Politics

Netherlands eyes judicial cooperation with Kurdistan Region on ISIS crimes: Justice Minister

"The important issue is how can we work together while we try to prevent impunity for people who are committing crimes and how can we help the victims."

Kurdistan 24 2022/05/18 16:01

The Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius speaks to reporters at Erbil Citadel, May 18, 2022. (Photo: Screengrab/Kurdistan 24)

Kurdistan Netherlands Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius ISIS ISIS crimes Yezidis UNITAD Nadia Murad

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Netherlands intends to end impunity for criminals and perpetrators of ISIS crimes through judicial cooperation with the Kurdistan Region, and international organizations, the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius told reporters on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Dutch official arrived in the capital Erbil for a two-day visit to the Kurdistan Region. She is expected to meet the region’s top political and judiciary leaders to discuss the crimes committed by ISIS.

“The important issue is how can we work together while we try to prevent impunity for people who are committing crimes and how can we help the victims,” Yeşilgöz-Zegerius told reporters at Erbil’s ancient Erbil Citadel.

Through cooperation, the Netherlands is working to collect more evidence of ISIS crimes, she added.

ISIS controlled a third of Iraq between 2014-2017.

Yeşilgöz-Zegerius also said that her country has pledged “extra funds” to the United Nations’ investigative body into the ISIS crimes, known as UNITAD. She did not disclose the amount.

The Netherlands seeks to ensure that “criminals and especially terrorists do not get away with their crimes,” she added.

In March, Yeşilgöz-Zegerius met with the Yezidi Nobel laureate Nadia Murad. They discussed the need for accountability for ISIS’s crimes against humanity, particularly its genocide of the Yezidis.

Yeşilgöz-Zegerius’s is the second visit by a Dutch minister to the Kurdish region in less than a month. The Netherlands’ Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacheralso visited in late April.