UN investigative team in Iraq digitalized 18 million pages of Daesh documents

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The UN investigative team (UNITAD) has digitalized 18 million pages of documents from the the terror group in the last six years.

"Over the past 6 years, in cooperation with the competent Iraqi authorities, the Team (UNITAD) has excavated 67 mass graves; digitized 18 million pages of ISIL-related paper records and extracted data from a significant number of seized ISIL (Daesh) digital devices," acting special adviser and head of UNITAD, Ana Peyro Llopis, told the UN Security Council.

Reminding that UNITAD's mandate will conclude Sept. 17, Llopis said all parties were conducting intensive cooperation to present evidence within the framework.

She said evidence, materials and analyses the team obtained would be delivered to Iraqi authorities before Sept. 17.

"As agreed with the Iraqi authorities, the team has also prioritized the delivery of capacity-building activities," she said.

She added that the team has also been assisting with requests from third countries.

Llopis emphasized that 20 countries have requested support and the team would strive to fulfill the requests before the mandate ends.

She noted that UNITAD has contributed to the legal assessment of activities carried out by the group between 2014 - 2017, which may constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

"Ten years later, the calls for accountability to hold those responsible for the international crimes they committed in Iraq remain," she added.

The UN investigative team in Iraq was established May 31, 2017, to gather evidence to support prosecutions of members of the terror group.

On Sept. 15, 2023, UNITAD's mandate was extended a final time until Sept. 17, 2024.

Deash/ISIS seized vast swathes of territory in Iraq in Syria and declared a self-styled caliphate in 2014. The terror group suffered key losses in 2017.