Baghdad, 29 October 2021 (TDI): Germany has renewed its support to the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD). The country will give an additional €1 million for investigations into ISIL financing.
This support is central to UNITAD’s overall investigative efforts. It seeks to uncover the financial mechanisms that supported or enabled perpetrators. Hence, the decision of Germany will contribute to identifying profit from ISIL’s grave violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
In the same way, 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.
Other new research areas include the persecution of ethnic and religious groups 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.
Cooperation with Iraqi and international partners in the banking and private sector remains instrumental. This partnership promotes accountability efforts to increase the number of investigations on ISIL financing in Iraq.