Islamic State detainees transferred to Iraq: one prison and food costs covered by the coalition
Iraqi authorities have disclosed new details regarding Islamic State members transferred from Syria, including their numbers, place of detention, and responsibility for covering their food expenses.
Ahmed Laibi, spokesperson for Iraq’s Ministry of Justice, told the Iraqi News Agency that “government procedures concerning the transfer of terrorists from Syria to Iraq are legally sound.” He stated that “the number of terrorists transferred so far has reached 5,064, including more than 270 Iraqis, over 3,000 Syrian nationals, and the remainder from other nationalities.”
He added that “all the terrorists have been placed in a single prison and will be investigated and tried in accordance with Iraqi law,” noting that “Iraq is a key member of the international coalition to combat the Islamic State, and the hosting and detention of these terrorists are being carried out at the request of the international coalition.”
He further said that “Justice Minister Khaled Shwani confirmed that the measures taken regarding these terrorists were coordinated with the international coalition,” emphasizing that “the cost of feeding Islamic State terrorists is borne by the international coalition, not Iraq.”
Islamic State seized vast areas of northern and western Iraq beginning in 2014, before Iraqi forces, backed by the US-led international coalition, defeated the group in 2017.
In recent years, Iraqi courts have issued death sentences and life imprisonment rulings against individuals convicted of belonging to a “terrorist organization” and of murder.
Thousands of Iraqis and foreign nationals convicted of affiliation with Islamic State are currently held in Iraqi prisons.
Last week, Iraq’s judiciary announced the initiation of investigative procedures concerning 1,387 detainees handed over as part of a US military operation.
Iraq has called on the relevant countries to repatriate their nationals and ensure that they are prosecuted.
In neighboring Syria, where the group was defeated in 2019, thousands of individuals suspected of belonging to terrorist groups, along with their families — including foreigners — have been detained in prisons and camps administered by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The announcement of the plan to transfer members of the organization to Iraq came last month, after the US envoy to Damascus, Tom Barrack, stated that the role of the Syrian Democratic Forces in countering the extremist group had come to an end.
Following the conclusion in 2024 of the mandate of the United Nations investigative team tasked with probing Islamic State crimes, Iraq established the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation, under the Supreme Judicial Council, to continue collecting evidence and documenting the group’s crimes.
The center serves as the primary body for coordination with countries conducting counterterrorism investigations and is responsible for following up on Iraqi judicial requests to prosecute perpetrators linked to the organization.
On Sunday, the center told the Iraqi News Agency that “investigations into Islamic State members arriving from Syria will continue for between four and six months,” noting that among them are “highly dangerous individuals and suspects accused of using chemical weapons.”
It stressed that “there can be no discussion of handing over Islamic State detainees to their home countries before investigative procedures are completed” in Iraq.
