Germany renews its support to UNITAD with a new €1 million contribution to investigate financing of ISIL crimes

Baghdad, 26 October 2021 – Germany has renewed its support to the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) by recommitting an additional €1 million for investigations into the financial dimensions of ISIL crimes.

This support is central to UNITAD’s overall investigative efforts, as it seeks to uncover the financial mechanisms that supported or enabled perpetrators to profit from ISIL’s grave violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

“Accountability for the crimes committed by ISIL must include identifying and prosecuting those who enabled and profited from these acts, and Germany’s contributions will be crucial in supporting UNITAD’s efforts in pursuing accountability for such crimes” noted Sareta Ashraph, UNITAD Director of Investigations.

Building on this renewed support, as well as the strong collaboration already established with the Iraqi judiciary in this field, the dedicated unit investigating ISIL financial crimes will broaden its focus to cover the economic aspects of ISIL crimes.

UNITAD will also continue to investigate the role of ISIL’s financial support network and expand its investigations to also focus on those ISIL elements that were engaged in the persecution of ethnic and religious groups through theft and widespread pillage across Iraq. 

German Ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Martin Jäger, underlined that Germany remains committed to supporting the important work of UNITAD in Iraq. “Only by exposing the roots of the financial sources of Da’esh, we will be able to overcome the threat of Da’esh and achieve long-lasting stability in Iraq”, Ambassador Jäger emphasized.

This renewed contribution will empower UNITAD to provide greater support to domestic authorities, taking forward legal proceedings in relation to ISIL’s financiers and administrators. Cooperation with Iraqi and international partners in the banking and private sector, as well as law enforcement and prosecutorial entities, remains instrumental to accountability efforts for those who financially supported ISIL and facilitated the crimes committed by its members in Iraq. 

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For More Information, please contact Mr. Georges Fakhry, Chief Public Information Officer for the United Nations Investigative Team

to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) by E-mail: georges.fakhry@un.org