ISIS suspects face 'outsourced' justice in Iraq as HRW warns of 'collective global detention crisis'
Erin Ogunkeye is pleased to welcome Letta Tayler, Senior Counterterrorism Advisor at Human Rights Watch. She warns of the detention of suspected Islamic State members transferred from northeast Syria to Iraq as part of a much wider "global detention crisis". The men and boys now held in Iraq are living in 'dire' conditions, including deaths from illness, allegations of torture, and serious…
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that thousands of men and boys, transferred from Syria to Iraq, are at risk of abuse and unfair prosecution for alleged links to the Islamic State (IS). Nearly 5,700 individuals, including 3,500 from Syria and 2,200 from Iraq, along with 65 others from various countries, face potential execution under Iraq's counterterrorism law.
Many of these individuals were held in life-threatening conditions in northeast Syria for up to seven-and-a-half years before being transferred to Iraq between January 21 and February 12, 2026. Letta Tayler, a senior counterterrorism advisor at HRW, stated that these detainees, who include both men and boys, deserve humane treatment and due process.
The international community should not leave Iraq to manage this responsibility alone. HRW also highlighted concerns over widespread torture, unsanitary conditions, and deaths in custody among the detainees.
Written by urgent.news from Middle East Eye's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
