KRG working to formally recognize ISIS crimes: spokesperson

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Region is working towards the recognition of the crimes committed by the Islamic State group (ISIS), almost seven years after the group attacked Iraq in 2014, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson said on Monday.

The KRG, in cooperation with the Iraqi federal government and the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh (UNITAD) is working towards reaching the goal of recognizing ISIS crimes committed against the people of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, Jotiar Adil said in a press conference. 

It is focusing specifically on crimes against minority groups “and more specifically the crimes committed in Shingal,” he added, referring to the Yazidi heartland in Nineveh province. 

ISIS-controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, displacing millions of people and subjecting many more to their brutal reign. They also killed and abducted thousands, especially members of the ethnoreligious Yazidi community.

The goal of the KRG is “to bring back the rights of the people and to recognize the crimes committed by Daesh [ISIS] as genocide,” Adil said.

More than 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped when ISIS attacked their heartland of Shingal in Nineveh province, according to the KRG Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis. Over 2,000 remain missing.

The Netherlands and Belgium recognized the ISIS genocide against the Yazidis in early July, joining several countries that have officially recognized it.

Evidence has established that the ISIS crimes committed against the group “truly” constitute genocide, Karim Khan, head of the UNITAD told the UN in May.

Last month, Iraq’s Supreme Court rejected calls to establish a criminal court to try ISIS suspects in Erbil.