriation of Iraqi nationals from camps in neighboring countries, including Al Hol Camp. UNITAD recognizes its role as an integrated part of the United Nations, and its added value to support system-wide reconciliation efforts in Iraq. Within the remit of its mandate, my Team stands ready to contribute to both a successful reintegration of returnees into the Iraqi society, and to provide Member States with the information necessary to prosecute individuals who allegedly committed international crimes. Accountability is an integral factor to sustain viable reconciliation, as is supporting accountability processes which can play a key role in encouraging Member States to repatriate their nationals and help resolve the complex situation in camps such as Al Hol.

Mr. President,

Distinguished Delegates,

Please let me reiterate that UNITAD is bridging the gap between crime scenes, victims and survivors, and alleged ISIL perpetrators. The Team continues to be impartial, independent, and credible in upholding the United Nations best practices and policies, and relevant international law, while responding, at the highest possible standards, to support accountability efforts, and to serve the fight against impunity of ISIL members and affiliates, wherever they are.

As the Head of this Investigative Team, it is not only important for me to say that my Team continues to gather the full spectrum of information on ISIL crimes committed in Iraq, but to also emphasize that it supports Iraqi authorities by enhancing their investigative capacities.

Mr. President,

Five years ago, UNITAD commenced its investigative work. We have shown that our unique and novel mandate to establish an international investigative team can yield positive results and success stories. UNITAD was designed as an offer of the international community to Iraq and its people, to jointly and successfully deal with the cruel legacy of ISIL. Let me state that UNITAD has been successful operating over the past years because Iraq accepted and supported this offer.

However, the work is not yet done and UNITAD’s mission is not yet accomplished. What we want to see in the future are fair trials before competent courts in Iraq and ISIL members convicted on charges of international crimes, with the active participation of victims and survivors. Without that, UNITAD’s mandate and purpose will not be fulfilled.

Justice can be a lengthy process, and often one can become impatient to see results. But, investigations, prosecutions and building evidence-based cases takes time, patience and perseverance, particularly in relation to international crimes cases. ISIL crimes in Iraq are no exception. ISIL’s criminality constitutes some of the most gruesome acts we have seen in recent history. Individuals responsible for such acts must be identified, tried and convicted for their crimes. Our duty is to walk together on this path for justice, with dedication and determination.

I thank you for your attention and continued support.