Head of the UN Investigative Team called for the creation of a domestic legal framework in Iraq to investigate ISIL crimes

The head of the Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (UNITAD) Christian Ritscher called for the adoption of an appropriate domestic legal framework that would allow for trials in the country.

He said UNITAD remains committed to supporting the Iraq-led process of putting in place a legal framework that allows the criminal acts of ISIL fighters to be treated as international crimes in national courts.

The establishment of a joint working group with the participation of the Prime Minister's Office, the National Committee on International Humanitarian Law, the State Council of Iraq and high-ranking representatives of the judiciary, as well as key members of Parliament in March 2023 was an important step forward in this direction, Christian Ritscher noted.

Regarding admissible and reliable evidence, the UN investigator noted that there was no shortage of evidence of ISIL crimes in Iraq and the main problem was how to use this evidence and, most importantly, how to maintain a complete chain of storage.

“Our goal is to ensure that this evidence is admissible in any competent court, whether in Iraq or in other states where ISIL members are being prosecuted for international crimes,” he said.

As a next step, UNITAD is creating a central archive that will become a single repository for all digitized evidence against ISIL, Christian Ritscher said.