The Joint Investigation Team was established by France and Sweden in October 2021 and supported by The Hague-based Eurojust to identify and prosecute foreign extremists who targeted Ezidis during the armed conflict in Syria and Iraq.

Eurojust said the teamwork already has borne fruit, including in France, where a Ezidi victim of a French jihadist couple was identified. That led to to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity being added to an existing case.

The joint investigation team is part of a broader international effort to mete out justice for atrocities targeting Ezidis, a minority considered heretics by the Islamic State militant group.

A United Nations probe concluded in 2021 that crimes committed against Ezidis by Islamic State extremists amounted to genocide.

ISIS attacked the heartland of the Ezidi community at the foot of Sinjar Mountain in August 2014. During the weeklong assault, ISIS killed hundreds of Yazidis and abducted 6,417, more than half of them women and girls. Most of the captured adult men were likely eventually killed. Women and girls were considered commodities for rape and servitude.

Prosecutions of returning foreign militants for crimes against Ezidis already are underway in Europe.

A German woman was convicted last week of keeping a Ezidi woman as a slave during her time with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and sentenced to nine years and three months in prison.

The state court in the western city of Koblenz convicted the 37-year-old woman of crimes against humanity, membership in a foreign terrorist organization and being an accessory to genocide, German news agency dpa reported. Authorities have identified her only as Nadine K. in line with German privacy rules.

In February, Dutch authorities announced that they were prosecuting a woman who traveled from the Netherlands to join ISIS on a charge of slavery as a crime against humanity. The woman allegedly used a Ezidi woman as a slave in Syria in 2015. The case marked the first Dutch trial of an alleged ISIS member for crimes against a Ezidi victim.

Presidential Office of Iraq said today in a statement that that according to the presidential decree and coordination with the Supreme Judicial Council and the Ministries of Interior and Justice, the Ministry of Justice has begun releasing criminals and detainees on a regular basis.

He added that on the occasion of the holy Eid al-Adha, from 1/1 this year to 1/6, the number of people released reached 3,469, while the number of minors released during the period reached 313 convicts and 414 detainees.

The decision was taken under the supervision and guidance of President Dr. Latif Rashid and after a series of meetings with Fayeq Zaydan, President of the Supreme Judicial Council, the Ministries of Justice and Interior and National Security Advisor, the presidential office said.

The office added that the relevant authorities has been agreed to establish a joint electronic system to follow up the cases of criminals and release them on time.

 

 

Mustafa Sanad, a member of the Iraqi parliament, said in a press conference that A member of the House of Representatives revealed that and arrest warrant will be issued for former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.

Three complaints have been filed against former the MP over the abnormal increase in his income.

He has been charged with corruption at Abu Raghif School, theft of the century and a number of other charges, but none of the charges have been proved against him.

He added that although Al-Kadhimi is currently outside Iraq, He will be convicted in the near future; an arrest warrant will be issued and he will be tried on all charges.

The Iraqi judiciary has also launched an investigation into Mustafa Al-Kadhimi assets.

Haider Hanoun, head of the Iraqi Commission of Integrity told a news conference that they have revealed two major cases of corruption, one of which is in a department of Iraqi Ministry of Commerce.

 They have returned 15 billion dinars out of 69 billion dinars to the state treasury, which was deposited in a bank account in a private bank and used for investment, Hanoun added.

He said that in the second case, more than 40 billion dinars have been returned to the state treasury and the accused is an Iraqi army officer and has been sent to court.

Iraqi Airways Director General Manaf Abdulman'am said that one of the Iraqi Airways' development projects is the government's contract with Boeing to buy 26 modern aircraft, 10 of which are dream aircraft.

He added that the planes will arrive in Iraq within five years and new routes will be opened to travel much of the world.

One of their plans is is the opening of Muscat, Jakarta, Malaysia and China travel routes.

On the recommendation of the prime minister, the price of travel tickets for Iraqi citizens, especially for pensioners, patients and wounded Hashdi Shaabi are reduced, and further reductions will be after the opening of new lines, director general of Iraqi Airways noted.

 

Iraq is fighting terrorism on behalf of the world, so international assistance should be provided to Baghdad, the Iraqi National Security Advisor said.

Press office of the Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji said in a statement that al-Araaji met with UN Security Council Representative for Terrorism Vladimir Vuronkov in New York to discuss several issues.

According to the statement, the Al-Araji had said that Iraq is fighting terrorism on behalf of the world, therefore, international assistance is needed to rebuild the war-torn areas of Iraq.

The UN should work to dismantle Camp Hall because it threatens the stability of Iraq, referring to the refugee camp that houses ISIS former fighters and families in norther eastern Syria.

The Iraqi Independent High Election Commission (IHEC) has announced that the provincial council elections will be held on December.

The IHEC said in a statement that the provincial elections will be held on December 18, 2023, and they expect it to be held on time as earlier dates were rescheduled by the political parties.

The commission added that the general voting date will be on December 18 and the special voting will be on December 16, and 47,655 polling stations will be prepared in 7,008 voting stations.

The commission estimates that 23 million 367 thousand 81 people, of whom 18 million have updated their registration will be eligible to vote.

The number of foreign workers in Iraq has exceeded 1 million, and only 71,000 of them have official permits, the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said on Monday.

Th Iraqi Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ahmad al-Asadi has said there are more than 1 million foreign workers in Iraq, many of whom work illegally and pose a threat to the Iraqi labor market.

Najm Aqabi, spokesman for the ministry, said there were no official statistics on the number of foreign workers who are not licensed, and no one can determine the exact number, because they did not come to work but on travel visas. The number of officially licensed workers is 71,146.

Meanwhile, Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, the prime minister's financial adviser, said foreign workers who are officially registered take $600 million out of Iraq annually.

Christian Ritscher told the U.N. Security Council that survivors of a March 2016 chemical attack against Taza Khurmatu, a mainly Shia Turkmen town south of Kirkuk in northeast Iraq, were still deeply impacted when he visited earlier this year.

He said he has prioritized the investigation of chemical weapons used by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

“ISIS weaponized several chemical agents and deployed these as chemical rockets and mortars, as well as improvised explosive devices, in the vicinity of Taza Khurmatu” which hit residential neighborhoods and agricultural fields, Ritscher said.

The attack against Taza Khurmatu was believed to be the first use of chemical weapons by ISIS, according to the U.N. investigators. They have said more than 6,000 residents were treated for injuries and two children died within days of exposure while many survivors continue to suffer chronic and ongoing effects.

Ritscher said his team’s investigation “has provided specialized insight and analysis on the munitions, remnants and materials that were recovered” in Taza Khurmatu.

“Significant volumes of battlefield evidence, including ISIS payroll records and correspondence, were discovered, allowing the team to identify persons of interest and establish links to potential senior ISIS members,” he said.

Islamic State fighters seized Iraqi cities and declared a self-styled caliphate in a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014. The group was formally declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year bloody battle that left tens of thousands dead and cities in ruins. However, its sleeper cells continue to stage attacks in different parts of Iraq.

The U.N. Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes committed by the Islamic State group, known as UNITAD, which Ritscher heads, was established by the Security Council in 2017 to collect evidence so perpetrators of crimes by the Islamic State can be held accountable at trials. It has worked closely with Iraqi judicial officials.

A UNITAD report in May 2021 said the Islamic State group “tested biological and chemical agents and conducted experiments on prisoners ... causing death,” and an initial investigation was launched.

Ritscher assured the Security Council that “there is no shortage of evidence on ISIS crimes in Iraq, as ISIS was a large-scale bureaucracy that documented and maintained a state-like administrative system.”

He said his team has led efforts that have so far digitized 8 million pages of ISIS documents held by Iraqi authorities, including Kurdish officials, and as a next step UNITAD is establishing a central archive “that will be the unified repository of all digitized evidence against ISIS.”

Ritscher said UNITAD is also prioritizing “persons of interest” living in other countries and is currently supporting criminal proceedings against alleged members and supporters of ISIS in 17 countries.

The process was also hampered by infighting between different Kurdish parties. The budget — approved six months into the fiscal year and after four chaotic late-night voting sessions — allocates 12.6% of the revenue to the Kurdistan region and is seen as strengthening Baghdad’s hand on the oil revenues.

The central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government have been locked in a dispute over oil revenue for years, while competing Kurdish parties are also at loggerheads over their shares.

In the absence of a binding law detailing the sharing of funds from oil and gas exports, the Kurdistan region has moved ahead with exports on its own, while Baghdad has maintained that all exports should be run through the state-owned oil marketing company, SOMO, with Erbil receiving a share of the profits.

Under the new budget, the Kurdish region can market its own oil but must deposit the revenue in a bank account that officials from the central government can monitor. Baghdad will then deduct that amount from its monthly allocation to the Kurdish regional government and transfer any surplus money to Kurdistan region.

The budget vote was dragged out over several days, in part due to objections by the Kurdistan Democratic Party, to the provisions on the revenue sharing process and a related dispute resolution mechanism.

The Shiite majority coalition holds the most seats in the 329-seat Iraqi parliament, with 220 seats. The Kurds, who are the second-largest ethnic group in Iraq, have about 60 seats.

The finalization of the budget on Monday was a victory for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government, which was formed last year following a lengthy political vacuum in the wake of the 2021 elections.

Al-Sudani came to power with the support of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of pro-Iranian parties, after the influential Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr — whose party had won the largest share of seats but not enough to form a government — withdrew from politics.

Paralyzed by the political stalemate, the parliament did not pass a budget last year. With a budget now in place for 2023, al-Sudani’s government is hoping to combat poverty and bring much-needed economic stability.

However, some analysts say the budget is predicated on an overly rosy outlook and warned of a ballooning deficit.

The budget projects 2023 revenue at about $103.3 billion, based on a projected price of $70 per barrel for oil exports, the main source of income for Iraq, with exports estimated at 3.5 million barrels a day, including 400,000 thousand barrels from the Kurdistan region. The budget estimates a deficit of about $48 billion.

“The new budget is a cause for concern, as it relies heavily on oil revenue,” said Mudhar Mohammed Salih, al-Sudani’s adviser for financial affairs. “If oil prices drop, the deficit will increase, forcing the government to borrow money. This is a risky proposition, as it could lead to debt problems.“

A report last month by the International Monetary Fund on Iraq’s finances warned that the “fiscal loosening” proposed in the budget plan could lead to inflation and exchange rate volatility in the the short run, while in the medium term, oil price fluctuations could lead to “critical macroeconomic stability risks.”

“Barring a large increase in oil prices, the current fiscal stance could lead to mounting deficits and intensifying financing pressures in the coming years,” the report said.

Monday’s vote also approved the same budgets of $152 billion for 2024 and 2025 — apparently to avoid haggling over the issue for the next two years.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visited the PMF headquarters in Baghdad and met with its top commanders. Al-Sudani congratulated the force on its seventh founding anniversary and praised its achievements in the fight against terrorism.

He said the decree of the Supreme Marja’ of Ali Sistani thwarted the plot of the enemies, the decree reversed the status quo and resulted in the establishment of a national force that, along with other security forces, was able to thwart terrorist plots and contribute to the victory over the terrorist group ISIL.

The prime minister also stressed that the PMF is one of the main pillars of the security and military institutions and the government is in the process of approving a military pension bill that guarantees the rights of all security forces employees, including the PMF.

There is real opportunity for the success of the state and investment in a state of stability to review and provide the best services to citizens, the PM added.

Al explained that the government has identified all the details of the problems and has set a three-year roadmap that will make a difference in its tasks.

The PMF emerged as a popular force to counter the growing threat of ISIS, following a decree from Iraq’s supreme religious Shia authority Ali Sistani who called on the Iraqis to take up arms and stop the advance of the ISIS terrorists.

At the official invitation of the Italian President, Iraqi President Dr. Latif Rashid has left for Rome, Italy, where he is scheduled to hold a series of meetings.

According to Salam Presidential Palace, he will meet with the Italian president, prime minister, speaker of parliament and several senior officials.

The president is accompanied by Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmad, Ivan Fayeq, Minister of Immigration and Refugees, Ahmad Fakak Badrani, Minister of Culture and a number of advisors.

An Iraqi army source told Kurdsat, five people were killed and 10 others wounded in an attack by ISIS fighters on an Iraqi army checkpoint in Wadi Naft area of northern Kirkuk province this morning.

Two officers and a soldier were killed and two others wounded in the incident, the source explained.

According to KurdSat reporter the injured are currently receiving treatment at Kirkuk hospital.

ISIS terrorists frequently attack Iraqi security forces in the area.

Mahdi Taqi, a member of the CF, said that the talks between the political parties to pass the budget bill continue in the session of the House of Representatives. All parties insist on voting on it tonight and not postpone it.

He said the atmosphere of the talks is positive and the talks will continue until the House of Representatives session.

He stressed that there is good understanding between the parties and political consensus and agreement to pass the budget as soon as possible.

About 3,000 Iraqi terrorists are also held in Syria. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein at a meeting of foreign ministers of the international coalition against ISIS in Saudi Arabia said, the Iraqi government is paying special attention to Camp Hall and a genuine solution to the crisis must be found.

He also added that about 3,000 Iraqi terrorists are being held in Syria.

He said the Iraqi government has returned about 1,400 relatives of ISIS from the Hall camp to the Jeddah camp. Of the 5,000 people, 680 families have been returned to their homes.

The Iraqi commission of Integrity today has issued summonses and arrest warrants for 52 senior officials in the last month.

The investigation office of the commission said, the judicial authorities have conducted investigations into the cases and has resulted in issuing 52 calls for questioning and arrest warrants for 52 top government officials.

The office added that among those wanted by the authorities is a former member of the House of Representatives, and two former ministers and two former ministers. There is a current deputy minister, three former undersecretaries, three current governors and two former governors among those wanted by the judicial authorities.