KTFA Members "News and Views" Saturday PM 9-16-2023

KTFA:

Jim:  Iraq and speaker will be speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, 19th sometime between 4:30pm  and 6:00pm Eastern. Iraq is #17 on the speaker roster. https://www.un.org/en/conferences/SDGSummit2023

Suzie:  Just MY opinion, but I would like to think this "Jolly Farm's" ride is about to come to an end soon.  With all the meetings with the UST, WTO, AMF, travels back and forth between countries, contracts being signed, countries pouring in to do business, Iraq to be the leader in the middle east and so on and so forth, this cannot drag out to the "best Christmas ever" like we've had so many times past, or Sudani and Alaq and all this information coming forth would prove to be fraudulent and leave them in a position they DO NOT want to be in and would destroy any credibility we've had in Iraq and information provided, not to mention what this would do to them internally, so I'm personally looking for this soon, not months down the road, as international business, if all true, won't stand for it.  Just My opinion! 

Clare:  Al-Sudani chairs the third meeting of the Supreme Committee for Implementing the Development Road Project

9/16/2023

Today, Saturday, the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, chaired the third meeting of the Supreme Committee for the Implementation of the Development Road Project.

The Prime Minister's Media Office stated, in a statement received by {Al-Furat News}, that "Prime Minister Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani chaired the third meeting of the Supreme Committee for Implementing the Development Road Project."    LINK

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Clare:  Al-Sudani and Fouad Hussein alongside world leaders in New York

9/16/2023

World leaders will meet at the United Nations next week, in light of geopolitical tensions that have been greatly exacerbated by the Ukraine war, amid Russia and China competing on one side with the United States and Europe on the other side to gain support from developing countries.

The Iraqi delegation will participate in the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly, headed by Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and they will meet there with many world leaders, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahhaf.

Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein arrived in New York yesterday to participate in the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly.

According to Reuters, Russia's war in Ukraine will again be a focus at the annual gathering in New York, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will personally attend for the first time since the conflict began.

The concerns of the Southern Hemisphere also top the agenda of the meetings this year, and the focus on this issue comes to some extent as a reflection of the increasing interest of Western countries in developing countries to ensure their support in efforts to isolate Russia.

The focus of several high-level meetings during the General Assembly will be on the priorities of developing countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, namely climate, health, development financing, and how to put the “sustainable development goals” on the right track.

Before the New York meetings, diplomats acknowledged their focus on developing countries, but denied suggestions that competition played a role.   LINK

Clare:  At the request of the Iraqi government, the Security Council decides to end the mandate of UNITAD after a year

9/16/2023

The UN Security Council decided to end the mandate of the investigation team to enhance accountability for crimes committed by ISIS “UNITAD” in September 2024.

On Friday (September 15, 2023), the Council voted unanimously to end UNITAD’s mandate after a year, at the request of the Iraqi government.

The resolution, which was prepared with British support, refers to an Iraqi request from UN investigators to hand over the documents they collected about ISIS crimes to Iraqi institutions with the aim of holding members of the organization accountable and the people who provided it with financial support.

The investigation team was formed to enhance accountability for crimes committed by ISIS in 2017, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2379 and at the request of the Iraqi government.

Last June, Special Adviser and Head of the Investigative Team, Christian Reicher, told the UN Security Council that investigators were gathering evidence of ISIS “developing and using chemical weapons,” as well as strengthening their evidence of sexual and gender-based violence and the organization’s crimes against Sunni children. Shiites, Yazidis and Christians.

The British delegate to the United Nations, Barbara Woodward, indicated in her speech before the Security Council that the team “was able during the last period to help Iraq open mass graves, facilitate the return of remains to their families, and work closely with Iraqi judges and investigators, specifically in the field of collecting evidence.” ".

She pointed out that "the team provided the opportunity for survivors, including female survivors, of sexual and gender-based violence to give their tribute safely and with full respect for their rights."

She noted that the team was able to provide "psychosocial treatment in partnership with the Iraqi Ministry of Health, which had a real impact on the survivors."

The resolution adopted by the Security Council calls on the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, to submit a report by next January, including his recommendations on demanding that Iraq hand over the evidence collected by the UNITAD team.

The Security Council also called on the team to determine, with the approval of the Iraqi government, ways to share evidence with other countries, and to inform Baghdad before handing over any evidence to a third country.

The British delegate pointed out that her country is working with the Iraqi government to "continue the team approach in Iraq and the whole world."

On September 13, ISIS survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney expressed, in a joint statement, their support for the team’s mission and their concern that its mandate might not be extended.

They stated that the evidence collected by the team shows the "depth of ISIS' brutality, not only against the Yazidi Kurds, but also against all other components."

Nadia Murad and Amal Clooney called for extending the team's mandate in order to protect evidence and use it in future judicial procedures and to build Iraqi capabilities in "investigating and holding accountable international crimes."

Last August, the Special Adviser and Head of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for ISIS Crimes (UNITAD), Christian Richter, confirmed during a media statement that the team is now working in joint teams with the Iraqi legislative body (House of Representatives) on a local law on international crimes. in Iraq.

He pointed to good communication with the Iraqi government regarding the Yazidi Women Survivors Law, adding that it is not within the powers of UNITAD to work to compensate those affected.    LINK