Islamic State: Crimes against Humanity

(asked on 28th February 2018) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are providing funds to third-party organisations to enable the collection of court-ready evidence for International Criminal Court (ICC) category crimes in the territory of Iraq; and, whether, following the passage of UN Security Council resolution 2379, court-ready evidence is being collected in the territories of Syria or Iraq in order to prosecute perpetrators of ICC category crimes.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 14th March 2018

Daesh must be held accountable for their crimes. Daesh fighters – regardless of their nationality – should be brought to justice according to legal due process.

The Investigative Team established under UN Security Council Resolution 2379 will gather evidence of Daesh crimes, beginning in Iraq. The Terms of Reference for the UN Investigative Team have been agreed and I look forward to its deployment. The UK has contributed £1 million to support the establishment of this team. We are encouraging other States to contribute to it. The UK is funding a project that builds Iraqi organisations' capacity to document and present evidence of gender-based violence.

The Investigative Team will collect evidence of acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide to the highest standards and ensure the broadest possible use of evidence. Iraq will be the primary intended recipient of the evidence, but it can be used to support prosecutions elsewhere. It may be that some form of international or hybrid justice mechanism may be appropriate in the future, but it is too early – and not for the UK alone – to pre-determine that.

We are working with the Iraqi judiciary to build their capacity. The Resolution calls on member states to provide similar support. The UN will soon deploy a 'Needs Assessment Mission' to Iraq to determine where member states and the UN should target their capacity building.

Reticulating Splines