December 6, 2024
First, let me thank you, Special Representative Al-Hassan, for your briefing – the first you have delivered to this Council as the newly appointed SRSG. We also greatly appreciate Ms. Hanaa Edwar’s briefing on women’s rights in Iraq and applaud her efforts in drafting an anti-domestic violence law, which we hope will be adopted.
Special Representative Al-Hassan, your arrival in Iraq coincided with the lead up to the election for the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament (IKP) on October 20, an important milestone in Iraq’s continued progress toward stability.
UNAMI played an important role in helping Iraqi authorities organize the IKP election and coordinate reporting with election monitoring NGOs. We were pleased the election proceeded smoothly with high voter participation.
The United States encourages UNAMI’s further advice, support and technical assistance to Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission in support of Iraqi parliamentary elections in the fall of 2025.
Throughout its 21-year existence, UNAMI has provided invaluable assistance to address social and economic challenges, with respect to promoting and safeguarding human rights, combatting climate change, and supporting women’s rights and governance reform, to name a few.
UNAMI still has important work to do before it concludes its mission at the end of 2025, especially in light of the Secretary-General’s latest report on missing Kuwaitis and missing Kuwaiti property. While the report cited some progress, we know more needs to be done.
The United States urges the governments of Iraq and Kuwait to redouble their efforts in support of the Tripartite Commission, and for Special Representative al-Hassan and his team in UNAMI to do all they can to assist.
Given the importance of Iraq-Kuwait relations for regional stability, we look forward to the Secretary-General’s recommendations for a follow-on mechanism, as appropriate, to support progress on this file pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 2732, which was adopted unanimously in May.
Colleagues, the end of UNAMI’s mandate should not spell the end of work on Kuwaiti missing persons and property.
We recognize that high-level engagement is sometimes required to spur progress, and we will continue to support the use of these levers strategically. UNAMI can and should use its good offices to this end.
For its part, the United States has provided new satellite images for the identification of four potential burial sites in Iraq. We encourage efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Iraq to conduct joint analyses and site investigations as soon as possible. We will also continue our own research on four sites in Kuwait by trying to locate witnesses among U.S. veterans associations.
The United States understands the importance of identifying missing persons and repatriating their remains based on its own experience from the war in Vietnam and, more recently, at the World Trade Center here in New York City.
As the Governments of Iraq and Kuwait pursue resolution of all outstanding issues, we must also keep an international spotlight on efforts to ensure justice and accountability for victims of crimes against humanity committed by ISIL/Da’esh, including genocide against the Yezidis and gender-based violence in Iraq.
We commend the work by the Government of Iraq to establish the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation for this purpose. We also welcome Iraq’s desire to share evidence with third countries bilaterally on a case-by-case basis, to ensure that members of ISIL/Da’esh are held accountable for their crimes in Iraq.
We further encourage the Government of Iraq to support an enhanced UN archive to preserve evidence collected by UNITAD to help ensure investigations and prosecutions by third countries.
The United States remains committed to working with the Government of Iraq to strengthen and deepen our long-term, whole of government partnership in pursuit of a secure, stable, and sovereign Iraq.