The head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell, Saad Maan, said Iraqi security authorities have separated 157 juveniles from among Islamic State detainees transferred from northeastern Syria and placed them in rehabilitation facilities in accordance with Iraqi law.
In statements carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) Wednesday, February 18, Maan said that two of the juveniles hold Iraqi nationality, noting that their files have been referred to the Juvenile Investigation Court in Karkh, a district in western Baghdad.
Maan did not clarify the other nationalities. Iraq had previously stated that the majority of transferred detainees are Syrian nationals, numbering 3,543 Syrians out of a total of 5,704 detainees moved to Iraq.
He added that Iraq has completed investigations with 500 detainees at the First Karkh Court, in the presence of investigators and under judicial supervision. He indicated that the files of a large number of detainees will be decided in the coming months, before they are gradually referred according to the severity of the crimes committed.
Maan said the coming months will see the trial of the remaining detainees under the Iraqi Penal Code, stressing that sentencing and implementation will take place inside Iraq. He cited Article 6 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which grants Iraq full jurisdiction over investigation, trial, and enforcement of sentences.
He also noted that diplomatic coordination is underway through the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the countries of origin of the detainees, affirming that the matter is being handled through international diplomatic channels.
On February 2, Iraq announced it had begun investigation procedures for 1,387 Islamic State members recently received from Syria, who had been held in Syrian prisons.
Warnings of violations against detainees
Human Rights Watch said that 5,700 Islamic State detainees transferred by the United States from northeastern Syria to Iraq face risks of enforced disappearance, unfair trials, torture, ill-treatment, and violations of the right to life.
According to a statement published by the organization on February 17, given the serious risk of torture in Iraq, such transfers may violate the principle of non-refoulement under international law, which prohibits returning individuals to countries where they may face ill-treatment.
In light of well-documented Iraqi violations of due process in counterterrorism cases, the US role in detaining these individuals and carrying out cross-border transfers could make it complicit in any resulting abuses, the statement added.
Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that regardless of their alleged affiliation or actions, the detainees had been held for years without due process and are now detained in another country without sufficient guarantees.
“Victims of the group’s crimes deserve real justice, and that requires fair trials for the accused,” she said.
Sanbar added that Iraq is dealing with a problem that the international community should have resolved years ago. Governments must stop delaying and assume responsibility for their citizens, granting victims genuine justice through fair trials.
The United States began transferring detainees, including Syrians and Iraqis, on January 21, amid military operations in northeastern Syria between the Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, and government forces.
The transfers were carried out under Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led military campaign against the Islamic State in the region.
Iraqi officials told The New York Times that the United States had agreed to cover the costs of detaining the prisoners in Iraq and prosecuting them in the future.
Human Rights Watch said detainees proven to have committed genocide or used chemical weapons, as reported by Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, should be prosecuted in fair trials that respect due process guarantees.
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