Wednesday, March 20, 2024

UNITAD ends work ‘early’ after straining relations with Iraqi government, 21 MARCH

UNITAD ends work ‘early’ after straining relations with Iraqi government

Shafaq News / A United Nations mission formed to help Iraq investigate accusations of genocide and war crimes by ISIS, was forced to finish its work early before completing the investigations, after its relationship with the Iraqi government was strained, according to Al-Hurra.

The cancellation of the mission, formed in 2017, comes nearly 10 years after the terrorist organization overran large areas of Syria and Iraq, while many of the organization’s victims remain displaced in the camps and yearn for justice.

Christian Richer, head of the UN investigation team to promote accountability for crimes committed by ISIS, told Reuters in an interview: “Has the work been done? Not yet, and that’s pretty clear.”

He added: “We need more time. And if we set a deadline in September 2024, we will not have completed the progress of investigations or other projects, such as a central archive of millions of evidence.

Critics of Iraq’s decision to end the mission say it will hamper efforts to hold more ISIS elements accountable, after UNITAD team contributed to at least 3 convictions, on charges of genocide and other international crimes in Germany and Portugal.

They also say it casts doubt on Iraq’s commitment to holding ISIS members accountable for such crimes at home.

For his part, the prime minister’s foreign relations adviser, Farhad Aladdin, told Reuters that the investigation team was “no longer needed” from Baghdad’s point of view, considering that the team “did not cooperate successfully” with the Iraqi authorities.

He added that the mission “has not responded to repeated requests for sharing evidence, and must do so now before ending its work.”

https://www.shafaq.com/ar/سیاسة/يونيتاد-تنهي-عملها-مبكرا-بعد-توتر-علاقاتها-مع-الحكومة-العراقية

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