Ezidi 24 – Baghdad

The fourth report on the activities of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2490 (2019).

About collection of forensic material and excavation of mass graves, the report state: The Investigative Team has continued to prioritize the collection, analysis and preservation of material at mass graves and other major crime scenes. Those activities have been informed by close engagement with religious and tribal leaders, survivor groups and local authorities in order to ensure that the work is conducted in a manner sensitive to community concerns.

During the reporting period, the Team agreed on an additional set of sites for excavation with the Mass Graves Directorate of the Martyrs Foundation and the Medico-Legal Directorate of the Ministry of Health of Iraq, in cooperation with the Kurdistan Regional Government and the International Commission on Missing Persons. Exhumations at two sites close to Mosul commenced in March 2020, with work now temporarily suspended owing to COVID-19-related travel restrictions in place in Iraq.

“These exhumations will resume as soon as possible in close consultation with Iraqi authorities”, the report stated

In recognition of the importance of promptly returning remains to the families, the Team has sought to support the Iraqi authorities in finalizing the identification of victims whose bodies were exhumed from mass grave sites at the village of Kojo in the Sinjar district. In February, the Government of Iraq announced that 62 victims had been formally identified. The Investigative Team continues to work with the Iraqi authorities to formally identify the remaining victims. A ceremony for the repatriation of remains organized by Iraqi authorities and Yazidi community leaders, in consultation with the Investigative Team and ICMP, was scheduled to take place in March 2020 but has been postponed owing to measures relating to COVID-19.

The Special Adviser has continued to underline that the identification of all victims must urgently be accelerated. In addition, he has emphasized the crucial importance of ensuring that family members of those identified are fully engaged in the return process, including through the provision of information prior to the release
of the names of those identified. The Team will work closely with Iraqi authorities, survivors and Yazidi community leaders to ensure that this is done.

With a view to strengthening the capacity of Iraqi authorities in that area, the Team has supported the installation of an advanced disaster victim identification system at both the Medico-Legal Directorate and the Mass Graves Directorate.
Through that system, Iraqi authorities will be able to apply state-of-the-art processing to large amounts of data on missing persons and victims from major crime scenes. The system has also been put in place at the premises of the Investigative Team in Baghdad, allowing for enhanced cooperation between the Team and Iraqi authorities in that field in a manner consistent with the terms of reference.

Its important to mention that, through effective cooperation with the Iraqi judiciary, the Investigative Team has obtained over 2 million call data records from Iraqi telephone service providers for its investigation into crimes committed against the Yazidi community in Sinjar. In addition, the Team has received international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) and subscriber data of telephone numbers connected with persons of interest. The analysis
of those data is anticipated to add significant value to existing and future lines of investigation, including through the identification and geolocation of suspects d uring time periods relevant to the commission of crimes.