The United Nations Security Council has unanimously voted to investigate ISIS' crimes against humanity and possible genocide in Iraq.
A UN team will help experts in Baghdad with the aim being to bring perpetrators before an international court of law.
The motion, tabled by Iraq alongside the UK, asked for help in collecting evidence in order to prosecute ISIS for possible war crimes. The investigation will be specifically targeting offences committed by the jihadist group and not any other militant group and will focus on Iraq, rather than over the border in Syria.
British government ministers have previously argued that tabling a motion at the security council over ISIS war crimes would be blocked because such resolutions typically launch an investigation into a geographical area rather than into specific perpetrators. Foreign Office ministers said Russia, another permanent member of the security council, would use its veto over such a move because of its support for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad who is also accused of war crimes in the region.
But this motion passed because it was tailored to focus on ISIS' crimes rather than all incidents in a geographical area.
Asking for support, Iraq's Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in August saying: 'The crimes committed by the Daesh [ISIS] terrorist organization against civilians and destruction of infrastructure and archaeological sites in Iraq are crimes against humanity, which makes it important to bring its perpetrators from Daesh terrorist gangs to justice, in accordance (with) the Iraqi law.'
He added: 'We request assistance of the international community to get benefited from international expertise to criminalize Daesh terrorist entity.'
Amal Clooney, a prominent human rights lawyer who has campaigned on behalf of Yazidi victims of ISIS militants, said the move was a 'key milestone' in her fight.
'It's been a long time coming,' she said after the vote in New York.
'It says to victims that their voices will be heard and they will finally get their day in court.'
The UK's Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt also welcomed the decision. He said: 'There can never be adequate recompense for those who were forced to endure the wanton brutality of Daesh, and the dead will not be brought back, but this Resolution means that the international community is united in our belief that there should, at least, be accountability for those who perpetrated such wicked acts.'
Watch Amal Clooney speaking to the BBC below:
