Iraq completes investigation into thousands of ISIS detainees transferred from Syria, report says

Iraq says it has completed its investigation into around 5,700 ISIS detainees transferred from Syria earlier this year, bringing an uncertain chapter for the men closer to court proceedings. The authorities have not said exactly how many will face trial or remain in detention.

Most of the detainees are men who had been held in roughly two dozen facilities in eastern Syria since 2019. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces held them until an agreement between the SDF and the Syrian government to integrate their forces prompted US Central Command to facilitate a mass transfer to Iraq.

The Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council said it had concluded the interrogation phase for 5,704 ISIS suspects brought from northeastern Syria and referred their cases to trial. More than 450 Syrians will be released and handed over to their country, according to a report by Al-Arabiya based on AFP reporting.

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the cases will now proceed to trial, while more than 450 Syrians will be released and handed over to their country

The investigation reportedly identified several ISIS commanders, including senior figures involved in what the council described as “crimes at the international level.” At least six suspects are documented as having participated in the genocide against Iraq’s Yazidi minority.

The detainees came from a wider group held in Syria after ISIS was largely defeated there in 2019. Around 50,000 to 80,000 ISIS members were detained by the SDF, most of them women and children. Men made up several thousand of the detainees and were considered more dangerous. The article says the international community did not establish a court to prosecute them, leaving many in limbo for seven years, while some will now return to countries including Syria and Turkey.

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crimes at the international level