UNITAD Publishes Findings on International Crimes Committed by ISIL (Da’esh) against Predominantly Shi’a Inmates of Badush Prison
14 September 2024
14 September, Baghdad: As part of the completion of its activities prior to its closure, UNITAD has published a report setting out detailed findings on international crimes committed by ISIL (Da’esh) during its attack on Badush Central Prison near Mosul on 10 June 2014. It is estimated that 1,000 male prisoners – predominantly Shi’a, but also a few Sunni, Yazidi and Christian – were executed by ISIL (Da’esh) members in at least six locations on this day. With the support of UNITAD, and as of the date of the report, the remains of over 600 victims have been excavated as part of these investigations, in co-operation with the Mass Graves Directorate and Medico-Legal Directorate of Iraq.
Consistent with UNITAD’s findings in other lines of investigation (e.g. the report “Camp Speicher: A Pattern of Mass Killing and Genocidal Intent”), the report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the killing operation at Badush Prison was undertaken with genocidal intent in the context of an ISIL (Da’esh) genocidal policy against the Shi’a in Iraq.
With the support of SITU, UNITAD prepared a video providing an overview of the attack on Badush Prison and the findings of the Team as to international crimes committed against the inmates. This is the third such collaboration between SITU and UNITAD that aims to visualize notable attacks perpetrated by ISIL (Da’esh) using information collected by the Team.
A version of this report was shared with the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq on 10 September 2024, and elements of the underlying investigations have previously been shared with competent authorities of third States, in accordance with UNITAD’s Terms of Reference and its broader mandate to promote accountability globally for ISIL (Da’esh) international crimes.
The public version of the report is available here.
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