Baghdad says it will prosecute Islamic State detainees transferred from Syria

Iraq will prosecute and try the Islamic State group (IS) prisoners who are being moved from prisons and detention camps in northeastern Syria to Iraq under a US-brokered deal, Iraq said on Sunday.

Iraq's announcement comes as the Syrian army rapidly seized large areas of northeastern Syria from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) last week.

Under a ceasefire that was extended 14 more days on Saturday, SDF is expected to present a plan for integration into Syria’s army and hand over all detention centres and facilities holding prisoners accused of having IS-links. 

The Syrian army has seized control of al-Hol detention camp, al-Shaddadi prison, and al-Aqtan, under a ceasefire agreement. 

Over 100 prisoners escaped during the chaotic withdrawal of the SDF forces from the al-Shaddadi prison, but Syria’s interior ministry said the majority of them were later recaptured.

After the chaotic handover of the prison, Baghdad offered to have the prisoners moved to Iraq, a plan that was agreed to by both Washington and Damascus.

On Wednesday, the US announced the transfer of the first batch of prisoners held in northeastern Syria to Iraq.

A total of 275 prisoners have been flown to Iraq so far, including 125 who were moved on Sunday, according to The Associated Press, citing two Iraqi security officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iraq to probe and try prisoners in domestic courts

Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said the transferred detainees, accused of terrorism, would be investigated by Iraqi security forces and put on trial in local courts.

It said all suspects fall under the sole authority of the Iraqi judiciary, stressing that legal procedures would be applied to everyone without exception, regardless of nationality or role within the group.

The US decision to transfer the prisoners raised concern among human rights defenders. 

Legal action NGO Reprieve warned on Thursday that the prisoners' transfer from northeast Syria to Iraq is an “extremely worrying development”.

“Summary trials and executions of prisoners in Iraq have been extensively documented. Anyone transferred to Iraqi detention facilities faces a very real risk of being tortured into making a forced confession and executed,” Reprieve CEO Maya Foa said in a statement. 

Human Rights Watch has previously criticised Iraq for sentencing hundreds of people suspected of having IS  links to death after “rushed and deeply flawed” trials based on confessions, including those obtained after torture. 

In Syria, the SDF played a key role in the group's territorial defeat in 2019 and later managed thousands of IS detainees.

As the Kurdish-led group withdrew from the predominantly Arab regions it once controlled after IS’s defeat, the UN assumed management responsibilities for al-Hol camp.