Iraq expects the US transfer of ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq to end on February 12, Iraq’s Justice Minister Khaled Shwani told Kurdish channel Rudaw.
This is an important accomplishment. In two weeks, around 7,000 ISIS detainees were expected to be moved from Syria to Iraq in a mission that US Central Command undertook in January.
The move was due to changes on the ground in Syria. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces gave up control of most of eastern Syria, including around 30 ISIS detention facilities, to the Syrian government in January.
The transfer is ongoing. To keep the detainees secure, the US decided to move them to Iraq, with Baghdad’s agreement. Iraq says it will investigate the detainees and charge those who are criminals, and try to repatriate the others.
Rudaw noted that “while Shwani did not identify the prisoners or figures, Iraqi Joint Operations Command data obtained by Rudaw showed that nearly 5,000 were transferred to Iraq as of Wednesday. Shwani said they include ‘extremely dangerous’ senior ISIS leaders.” There are detainees from 60 countries.
The report says “the detainees include 165 Turks, far lower than the 2,500 that were reported, he said. Shwani said Baghdad is ‘in constant contact’ with Ankara, which has ‘initially expressed their willingness to repatriate their citizens.’”
Shwani added that “ll those scheduled to be transferred have been moved, with the final group expected to be completed today and tomorrow.
They have all been placed in a prison in Baghdad. None will be transferred to the Kurdistan Region – either to Chamchamal or Susa – because they are considered terrorists, and the Susa and Chamchamal prisons are designated for criminal and civilian prisoners.
These detainees come from more than 60 countries, the majority of whom are Syrian, in addition to nationals from other countries. As mentioned, this brings the total to 60. The international coalition forces [the Global Coalition against ISIS] are paying for their transfer and detention.”
He added that his ministry has a special team to handle detainees. “A technical team has also been created to investigate them, headed by the Ministry of Interior’s Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency,” he said.
He added that the ministry will now work to build case files. Many ISIS crimes took place in Iraq, including the genocide of the Yazidi minority. ISIS also massacred cadets at Camp Speicher in June 2014.
Why ISIS detainees in Syria were left in limbo
The minister noted that there are 165 Turkish citizens among the roughly 6,000-7,000 ISIS members. “We are in constant contact with the Turkish side and are holding talks with them. They have initially expressed their willingness to repatriate their citizens, with procedures completed after the investigations are finished, of course. The extradition process is contingent on these individuals not having committed crimes within Iraq or targeting Iraqis. If no such charges exist, then yes, they will be extradited – not only to Turkey, but to all countries they belong to.”
The reason the ISIS members were not repatriated earlier is not clear. One reason is that the SDF is not a state, and many countries didn’t deal directly with the SDF. This left the ISIS detainees in limbo in Syria. There were around 7,000 men and some 30,000 or more women and children in Syria. Most of these had surrendered in 2019 when the SDF, backed by the US-led coalition against ISIS, defeated the group near the Euphrates River.
