Syria and Iraq agree to form judicial committees to review ISIS prisoner cases

Syria and Iraq have reached an agreement to establish judicial committees tasked with reviewing cases of ISIS prisoners who were transferred from Syria to Iraq earlier this year. Iraqi judicial delegation head Faiq Zaidan visited Syria to discuss legal and judicial coordination with Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara. The discussions focused on ISIS detainees, and both countries agreed to form technical and expert teams to examine the issue and find mutually acceptable solutions.

In February, the US Central Command and Iraqi officials reported that around 5,700 ISIS prisoners had been transferred to Iraq from Syria. For years, ISIS prisoners were held in camps and prisons managed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria. Syria gained control over these areas earlier this year, leading to clashes with the SDF and concerns about ensuring security at the prisons and camps.

Iraq agreed to take in the Syrian prisoners in coordination with the US. Judge Laith Jabr, head of the Iraqi Judicial Supervisory Commission, stated that the two countries would hold continuous meetings to resolve the files related to the prisoners' trials. Human rights groups have raised concerns about the speed of trials and due process, with some death sentences and life terms handed down by Iraqi courts.

Iraq has also called on other countries, particularly EU states, to start repatriating citizens who fought with ISIS and are now in legal limbo in the camps system.