Members of the Iraqi forces backed by paramilitary units advance in an area south of Anna in the vast western province of Anbar bordering Syria, on Sept 20, 2017, as they continue the operation to capture the Islamic State group's last strongholds in the province. (STRINGER / AFP)
UNITED NATIONS — UN investigators will help Iraq collect evidence to
build potential war crimes cases against Islamic State extremists, under a
resolution the Security Council approved Thursday.
Iraq, council members
and some human rights advocates portrayed the measure as a key step toward
bringing the Islamic State group to justice for atrocities. But some major
rights groups say it's one-sided and overlooks abuses by Iraqi and other forces
fighting the IS militants.
The council voted unanimously to ask the UN to establish an investigative team to help Iraq preserve evidence "that may
amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide" committed by IS,
variously known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh.
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"This means justice for those
people who have been victimized by ISIS," Nadia Murad, a former IS captive in
Iraq, said in a Facebook Live video after attending the council vote with
well-known human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
It's a huge milestone for all of those who've been fighting for justice for victims of crimes committed by ISIS
Amal Clooney
British human rights lawyer
Iraqi Foreign Minister
Ibrahim al-Jaafari called it "a victory for justice, a victory for humanity and
a victory for the victims."IS militants seized parts of Iraq in 2014 and
proclaimed it a caliphate under Islamic rule. It soon became a realm of horrors,
including mass killings, beheadings and rapes.
US-backed Iraqi forces
retook the country's second-largest city of Mosul from the extremists in July.
The forces have now driven IS from most of the land it had seized in Iraq,
retaking all the major urban areas, although the group still controls some
pockets in Iraq as well as territory in Syria.
Iraq and Britain have
spearheaded the investigative measure. After it passed, Alastair Burt, the
British minister of state for the Middle East, announced that the UK would
provide 1 million pounds (US$1.35 million) to the investigative effort.
It
has a prominent champion in Clooney, who represents members of Iraq's Yazidi
religious minority who were raped and kidnapped by Islamic State
militants.
"It's a huge milestone for all of those who've been fighting
for justice for victims of crimes committed by ISIS," the British attorney, who
is married to actor George Clooney, said in the Facebook Live video. "It says to
victims that their voices will be heard and they may finally get their day in
court." UN investigators will be able to help identify victims and perpetrators
and "provide an indispensable record of the scope and scale" of IS atrocities,
US Ambassador Nikki Haley said. Burt said the measure gives priority to Iraqi
courts to try the cases but left a door open for other courts to get
involved.
But Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said it came
up short.
"No one denies the importance of tackling the widespread
atrocities by ISIS in Iraq, but ignoring abuses by Iraqi and international
forces is not only flawed, it's shortsighted," said Balkees Jarrah, the rights
group's senior international justice lawyer. "The pursuit of justice is
essential to all victims ... regardless of who is responsible."Amnesty
International's New York head, Sherine Tadros, said the resolution "threatens to
entrench a dangerous culture of 'victor's justice.' "Iraqi Prime Minister Haider
al-Abadi has admitted that anti-IS forces have committed abuses, but he insists
they were not "systematic" and that those responsible are being held
accountable. Human Rights Watch, however, says many such abuses aren't being
investigated by authorities in Iraq, as far as the group can tell.
The
British UN mission said in a statement that given the severity of IS's
atrocities, it's vital to take steps now to keep evidence from being
lost.
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"We need to act where we can, when we can," the mission
said.
Associated Press writers Alexandra Olson at the United Nations and
Susannah George in Baghdad contributed.