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Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned Monday that nearly 5,700 alleged Islamic State (ISIS) members have been transferred to Iraq, and that the adults in the group face prosecution under Iraq’s 2005 Anti-Terrorism Law, which allows the death penalty for vaguely defined offenses.
“The thousands of boys and men sent to Iraq deserve humane treatment and due process, just as the thousands of survivors of ISIS crimes deserve genuine justice,” said Letta Tayler, HRW’s senior counterterrorism advisor.
HRW has previously documented 10-minute trials, convictions based on torture-tainted confessions, and reliance on anonymous informant testimony in Iraq’s terrorism courts. HRW warned that the proceedings risk violating fair trial rights guaranteed under international law, including defendants’ right to adequate time and legal assistance to prepare a defense.
The organization also warned that the transfers may violate the principle of non-refoulement under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and customary international law, which prohibit transfers where individuals face a substantial risk of torture. Iraqi judicial authorities have vowed compliance with international legal standards.
However, the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has observed that even when defendants allege they were tortured or seriously mistreated to extract a confession, presiding judges made little effort to order an investigation into those allegations.
The 5,704 men and boys, nationals of 67 countries including Syrians, Iraqis, and other foreign nationals, were transferred between January 21 and February 12, 2026, from US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) detention centers in northeast Syria to Al-Karkh Central Prison near Baghdad after approximately 200 detainees escaped January 19, triggering fears of a wider prison break.
Many had been held without prosecution for up to seven and a half years. The US conducted the transfer flights and, according to Iraqi government officials, indicated it would fund detention, care, investigation, and prosecution of the transferred detainees. Previously, HRW had criticized the transfer of detainees suspected to be affiliated with ISIS as a violation of international law, emphasizing that they would face a “substantial risk of torture.”
Among those transferred were more than 440 children, one as young as 12. Iraqi law permits the prosecution of children as young as 9, raising concerns under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its juvenile justice standards. HRW said terrorism trials for the transferred detainees were expected in the coming days, while six French nationals separately transferred in 2025 were scheduled for prosecution beginning Monday.
Some court-appointed lawyers represent up to 250 detainees each, and detainees arrived without case files or identification papers. HRW said cells at the prison are filled to 158 percent capacity, noting that 14 detainees have died since arrival, one more died during the transfer, and more than 1,100 adults arrived with serious illnesses, including tuberculosis.
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“The thousands of boys and men sent to Iraq deserve humane treatment and due process, just as the thousands of survivors of ISIS crimes deserve genuine justice,” said Letta Tayler, HRW’s senior counterterrorism advisor.
HRW has previously documented 10-minute trials, convictions based on torture-tainted confessions, and reliance on anonymous informant testimony in Iraq’s terrorism courts. HRW warned that the proceedings risk violating fair trial rights guaranteed under international law, including defendants’ right to adequate time and legal assistance to prepare a defense.
The organization also warned that the transfers may violate the principle of non-refoulement under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and customary international law, which prohibit transfers where individuals face a substantial risk of torture. Iraqi judicial authorities have vowed compliance with international legal standards.
However, the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has observed that even when defendants allege they were tortured or seriously mistreated to extract a confession, presiding judges made little effort to order an investigation into those allegations.
The 5,704 men and boys, nationals of 67 countries including Syrians, Iraqis, and other foreign nationals, were transferred between January 21 and February 12, 2026, from US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) detention centers in northeast Syria to Al-Karkh Central Prison near Baghdad after approximately 200 detainees escaped January 19, triggering fears of a wider prison break.
Many had been held without prosecution for up to seven and a half years. The US conducted the transfer flights and, according to Iraqi government officials, indicated it would fund detention, care, investigation, and prosecution of the transferred detainees. Previously, HRW had criticized the transfer of detainees suspected to be affiliated with ISIS as a violation of international law, emphasizing that they would face a “substantial risk of torture.”
Among those transferred were more than 440 children, one as young as 12. Iraqi law permits the prosecution of children as young as 9, raising concerns under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its juvenile justice standards. HRW said terrorism trials for the transferred detainees were expected in the coming days, while six French nationals separately transferred in 2025 were scheduled for prosecution beginning Monday.
Some court-appointed lawyers represent up to 250 detainees each, and detainees arrived without case files or identification papers. HRW said cells at the prison are filled to 158 percent capacity, noting that 14 detainees have died since arrival, one more died during the transfer, and more than 1,100 adults arrived with serious illnesses, including tuberculosis.
The post 5,700 alleged ISIS members transferred to Iraq face unfair trials and execution, HRW warns appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.