UN prepares to hand over ISIS evidence to Iraq

WASHINGTON DC - The United Nations team investigating crimes committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq is preparing to share with Iraqi authorities the 40 terabytes of evidence compiled in its six-year investigation as it wraps up its mission next month.

"We are now in the process of providing our results to the competent Iraqi authorities," UNITAD's public information office said Tuesday in an email reply to Rudaw. "This includes a consolidated, digital version of these evidence holdings... as well as investigative reports assessing that acts committed by ISIL/Da'esh in Iraq may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide."

"A copy of this original evidence will be kept by the United Nations as part of its records and archives, together with other materials originally collected by the Team, in line with United Nations policies and best practices and relevant international law," it added.

UNITAD (United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL) was established in 2017 by the UN Security Council at the request of the Iraqi government to ensure that ISIS militants would be held accountable for their crimes. The team's work included collecting witness testimony, leading the exhumation of mass graves, and training Iraq's judiciary.

The investigative team, however, had a difficult relationship with the Iraqi government, reportedly due to UNITAD's reluctance to share information with Iraqi authorities over concerns about the use of the death penalty. Iraq requested UNITAD end its mission and its mandate will expire on September 17.

"Steps have been taken over the past months, in cooperation with the Government of Iraq, to ensure an orderly drawdown and liquidation of the mission in advance of this date," UNITAD's public information office stated. 

The UNITAD team has "been working diligently to ensure the Iraqi authorities are in the best position possible to advance domestic accountability efforts prior to the conclusion of the mandate, while at the same time respecting the end date of the mission," it added.

In response to the allegation of a poor relationship with Iraqi authorities, UNITAD said they have cooperated closely for six years.

"It is important to note that the Team has worked closely and daily with Iraqi counterparts over this six-year period, in particular the Iraqi Judiciary, Mass Graves Directorate, and the Medico-Legal Directorate, to provide equipment, training and technical assistance. This has required significant cooperation, supported national capacities," it said, adding that "enjoyed extensive support" from the national authorities.

Representatives of Yazidi victims of ISIS have expressed concern about what will happen with the evidence gathered, including ongoing exhumations of mass graves, and the goal of seeing some justice through trials on the charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

UNITAD said they are working to ensure the investigation can continue in the future.

As UNITAD closes, we are also focusing on the provision of capacity-building to the competent Iraqi authorities, including evidence management; witness protection and psychosocial support; mass grave excavations; digital forensics; digitization and archiving of ISIL-related records, to ensure sustainability of the progress that has been made over the past six years as part of ongoing accountability processes," the public information office stated.

According to UNITAD, in the last six years the team has excavated 68 ISIS-related mass graves and the victim remains that have been identified have been returned to their loved ones. In addition, "18 million ISIL-related paper records are now digitized and archived in cooperation

with the Iraqi judiciary, and data - ISIL-related documents, photos, videos - has been acquired from a significant number of digital devices seized from ISIL by the Iraqi authorities," the office stated.

The UNITAD team has collected some 40 terabytes of evidence.