Digitization Project with the Iraqi Judiciary

When UNITAD embarked on the task of investigating the heinous international crimes committed by Da’esh/ISIL against Iraqi communities, it was faced with the challenge of the sheer amount of digital and paper-based evidence, collected from the battlefields and areas that were under ISIL’s control.

Recognizing this, the Team launched, in 2020 the digitization project in partnership with the Iraqi judiciary, with generous support by the European Union. The project’s budget over multiple cycles has reached over 7 million Euros, benefiting over 20 courts across Iraq.

Through this project, UNITAD established key archive and forensic facilities at the Iraqi courts, trained and equipped Iraqi specialists with advanced capacities to handle, analyze, archive and preserve millions of pages of documents in possession of Iraqi courts. With this project, UNITAD trained over 100 Iraqi experts -women and men- on the specific skills and techniques to conduct this kind of work, in accordance with international standards, to establish comprehensive inventories of evidence relevant to Da’esh/ISIL crimes.

As of March 2024, UNITAD supported Iraq with the digitization of more than 15 million pages of Da’esh/ISIL documents. This work creates highly efficient digital archives and evidence repositories.

Moreover, the digitization streamlines and cuts down on the time needed for legal actions that require access to those documents, which significantly enhances the due course of justice. Senior Iraqi judges have informed UNITAD that the innovative efforts have resulted in faster processes to request information and case files.

UNITAD had planned to establish a central archive to be the hub for all digitized evidence, located at and accessible by the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council and relevant courts across Iraq.