UNITAD Shares Findings of International Crimes Committed by ISIL (Da’esh) against Members of the Albu Nimr Tribe (al-Anbar governorate)
14 September 2024, Baghdad: On 10 September 2024, as part of the completion of its activities prior to its closure on 17 September 2024, UNITAD delivered to the Supreme Judicial Council, among other documents, the report on international crimes committed by ISIL (Da’esh) against members of the Albu Nimr tribe in al-Anbar governorate. The report and its underlying evidence have been shared in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolution 2379 (2017) and UNITAD’s Terms of Reference, including the informed consent of information providers.
The report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that, between 2014 and 2016, ISIL (Da’esh) committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Sunni community in certain areas of al-Anbar governorate, and specifically against members of the Albu Nimr tribe. The report covers crimes committed by ISIL (Da’esh) against this community in the areas between the town of Hiit, the Euphrates River and Lake Tharthar in the al‑Jazeera desert. In particular, the report finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that, among others, imprisonment, torture, murder, forcible transfer and persecution as crimes against humanity and murder, torture and outrages upon personal dignity as war crimes were committed against members of the Albu Nimr tribe.
In a meeting held on 8 September 2024 with Sheikh Yusef Faysal Najras al-Ga’oud, prominent leader of the Albu Nimr tribe, Acting Special Adviser Ana Peyró Llopis thanked victims and survivors of the Albu Nimr tribe for coming forward and sharing their information with the Investigative Team. Ms Peyró Llopis also expressed her gratitude to all stakeholders who supported the investigation and in particular to Sheikh Yusef for his significant contribution in advancing the Investigative Team’s collection of evidence on these international crimes.
A public summary of the factual and preliminary legal findings of the report is available here.