Publications

In advance of the Human Rights Council’s forthcoming review of Iraq, it is critical that attention is paid to the need for fundamental reform of Iraq’s legal system in order to achieve justice for Daesh’s victims, and more broadly for the people of Iraq. As currently codified, Iraq’s criminal laws do not punish the most egregious aspects of Daesh’s sexual and gender-based violence. If prosecuted under these laws, basic features of Daesh’s crimes will go unpunished, such as rape with objects, forced marriage, and gender-motivated torture, as well as the international atrocity crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The Global Justice Center’s full submission highlights a number of concerns over Iraq’s criminal laws as violations of Iraq’s obligations under the treaty bodies to which it is a party – including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the Geneva Conventions. Download Fact Sheet Iraq’s Legal System Fails to Protect Women and Girls Against Discrimination A fundamental principle of international human rights law is the protection against discrimination. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Charter of the United Nations – as well as CEDAW, CAT, and the ICCPR – have all codified the principles of non-discrimination and equality. Under these principles, states are required to ensure that women, on the basis of equality of men and women, fully enjoy the benefits of the rule of law. Iraq’s definition of rape, forced marriage, and torture are a few examples of how the country’s criminal laws collectively fail to fully define, deter, prevent, punish, or redress sexual and gender-based violence crimes. Clearly defining these crimes in line with international standards is an important step in implementing the Iraqi Government’s obligations to eliminate discrimination against women. The broad and systematic nature of Daesh’s violence elevated their crimes beyond the traditional domestic framework and into international concern. Daesh committed all of the core international atrocity crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; yet none of these have been formally outlawed by Iraq. Failing to investigate and prosecute international atrocity crimes as distinct crimes with specific gendered harms misses an opportunity to build a complete historical record, honor the experiences of victims, and ensure full accountability for Daesh’s criminality. Iraq’s criminal laws as rendered fail to provide protections for women and girls in violation of the requirement to ensure women are accorded equality with men before the law. As mentioned, specific examples where legal reform is needed include amending provisions regarding rape, forced marriage, and torture, as well as domesticating the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in line with international standards. Survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence are Entitled to Reparations Not only are women and girls entitled to non-discriminatory application of the rights contained within these human rights treaties, but so too are they entitled to non-discriminatory reparations in the event that those rights are infringed. If Iraq’s criminal laws are left unchanged, Daesh’s victims will be unable to achieve meaningful justice or seek proper redress for the unique harms they faced on the basis of their gender and sex. Under international law, survivors of sexual and gender-based violence are entitled to reparations including guarantees of non-repetition. One measure of guaranteeing non-repetition is “[r]eviewing and reforming laws contributing to or allowing gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law.” As the CEDAW Committee has recommended, State parties should “mandate institutional reforms, repeal discriminatory legislation and enact legislation providing for adequate sanctions in accordance with international human rights standards.” Such legal reform is required to ensure “women and girls are able to move forward and reconstruct their lives without facing discrimination.” Complete gender justice will take a fully transformative agenda with actors at the local, regional, and international level finally recognizing, redressing, and remedying the gender-based discrimination that underlies the treatment of women and girls. Such effort includes reforming Iraq’s criminal laws to bring them in line with international standards, in order to safeguard better protections for victims from violence and ensure access to justice. Questions for the Iraqi Government Domestic Crimes: What measures has the Government taken to amend its laws to ensure women are protected against discrimination, both under the law and in practice? What steps has the Government taken to adopt a definition of torture in line with CAT? What plans does the Government have to remove its reservations to CEDAW, specifically to Article 2(f) and (g) and Article 16, and to fully implement CEDAW? International Crimes: What steps has the Government taken to adopt domestic legislation criminalizing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in line with its legal obligations? Download Fact Sheet (with citations)

I. Introduction 1. In advance of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s (Committee) forthcoming review of Iraq, it is critical that the Committee pay particular attention to the need for fundamental reform of Iraq’s criminal legal system in order to achieve justice for Daesh’s victims, and more broadly for the women and girls of Iraq. As currently codified, Iraq’s criminal laws do not punish the most egregious aspects of Daesh’s sexual and gender-based violence. If prosecuted under these laws, basic features of Daesh’s crimes will go unpunished, such as rape with objects, forced marriage, and gender-motivated torture, as well as the international atrocity crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Download the Full Submission

By Maryna Tkachenko “Today, the Yazidis have largely been abandoned” — Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and Yazidi survivor August 3, 2014 changed the Yazidi community of Sinjar forever. The terrorist group Daesh killed and enslaved thousands of Yazidis, members of a small religious minority in northern Iraq that have been historically persecuted for being “devil worshippers.” In addition to carrying out coordinated attacks of violence against the group as a whole, Daesh explicitly targeted women and girls by inflicting widespread sexual violence in the form of rape, torture, and forced marriage. These gendered acts of the Yazidi genocide served as tools for recruitment, conversion, and forced indoctrination. Five years later, despite a growing body of evidence, no Daesh fighter has been prosecuted for genocide of the Yazidi. In 2016, the United Nations recognized the attacks as a genocidal campaign, but Yazidis are still waiting for justice, hoping to return one day to their homes on the Sinjar Mountain. “There is no Sinjar without Yazidis; and there are no Yazidis without Sinjar,” says Shreen, a survivor of Daesh sex slavery. “Part of the genocide is the displacement and division of families. The more we are closer, the more we feel we are alive.” Sinjar is an essential part of the Yazidi identity, and until the group can return, no justice is possible. While investigation and documentation of the complete scope of the atrocities of Daesh continue, it is estimated that 10,000 Yazidis were killed. More than 3,000 remain missing, their status unknown. Beyond the directly targeted, nearly 200,000 Yazidis are still stranded in Kurdistan—unable to leave due to conflicts among local armed groups. While some survivors were able to flee to Europe or the US, many are living in displacement camps in Iraq or refugee camps in Syria, facing an uncertain future. Although Kurdish forces have liberated the area from Daesh, there is no sign of reconstruction. The region remains in ruins. The Yazidi cannot return if there are no schools, hospitals, electricity, or clean water. Ultimately, those who choose to return to Sinjar have no source of income or assistance. Since the Yazidi Supreme Spiritual Council decided that children born of rape are not to be accepted in the community, many Yazidi women who gave birth in Daesh captivity are afraid to go back due to social stigma. Further, Yazidi rape survivors and those who witnessed Daesh’s heinous crimes suffer from persistent trauma. Without urgent psychosocial support and holistic care, the prospects of sustainable peace and reintegration of the group are slim. In fact, suicide is becoming more common among those Yazidi survivors who lack access to comprehensive healthcare. The Iraqi government is failing to deliver basic services that would ensure the Yazidi’s safe return. Most critically, without international protection and more robust demands for justice, the group is incapable of rebuilding its shattered community. Addressing the US State Department’s recent conference on religious freedom, Murad stressed the importance of acting before it’s too late: In 2014, the international community rallied behind the Yazidi cause. Today, the Yazidis have largely been abandoned. While there is some support and empathy, there are no real efforts focused on the most important objective that would end the genocide and allow the Yazidis to heal — enabling my community to return to our ancestral homeland of Shingal and rebuild our lives in a safe, healthy environment. The Yazidi community wants to return home. They want to start over — to rebuild their homes and farms and to create new lives with their families. They want justice for the trauma they have suffered. However, they cannot achieve this without the support and partnership of the international community. Instead of taking photos with survivors, states and international institutions should employ a combination of efforts to hold perpetrators of the Yazidi genocide accountable. There are multiple potential venues for legal action—from Security Council referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court to establishing a hybrid court. Equally as important, any prosecution must center on the sexual and gender-based violence committed by Daesh, thereby upholding the international human rights guaranteed to women and girls. The global focus must shift to Daesh accountability and the time for action is now. As we mark the fifth anniversary of the Yazidi genocide, offering survivors pity and understanding is not enough. How many more times do Yazidis need to repeat horrific stories of Daesh brutality for the world to finally take tangible steps toward full accountability and justice? How many more years do Yazidi families need to look for refuge everywhere but their home in Sinjar? Whatever approach is taken, turning a blind eye to persistent impunity for mass atrocity crimes is not an option. PHOTO: U.S. Department of State

Submission to the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review – 34th Session Iraq I. Introduction In advance of the Human Rights Council’s forthcoming review of Iraq, it is critical that the Council pay particular attention to the need for fundamental reform of Iraq’s legal system in order to achieve justice for Daesh’s victims, and more broadly for the people of Iraq. As currently codified, Iraq’s criminal laws do not punish the most egregious aspects of Daesh’s sexual and gender-based violence. If prosecuted under these laws, basic features of Daesh’s crimes will go unpunished, such as rape with objects, forced marriage, and gender-motivated torture, as well as the international atrocity crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. In the last Universal Periodic Review cycle for Iraq, multiple recommendations were made and accepted by the country with respect to ensuring national legislation was fully in line with international standards, combatting discrimination against women in law and in practice, and guaranteeing respect for international humanitarian law and human rights. Iraq has failed to take meaningful action on these recommendations. This submission highlights a number of concerns over Iraq’s criminal laws as violations of Iraq’s obligations under the treaty bodies to which it is a party – including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the Geneva Conventions. Download the Full Submission

By Merrite Johnson Daesh’s crimes against queer Iraqis (or people perceived of being queer, or not sufficiently adhering to traditional gender norms) have been well-documented, including harassment campaigns, arbitrary executions, and forced disappearances. These crimes were also a tactic for building popular support for Daesh’s rule. Since the UN voted last year to create an international team to investigate crimes Daesh committed in Iraq, human rights advocates including the Global Justice Center have called repeatedly for the team to follow international laws and standards as they investigate all crimes, not just those of terrorism. Earlier this year, GJC published its analysis of Iraq’s national laws, which are woefully insufficient for achieving justice for victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, and gender-based violence. If Daesh crimes are going to be prosecuted in domestic Iraqi courts, there is a very real danger that these venues will shut out LGBTQ Iraqis from seeking justice. But Daesh isn’t the only group responsible for violence against LGBTQ Iraqis. A report published earlier this year by IraQueer found that 96% of LGBTQ respondents in Iraq have faced some form of violence over the past three years, and there have been documented killing campaigns against queer people in Iraq every year since 2003—well before the arrival of Daesh. The Iraqi government has completely failed to protect its queer citizens from harassment and violence; even worse, state forces have been active participants in targeted anti-LGBTQ violence alongside conservative militias. If the international community really is committed to justice, it must ensure not only that queer voices are included in Daesh prosecutions, but also that the Iraqi government is held to its obligations under human rights treaties like the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Now is the time to take action to prove that justice for queer people is not optional.

By Maftuna Saidova The Yazidi community are an ethnic minority formerly located in northern Iraq. They are one of the groups who suffered under the brutal and inhumane control of ISIS. When ISIS captured Sinjar, they abducted thousands of Yazidi women and sold them into slavery within the lucrative sex trade created among ISIS fighters. Human rights activists and lawyers have demanded ISIS be held accountable for employing Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) as a weapon of war. According to OHCHR, SGVB can include “any harmful act directed against individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of their gender,” including rape, sexual abuse, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, forced abortion, forced prostitution, and sexual enslavement.  Although many Yazidi survivors are now free and Iraq has regained territorial control, adequate mental health treatment should be the priority of the Iraqi government as the treatment of the survivors is crucial for Iraq’s gradual rebuilding process. Sexual violence in the form of rape encapsulates more than just exploitation. For the Yazidis and other women who experienced rape in conflict, it means loss of power and dehumanization. Many survivors currently suffer from mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder as well as emotional trauma and social alienation. These women often feel shame for the gender based crimes forced on them. For this reason,  90% of the rescued Yazidi women are “in severe shock and psychological upset.”  Dealing with the mental trauma inflicted by Daesh is key for rebuilding their lives in Iraq.  Yet without individualized mental health treatment, many Yazidi women will find it difficult to move forward. Iraq continually fails to provide protection or resources for the survivors. Recently, Iraqi government was asked by the UN, under Resolution 2379, to lead a joint investigation on the war atrocities committed by ISIS. The ongoing investigations have prioritized institutional reforms  protecting victims of gendered violence from marginalization in their societies. Critics have argued that the mandate of the Resolution brings limited justice to the victims. Currently non-governmental organizations like Yazda and Nadia’s Initiative are focused on ensuring that the population in Sinjar is provided with the supplies and resources necessary to begin rebuilding while the investigation is taking place. But it is not enough. Although institutional reforms are an important step in rebuilding Iraq, they are insufficient for the women who need adequate treatment in dealing with the psychological and emotional consequences of living in sexual slavery.  Although institutional reforms are an important step in rebuilding Iraq, they are insufficient for the women who need adequate treatment in dealing with the psychological and emotional consequences of living in sexual slavery. 

In light of the gender dynamics at the root of Daesh’s violence, gender must also be at the center of accountability. With justice for Daesh beginning, this Briefing details how Iraq’s current legal framework precludes meaningful justice for women and girls. It highlights the gender gaps in Iraq’s criminal laws and identifies opportunities for broader reform to better protect Iraqi women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence. Introduction For years the world watched in collective horror as Daesh committed brutal atrocities. Central to this violence was sexual and gender-based violence, with explicit targeting of women and girls. Daesh used rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and torture—distinct crimes on their own as well as constituent elements of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes—as tools for recruitment, conversion, forced indoctrination, and the fundamental destruction of community cohesion.1 For many, the only thing that stood in opposition to these crimes was the prospect, however far away, of justice. Justice, however, is complex. It requires accountability, redress and a focus on preventing the recurrence of violations. Justice efforts must be independent, credible, inclusive, and accepted by impacted communities, with special respect and recognition for the dignity of victims. Importantly, and as this Briefing illustrates, it must reflect the full scope and scale of the crimes that occurred. As the international community and the Iraqi government begin the process of holding members of Daesh accountable for their crimes, it is critical to examine the legal systems that will be responsible for these prosecutions. Prosecutions to date, which have all been conducted under Iraq’s 2005 counter-terrorism law, have failed human rights standards and do not suffice the interest of justice. This Briefing highlights one such example—specifically how Iraq’s current laws fall far short of the requirements for justice, as they are unable to punish the most egregious of Daesh’s gender crimes. Iraq’s Penal Code is a patriarchal patchwork rooted in preexisting peacetime gender inequalities and violence.2 The way and manner in which the Code defines sexual and gender-based violence crimes is steeped in language and perspectives that are inherently and overtly discriminatory against women and fall short of international standards. Any justice mechanism organized under these laws will fail to provide full accountability and redress to Daesh’s female victims. In order to highlight these challenges, this Briefing: (i) identifies particular categories of Daesh’s gender crimes and considers how these crimes are currently codified in Iraqi law; (ii) details the gaps where Iraq’s laws do not entirely capture the ways in which Daesh committed sexual and gender-based violence; and (iii) describes international standards for defining and understanding the many facets of these crimes. A complete reckoning with the planned and inherently gendered elements of Daesh’s violence is essential for Iraq to begin the transition out of armed conflict. These first steps of putting this history behind it must provide justice for victims, combat these victims’ marginalization, and prevent future violations against women, girls and other communities targeted on behalf of their gender. Download PDF

Subject: Recommendations for the Terms of Reference and Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2379 on Da’esh Accountability Your Excellency, We are writing to you to call on your leadership in ensuring successful implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2379, initiating an Investigative Team for crimes committed by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, hereinafter referred to as “Da’esh”). Below, please find a list of recommendations which we hope will be reflected in the Terms of Reference for the Resolution, with the purpose of establishing a commitment to the highest standards of international law and guaranteeing inclusiveness and accountability, including through gender justice and a victim-centered approach. The adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2379 on September 21, 2017 marks an important milestone in the enormous task of holding members of Da’esh accountable for their commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. In this respect, we particularly emphasize the need to investigate and prosecute all forms of sexual and gender-based violence which can constitute acts of genocide as well. We hope the Investigative Team will lay the groundwork for an inclusive and comprehensive justice process for all those affected by the conflict and atrocities committed. We thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Global Justice Center Eyzidi Organization for Documentation Iraqi Al-Amal Association Iraqi Women Network Madre Yazda Read Full Letter in English Read Full Letter in Arabic Recommendations for the Terms of Reference of UN Security Council Resolution 2379 (2017) adopted on September 21, 2017 The following is a compilation of recommendations which we hope will be reflected in the Terms of Reference (hereinafter referred to as “ToR”). While we are aware that some recommendations will depend on the procedures and methods of work of the Investigative Team and its Special Adviser, we call on the Iraqi government to commit to these points and encourage their inclusion when approving the ToR. We also urge Iraqi courts, Iraqi police forces and all relevant authorities to accommodate these recommendations in their work and to ensure a fruitful collaboration with the Investigative Team. We note that this is not an exhaustive list, yet we hope it provides guidance to ensure the Investigative Team and Iraq’s operations align with international humanitarian, human rights and criminal law and standards. I. Operations Pursuant to paragraph 2 of the Resolution, the Investigative Team is to support domestic efforts to hold ISIL (Da’esh) accountable by collecting, preserving, and storing evidence in Iraq of acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. 1. Develop Operational Guidelines: Prior to beginning its work, the Investigative Team should develop operational guidelines in line with international law and standards for collecting, preserving and storing evidence. The Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) can be used as guidance, as well as the definitions and elements of the crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the ICC’s Rome Statute, which provides a baseline for a comprehensive and modern legal framework for international criminal justice. Efforts should also be made to ensure a comprehensive legal framework that encapsulates the broadest possible range of crimes in international and non-international armed conflict, as well as a complete framework for modes of liability, including those established in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to which Iraq is a party. 2. Applicable Legal Framework and Reform: In order to provide for effective implementation of Resolution 2379, the collection of evidence and information must be accompanied by efforts to ensure a comprehensive legal framework to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. With the assistance of the Investigative Team, the Iraqi government should put in place enabling legislation for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide and present a concrete timetable for next steps. It is plainly insufficient to prosecute members of Da’esh solely for terrorism crimes – doing so denies victims justice and fails to reflect the full criminality of the crimes committed by the Da’esh group. 3. Efficiency of investigations: Investigating and prosecuting a single group of perpetrators not only creates significant operational challenges but also hinders an effective investigation strategy, e.g. in determining the threshold for evidence for different crimes and what do to with evidence collected about crimes committed by non-Da’esh fighters. In this context, it should be noted that a majority of Da’esh fighters have also changed allegiances several times, further underscoring the need for complete investigations regardless of an individual’s affiliation. Therefore, extending the Investigative Team’s mandate to hold all sides accountable, including Iraqi, Kurdish and Coalition forces, should be a consideration for possible successor resolutions by the UN Security Council. When reporting back to the UN Security Council pursuant to paragraph 16 of Resolution 2379, the Special Adviser should also include concrete recommendations for revising or expanding the mandate to ensure utmost efficiency and with a view to preserving evidence for comprehensive accountability proceedings. II. Standards and Procedural Requirements Pursuant to paragraph 2, the Investigative Team is to collect, preserve and store evidence to the highest possible standards to ensure the broadest possible use before national courts, and complementing investigations being carried out by Iraqi authorities. Pursuant to paragraph 3, the Special Adviser will also work with survivors, in a manner consistent with relevant national laws, to ensure their interests in achieving justice are fully recognized. Pursuant to paragraph 5, evidence collected and stored by the Team in Iraq should be for eventual use in fair and independent criminal proceedings. Pursuant to paragraph 6, the Team should be impartial, independent, and credible and act consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and United Nations best practice, and relevant international law, including international human rights law. 1. Victim and Witness Protection: The Investigative Team should provide Iraqi courts with technical assistance to ensure victims and witnesses are protected in line with international standards, in particular with respect to informed consent and sharing information. Investigators, prosecutors and judges should pay specific attention to protecting victims and witnesses who fear reprisals for sharing information or stigmatization by their communities or families, including after the conclusion of a trial. Consideration should be given to the reality that thousands of girls and women still held in captivity face distinct risks of retaliation. The Iraqi government can play a pivotal role in ensuring adequate protection of institutions providing victim support and service providers offering legal, medical and psychosocial services to victims who come forward and ensure that these services are provided in a gender sensitive manner. 2. Confidentiality and Privacy: The Investigative Team should further provide Iraqi courts with technical assistance to safeguard respect for the confidentiality, privacy, interests and personal circumstances of victims, including information regarding age, sex, gender, health, as well as the nature of the crime. These measures are of particular importance in cases where the crime involved victims of sexual or gender-based violence or the crime was against LGBT individuals or children. All efforts must be utilized to prevent re-traumatization of victims, and court measures should address any secondary traumatization, e.g. caused by testifying in court. Special attention should be paid and training should be provided to police and court staff on interacting, interviewing and questioning with victims traumatized by violence. Efforts must also be made to ensure that in the context of interactions with female victims, female staff should be available and all actors are provided with gender-sensitive training. 3. Investigative Strategy Must Address Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes & Crimes Against Children: The Investigative Team should provide guidance and conduct trainings for staff of Iraqi courts to ensure investigations and prosecutorial strategies pay particular attention to sexual and gender-based violence and crimes against children. The Investigative Team and Iraqi courts should integrate a gender perspective in all areas of their work and strategy, as well as an innovative approach to the investigation and prosecution of these crimes. In this respect we renew our call for a swift implementation of the Joint Communiqué between the United Nations and the Government of Iraq on the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence. 4. Right to a Fair Trial, Legal Counsel and Reparations: The Investigative Team should work together with Iraqi courts to guarantee basic fair trial principles and victims’ rights to reparations – including redress, reparations for sexual and gender-based violence, and guarantees of non-recurrence – which should also be reinforced in the ToR. Further, we call on Iraqi courts to ensure fair trials with adequate legal representation and equality of arms on both sides, for victims as well as the accused, who have the right to legal defense at all stages of the proceedings. Legal counsel, including defense counsel, must be able to operate without interference and should not be subject to arbitrary arrests or harassment by authorities, armed groups or the community. Further, we would also welcome procedures that ensure that evidence is not obtained through the use of torture or other methods that constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and an explicit commitment to halt and prevent the extrajudicial killing of suspects. III. Structure and Composition Pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 5, the Investigative Team shall be headed by a Special Adviser and the Team’s ToR shall specify that Iraqi investigative judges, and other criminal experts, including experienced members of the prosecution services, will be appointed to the Team to work on an equal footing alongside international experts. 1. Inclusion of Gender Expertise: The Investigative Team should ensure that it has broad based gender expertise at every level. This includes a senior level gender expert as well as experts in the areas of sexual and gender-based crimes and crimes against children. A gender expert should provide comprehensive technical assistance, integrate a gender perspective throughout the Team’s work, and help ensure that charges for sexual and gender-based violence are included explicitly as crimes, in addition to charging these acts as other constitutive acts of other crimes, e.g. charging rape as torture and genocide. The gender expert should also have a mandate to advise the best approach for gender-sensitive reparations for rape and other forms of sexual violence. In order to bring Da’esh to justice it is important for investigators, prosecutors and judges to understand the gender dynamics in Da’esh ideology, strategies and policies, which guide how Da’esh perpetrates their crimes and ensure that this guides all levels of investigation and prosecution efforts. 2. Equal Appointment of Women: When determining the selection process for the Special Adviser and appointment of members of the Investigative Team, due consideration should be given to the appointment of women. The selection process should put in place special measures applicable to the recruitment, promotion and placement of women. As Iraq is a member to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), we also call on the Iraqi Government to implement the CEDAW Committee’s General Recommendations (GR), particularly GR no. 30 on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations and GR no. 33 on women’s access to justice. Further the preamble of Resolution 2379 also references resolutions 1325 (2000), 2106 (2013), 2242 (2015) on women, peace and security which call for the meaningful inclusion of women at all decision levels. IV. Cooperation Pursuant to paragraph 3, the Special Adviser, while avoiding duplication of effort with other relevant United Nations bodies, will also promote throughout the world, accountability for acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed by ISIL (Da’esh), and work with survivors, in a manner consistent with relevant national laws, to ensure their interests in achieving accountability for ISIL (Da’esh) are fully recognized. 1. Civil Society Engagement: The ToR should provide a process for systematic engagement with civil society and outreach, particularly with community-based and women-led organizations. In order to avoid duplicating efforts and re-traumatizing victims who have already testified, the Investigative Team should engage with initiatives already in place to support victims, and actors that have been collecting evidence. The Investigative Team should work with and advise the Iraqi government on ensuring that civil society groups have a safe space to operate, that they are not placed under suspicion of having ties to Da’esh, and that Iraqi law is reformed to protect these service providers from harassment, intimidation and exploitation. A constructive and critical civil society dialogue is crucial in order to deliver effective justice for the victims, reduce misinformation, amplifying the impact of those pursuing accountability and rebuild community trust. 2. Community Outreach: It is also important to ensure a greater understanding and awareness of the work of the Investigative Team and trials across Iraq. Iraqi Courts should be equipped with sufficient funding to conduct community-based outreach with staff stationed throughout the country, using traditional and modern methods to answer questions from the public and respond to concerns raised by the public, using best practices developed by other international and hybrid tribunals, including the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. In this respect, we also emphasize the important role of independent local media to promote and help understand the work of the Investigative Team and subsequent trials, as well in facilitating outreach to the affected communities. Such measures should be encouraged and supported by the Investigative Team and the Government of Iraq. 3. Information Sharing with Third-Party Countries and Regional Stakeholders: The Investigative Team should adopt and provide guidance on methods for sharing information with Iraqi courts and authorities in third-party countries, with particular consideration for the respect of international human rights law and standards and the safety of witnesses and victims. The Team should act as a coordinator between other stakeholders in the region, such as Kurdish and other regional actors, to ensure their inclusion as well as efficient data collection, and engage with military actors, such as the Global Coalition Against Da’esh. Along with the Iraqi authorities, the Team should also ensure that evidence collected is not discarded or destroyed or used solely for counter-terrorism purposes. CC: H.E. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Judge Faiq Zaidan, Chief of the High Judicial Council H.E. Mohammed Hussein Bahr Aluloom, Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations

Re: Submission by the Global Justice Center and the Bar Human Rights Committee Urging the Opening of a Preliminary Examination Dear Prosecutor Bensouda, The Global Justice Center and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales are writing to urge the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) to open a preliminary examination into genocide and other crimes committed by foreign fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham/Greater Syria (“ISIS” aka “ISIL”, “Da’esh” or “IS”, hereinafter “ISIS”). It is imperative that all possible measures are taken to investigate, address and deter the heinous crimes being committed by ISIS, including the opening of a preliminary examination by the OTP. Accordingly, we urge your office to reevaluate its April 2015 finding that it has inadequate jurisdictional bases to open a preliminary examination. In fact, as detailed in our enclosed submission: (1) the requirements of subject matter, temporal, and personal jurisdiction have been met in this case, specifically with respect to ISIS’s foreign fighters; (2) the OTP’s own policies favor exercising personal jurisdiction; and (3) substantial normative justifications support opening a preliminary examination. A reasonable basis upon which to open a preliminary examination is further established by the gravity of the crimes in question, in particular crimes of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as the interests of victims and of justice. Download Letter Download Submission