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Written question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench) on Wednesday, 28 February 2018, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 14 March 2018. It was answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on Wednesday, 14 March 2018 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Islamic State: Crimes against Humanity

Question

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.

Answer

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.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL5932
Session
2017-19
Related items
Islamic State: Prosecutions
Thursday, 19 July 2018
Written questions
House of Lords
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Criminal investigation Crimes against humanity Finance Evidence Iraq Prosecutions UN resolutions Syria Islamic State
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk