PARIS: The head of a UN body investigating crimes by Daesh in Iraq expressed regret over “misunderstandings” that led to the premature end of its crucial mission, at Baghdad’s request.
Daesh seized vast swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014, carrying out abductions, beheadings, ethnic cleansing, mass killings and rapes.
The Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh, also known as UNITAD, was set up in September 2017 — as Daesh was being driven out of its last major strongholds in Iraq.
In an interview with AFP, UNITAD head Ana Peyro Llopis reflected on its seven-year effort to bring the terrorists to justice, and said “misunderstandings” with the Baghdad authorities contributed to the mission’s closure later this month.
Peyro Llopis noted it has been the only such international investigation mission to be established on the ground.
“There are not many who would have opened their doors to us in such a generous way” to investigate crimes, she said in the telephone interview.
“We could have publicly recognized, more clearly, that the good work we were able to do was only possible because we were invited and that it is unique.”
UNITAD’s mission will end on Sept. 17, years ahead of its expected completion, after the Security Council last year renewed its mandate for only one year at the request of Iraq’s government.
“The Iraqis have seen concrete results in foreign jurisdictions, and got the impression that UNITAD cooperated more with foreign states than with Iraq,” said Peyro Llopis. “Everything could have been better explained,” she added.
A major bone of contention with Baghdad was the sharing of evidence.
“The UN has strict rules of confidentiality and respect for the consent of those who testify,” she said, meaning that not all evidence was passed on to the Iraqis.
Media reports spoke of tensions between UNITAD and the Baghdad government.
