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Iraq
Mass graves were discovered near Camp Speicher after Iraqi government forces recaptured the area. File photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— A United Nations team investigating Islamic State (ISIS) crimes in Iraq (UNITAD) said on Saturday it has found “clear and convincing evidence” the massacre at Camp Speicher “constituted a number of war crimes under international law.”
ISIS executed an estimated 1,700 Shiite air force recruits at Camp Speicher near Tikrit on June 12, 2014. A large number of family members of the victims visited the scene of the crime in Tikrit on Saturday morning to commemorate the victims.
The cadets had been undergoing training at Camp Speicher and ISIS militants had initially promised them safe passage. The camp is currently named Majid al-Timimi Air Base and is located about 170 kilometers north of Baghdad.
“These are important recognitions of your suffering, but our investigations are ongoing, and with the new evidence currently being analysed we believe that other very serious crimes under international law may well be found,” UNITAD stated.
The UN team has identified 20 “key persons of interest” involved in the massacre, according to a report to the Security Council last month.
The remains of 1,235 victims have been recovered so far, according to the International Campaign for Missing Persons (ICMP), which is helping Iraqi teams safeguard and exhume the gravesites.
The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee asserted that all those responsible for the Speicher massacre committed by ISIS terrorist gangs in June 2014 should be held accountable.
A member of the committee, Ahmed al-Kinani, said that some of the participants in that massacre were prosecuted, but that was "not enough."
“The families of the victims must be given justice, and those who caused this massacre, and those who promoted this takfiri (accusation of apostasy) ideology, must be held accountable,” Kinani told state media.
More than 50 people accused of taking part in the massacre have already been sentenced to death by Iraqi authorities. Thirty-six of them were hanged in August 2016.
“There was a clear governmental failure that led to this tragedy," Kinani added, calling on all parties to "conduct an international trial as the incident is considered an international crime against humanity."
A leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi), Mu’ein al-Kadhimi, said that 1,200 out of 2,000 Speicher victims’ bodies were found and handed over to their families. However, 600 victims are still missing, in addition to 200 bodies that are still in the forensic medicine department.
Using DNA evidence, UNITAD has also identified the remains of 875 victims, most of them wearing civilian clothing, from 11 mass grave sites.
Defense Minister Jumaa Inad on Saturday affirmed that the crime committed at Speicher will not go unpunished.
"Today, we recall this terrorist crime… Revenge for the martyrs was the supreme goal of our valiant army and security forces," Inad said.
President Barham Salih stressed delivering justice to victims’ families, and fighting terrorism "to consolidate a capable state."
"The Speicher Martyrs' Rights Law was the least of our duties, and we all have to do justice to the families of the martyrs and complete the victory against terrorism by establishing a capable state that protects its citizens and ensures that such disasters are not repeated." Salih tweeted.
The Camp Speicher Massacre is considered one of the Islamic State’s most brutal crimes in Iraq.
ISIS executed an estimated 1,700 Shiite air force recruits at Camp Speicher near Tikrit on June 12, 2014. A large number of family members of the victims visited the scene of the crime in Tikrit on Saturday morning to commemorate the victims.
The cadets had been undergoing training at Camp Speicher and ISIS militants had initially promised them safe passage. The camp is currently named Majid al-Timimi Air Base and is located about 170 kilometers north of Baghdad.
“These are important recognitions of your suffering, but our investigations are ongoing, and with the new evidence currently being analysed we believe that other very serious crimes under international law may well be found,” UNITAD stated.
The UN team has identified 20 “key persons of interest” involved in the massacre, according to a report to the Security Council last month.
The remains of 1,235 victims have been recovered so far, according to the International Campaign for Missing Persons (ICMP), which is helping Iraqi teams safeguard and exhume the gravesites.
The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee asserted that all those responsible for the Speicher massacre committed by ISIS terrorist gangs in June 2014 should be held accountable.
A member of the committee, Ahmed al-Kinani, said that some of the participants in that massacre were prosecuted, but that was "not enough."
“The families of the victims must be given justice, and those who caused this massacre, and those who promoted this takfiri (accusation of apostasy) ideology, must be held accountable,” Kinani told state media.
More than 50 people accused of taking part in the massacre have already been sentenced to death by Iraqi authorities. Thirty-six of them were hanged in August 2016.
“There was a clear governmental failure that led to this tragedy," Kinani added, calling on all parties to "conduct an international trial as the incident is considered an international crime against humanity."
A leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi), Mu’ein al-Kadhimi, said that 1,200 out of 2,000 Speicher victims’ bodies were found and handed over to their families. However, 600 victims are still missing, in addition to 200 bodies that are still in the forensic medicine department.
Using DNA evidence, UNITAD has also identified the remains of 875 victims, most of them wearing civilian clothing, from 11 mass grave sites.
Defense Minister Jumaa Inad on Saturday affirmed that the crime committed at Speicher will not go unpunished.
"Today, we recall this terrorist crime… Revenge for the martyrs was the supreme goal of our valiant army and security forces," Inad said.
President Barham Salih stressed delivering justice to victims’ families, and fighting terrorism "to consolidate a capable state."
"The Speicher Martyrs' Rights Law was the least of our duties, and we all have to do justice to the families of the martyrs and complete the victory against terrorism by establishing a capable state that protects its citizens and ensures that such disasters are not repeated." Salih tweeted.
The Camp Speicher Massacre is considered one of the Islamic State’s most brutal crimes in Iraq.
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