Iraq launches investigations into ISIS detainees before repatriation from Syria

ISTANBUL

Iraq has begun investigations into ISIS (Daesh) terror group detainees transferred from Syria, saying they will not be repatriated to their home countries until judicial proceedings are completed, the country’s top judicial body said on Sunday.

The National Center for International Judicial Cooperation, part of the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq, said the suspects belong to about 42 countries and that investigations are expected to take between four and six months.

An oversight meeting was held at the Supreme Judicial Council under its president, Judge Faiq Zaidan, said Ali Diaa, deputy head of the center, said, according to the Iraqi News Agency INA.

The task of investigating suspects transferred from Syria was assigned to the First Karkh Investigative Court in Baghdad, which specializes in terrorism cases, he added.

Diaa said the court was reinforced with additional judges, prosecutors and administrative staff to complete the investigation files. He added that interrogations began Jan. 28 to finalize detainee records.

“The investigation starts from scratch,” Diaa said, citing a vast body of data related to crimes committed by ISIS. He said the center formed an operations room in coordination with security agencies, relying on a broad information bank documenting crimes committed by the terror group between 2014 and 2017, and that all relevant data and evidence were provided to guide investigators.

Diaa said it is too early to discuss repatriations, noting that preliminary findings show some detainees are “highly dangerous,” including “senior ISIS leaders and perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity against Iraqi communities.”

The cases include suspects involved in crimes against Yazidis and in the use of chemical weapons during ISIS control of parts of Iraq, he added.

He said about 7,000 to 8,000 foreign ISIS members from roughly 42 countries are included in the overall caseload, stressing that all trials in Iraq are conducted exclusively under Iraqi law. He added that the suspects had not been tried in Syria and were held for years without interrogation by courts or the international coalition.

On Saturday, Saad Maan, head of the Iraqi Security Media Cell, said Iraq received 2,250 ISIS detainees from Syria by land and air in coordination with the international coalition and placed them in heavily guarded detention facilities.

On Jan. 21, the Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the launch of an operation to move ISIS detainees from northeastern Syria to Iraq, saying US forces transferred 150 detainees from a facility in Hasakah province to a site inside Iraq, followed by additional transfers.

That same day, CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper briefed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa by phone on a plan to transfer about 7,000 ISIS detainees to Iraq.

The developments followed the withdrawal of the terrorist organization YPG/SDF from al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria after clashes with the Syrian Army, which later took control of the camp and surrounding areas.

Iraq declared "victory" over ISIS on Dec. 10, 2017, following a three-year battle to reclaim territory seized by the terrorist group. However, ISIS terrorists continue to carry out sporadic attacks in northern, western, and eastern provinces, while Iraqi authorities conduct military operations to dismantle the group's remaining cells.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul