Will Baghdad turn into center for trial of terrorists?

Mohamed Abdelghaffar

The Iraqi army succeeded in ending control by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Iraqi territories after the battle of Mosul in Nineveh province in March 2017.

In March 2019, Syrian Democratic Forces succeeded in ending ISIS control on its last stronghold in Syria, namely in Baghuz, having received support from the international coalition which is led by the United States.

Nevertheless, ISIS continues to control some small pockets in the two states. However, ISIS presence in these pockets does not pose any danger to the security of either Iraq or Syria.

The eradication of this terrorist organization has, meanwhile, raised a number of questions, including on whether those who joined ISIS and fought within its ranks should be brought to court and whether they should be repatriated to their home countries.

Some of the countries from which ISIS fighters came refused to allow these fighters to return home. Other countries said it would allow their fighters to return home, but had stipulated a number of conditions for doing this.

Iraq, at the same time, says it can try these terrorists and penalize them in the light of its own laws.

On May 29, Reuters reported the dispatch by the United States of 30 former ISIS foreign fighters to Iraq for trial according to Iraqi laws. The 30 fighters were arrested by Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria between 2017 and 2018. They were then detained at US military bases in the Kurdistan region and interrogated there.

On May 29 also, a local court in Baghdad sentenced a French national to death for joining ISIS. This was the seventh French national to be tried in Iraq. An Iraqi court had earlier tried a Tunisian national who had fought within ISIS in Syria and was then moved to Iraq in February 2019.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian praised the Iraqi judiciary. He said French nationals tried in Iraq were given fair trials.