Civil Peace Service in Northern Iraq: promoting justice for survivors of ISIS crimes

In Northern Iraq, GIZ through the Civil Peace Service (CPS) supports the justice process for Yazidis and other minorities that were gravely affected by the crimes of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).

CPS works on preventing violence and peacebuilding in crisis and conflict regions. Since 2017, it has been working in Northern Iraq with a special focus on Yazidis and other minorities like Christians, Shabak and Shia Turkmen that have conducted serious investigations into the crimes of ISIS and provide care for traumatised survivors and family members.

CPS has supported the work of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Commission for Investigation and Gathering Evidence (CIGE) which has reached almost 3,000 members of families of missing persons and offered psychosocial and legal support. Various workshops and awareness sessions were held to share information on consultations on reparation policies and identification processes of missing persons. In addition to this, CIGE collected and documented ISIS crimes scenes in Sinjar and Nineveh Plains and organised more than 3,500 interviews with survivors. CIGE is in the process to build up legal cases. With the new database, the search is much easier.

The investigation and documentation of ISIS crimes is an important step on the way to find justice. It is now crucial that the high number of victims’ and witnesses’ statements that were collected are now submitted into a clearly defined judicial process.

The CPS programme also implements other activities with different partner organisations in Iraq that focus on peacebuilding, psychosocial support and inclusion. Furthermore, GIZ supports the development of a master’s degree on Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology at the University of Duhok, which aims at fostering capacity building and local knowledge in the field and at supporting the education of future experts in the region. These activities combined form the pillar for long lasting peace and the cohesion of communities in Iraq and the Kurdistan region.