A United Nations mission formed to assist Iraq in investigating allegations of genocide and war crimes committed by the extremist terrorist group ISIS was forced to end its work prematurely before completing the investigations, due to strained relations with the Iraqi government.
The cancellation of the mission, which was established in 2017, comes nearly ten years after the extremist group swept through Syria and Iraq. Many victims of the group remain displaced in camps, longing for justice.
Christian Ritscher, head of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by ISIS, stated in an interview, “Is the work done? Not yet, and that’s very clear.”
“We need more time… and if we set a deadline in September 2024, we would not have completed the course of the investigations,” he added, noting the unfinished projects such as creating a central archive for millions of pieces of evidence.
Ritscher elaborated on the mission’s termination for the first time since the UN Security Council renewed the mandate for only one year in September, at Iraq’s request.
International supporters and donors of UNITAD had expected the investigative team’s work to continue for several more years.
Critics of Iraq’s decision to end the mission argue that it will hinder efforts to hold more ISIS members accountable, noting that the UNITAD team has contributed to at least three convictions for genocide and other international crimes in Germany and Portugal.
They also express concerns that this decision casts doubt on Iraq’s commitment to holding members of the group accountable for such crimes domestically, especially as the majority of convictions in Iraq relate only to the charge of joining a terrorist organization, not specific crimes like sexual assault or enslavement.
ISIS has experienced significant setbacks in Iraq over the past five years, with their threat level in the Middle East being considerably diminished. However, the group maintains a presence in Iraq, conducting attacks mostly targeting security forces and army officials, albeit less frequently than during its peak. According to experts, ISIS is at its “lowest level ever in Iraq,” managing only a few attacks weekly. Despite this, the ongoing violence indicates that ISIS retains influence in some areas of Iraq.
In February 2023, U.S. Central Command and its partners conducted 48 operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, resulting in the death of 22 ISIS operatives and the detention of 25. These efforts highlight the ongoing commitment to preventing ISIS’s resurgence. In Iraq alone, 33 partnered operations led to 17 ISIS operatives killed and 14 detained.
Despite these efforts, ISIS has shown signs of reorganization and recovery in both Iraq and Syria, exploiting financial constraints to fund significant operations. This resilience underscores the necessity for continued vigilance against the group’s activities and ideology.
