UNITAD Delivers Milestone Results to the Supreme Judicial Council

This structured version, which enhances searchability of the information through categorization and tagging, is what UNITAD has relied upon to rapidly identify materials relevant to its investigations and respond to requests from third States. 

An analytical report produced by the Team on the crimes committed by ISIL (Da’esh) against women and children from the Shi’a Turkmen community was also delivered along with the underlying evidence originally collected by UNITAD in the field. Based on this information, the report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that ISIL (Da’esh) committed international crimes through the criminal conduct of, among others, murder, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery and persecution on religious grounds. Additionally, underlying evidence originally collected by UNITAD for an already published report (“Report on Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls Committed by ISIL (Da’esh) in Iraq”) was delivered separately.

Finally, original copies of 55 forensic reports and other analytical products prepared by the Team were delivered with the aim of further contributing to the work of the Iraqi authorities on mass grave excavations and their related investigations. UNITAD and the Government of Iraq have excavated 68 mass grave sites across Iraq linked to the crimes of ISIL (Da’esh) since the beginning of the mandate, most recently near Tal Afar, and have worked closely together on the identification and return of victim remains from these excavations. 

The Acting Special Adviser noted that “these results are a milestone in our work and demonstrate delivery of our mandate in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolution 2379 (2017) and UNITAD’s Terms of Reference.” She added that “this structured version of the information is a major achievement that has supported the investigative work of the Team and resulted in reports like the ones delivered today. This powerful tool must continue to be used to advance ISIL (Da’esh) accountability efforts in Iraq and globally”.