Iraq: Islamic State

(asked on 12th November 2018) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Iraq on (1) their planned timeline for the exhumation, collection, transportation, storage, identification, and return of human remains to families, and (2) whether they plan to strengthen the Mass Graves Directorate, following the recommendations of the report of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Unearthing Atrocities: Mass Graves in territory formerly controlled by ISIL, published on 6 November.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 26th November 2018

The UK welcomes the United Nations' 6 November report on Mass Graves, which underlines the scale of the horrific crimes committed by Daesh against humanity. We agree with the report's recommendations, including the pressing need for justice for victims and their families. It is important that the Government of Iraq allocates sufficient resource to this important task so that members of Daesh are held to account for their actions. The report will inform the work of the UN Investigative Team for the Accountability of Daesh in gathering evidence of Daesh crimes, for which the UK has provided £1 million in funding. UK officials in Baghdad regularly raise with the Government of Iraq the need to investigate missing persons and bring perpetrators to justice, but have not directly made representations about the number of criminal judicial processes it is engaged in nor about the planned timeline for exhumations. However, the UK and Iraq co-hosted a conference on 14 November in The Hague in order to discuss next steps on this agenda; attendees included UNITAD Special Adviser Karim Khan, the International Committee of Missing Persons and the Iraqi Chief Justice. The report makes clear the need to ensure that similar crimes are never committed again, and we are working closely with the newly elected Government of Iraq to address the conditions that led to Daesh's rise and ensure peace, stability and security for all Iraqis.

Reticulating Splines