PM Masrour Barzani receives head of UNITAD

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Monday met with Christian Ritscher, the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations who serves as the Special Adviser and Head of the Investigative Team into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Da’esh/ISIL, on the occasion of the end of his mission.

Mr. Ritscher expressed his gratitude for the continuous support and cooperation of the Kurdistan Region’s various organizations and institutions with the UNITAD team to successfully collect, archive and digitalize the evidences of crimes committed by the ISIS terrorists.

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The collected and archived evidence of crimes committed by the ISIS are to be used in courts and trials against the members of ISIS terrorist groups.

Read More: UNITAD hands over findings on ISIS financial structure to Iraqi judiciary

Meanwhile, PM Barzani reiterated the importance of safeguarding the rights of the victims of the crimes committed by ISIS, and insisted on compensating them.

Additionally, PM Barzani stressed the significance of continuing the international efforts to put the criminals of ISIS on trial for all the atrocities and crimes that they have committed.    

It was also emphasized that the ISIS criminals have to face charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

PM Barzani expressed his absolute support for continuing efforts and cooperation with the international community to bring the ISIS criminals to justice.

The former German Federal Prosecutor, Ritscher, has headed the investigation team of UNITAD based in Baghdad since September 2021.

ISIS conquered almost a third of ​​Iraq in the summer of 2014. Baghdad declared its "final victory" over the group in 2017. Despite this, ISIS sleeper cells remain in Iraq, particularly in the disputed territories between Erbil-Baghdad.