BAGHDAD: Iraqi federal and Kurdish regional judiciaries are violating the rights of Daesh suspects with flawed trials, arbitrary detentions under harsh conditions, and broad prosecutions, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
As the militant group’s self-proclaimed caliphate crumbles following defeats in Iraq and Syria, thousands suspected of joining it have been captured, detained, and put on trial.
At least 200 have been sentenced, Human Rights Watch said, and at least 92 executed.
Iraq’s government faces the task of exacting justice on Daesh members while preventing revenge attacks on people associated with the group which could only undermine efforts to create long-term stability.
The New York-based rights group said that an 80-page report it released early on Tuesday “finds serious legal shortcomings that undermine efforts to bring (Daesh) fighters, members, and affiliates to justice.”
A spokesman for Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, which supervises the federal judiciary, declined to comment on the contents of the report ahead of its release.
Issues highlighted by the HRW report:
- It is too easy to accuse someone of belonging to Daesh and have them detained. Wanted lists or community accusations without evidence can result in the detention of suspects for months even if wrongly accused.
- Detention centers are overcrowded and authorities fail to separate children from adult detainees. Iraqi law states detainees should be brought to a judge within 24 hours of capture but this does not happen.
- Detainees are often subject to torture, not granted access to lawyers, and their families are not informed of their whereabouts. Iraqi authorities say they have investigated these allegations but have not released any findings.
- The reliance of Iraqi and Kurdish courts on counter terrorism laws to prosecute suspects rather than using other laws in the criminal code means crimes are not prioritized by seriousness and victims are not included in the process as suspects are not tried for individual acts of murder, rape, torture or slavery.
- Proving guilt under counter-terrorism laws is easier as a judge only needs proof that a defendant was a member of Daesh to find them guilty. This means that anyone from cooks and doctors serving under the group to actual fighters is subject to the same sentences which range from life in prison to death.
This stretches Iraq’s resources thin as casting such a wide net means the courts would not have enough time or manpower to go through all cases, the report says, and prevents victims from getting personal justice.
HRW said that when it raised concerns over prosecutors not charging suspects with crimes under the criminal code, judicial authorities said there was no need.
“Genocide and terrorism are the same crime, why would we need a separate charge for genocide?” the report quoted one counter-terrorism judge as saying.
Iraq accused of violating due process for Daesh suspects
Iraq accused of violating due process for Daesh suspects
US plans meeting for Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ in Washington on Feb 19, Axios reports
- The Axios report cited a US official and diplomats from four countries that are on the board
- The plans for the meeting, which would also be a fundraising conference for Gaza reconstruction, are in early stages and could still change, Axios reported
WASHINGTON: The White House is planning the first leaders meeting for President Donald Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” in relation to Gaza on February 19, Axios reported on Friday, citing a US official and diplomats from four countries that are on the board.
The plans for the meeting, which would also be a fundraising conference for Gaza reconstruction, are in early stages and could still change, Axios reported.
The meeting is planned to be held at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, the report added, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Trump at the White House on February 18, a day before the planned meeting.
The White House and the US State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
In late January, Trump launched the board that he will chair and which he says will aim to resolve global conflicts, leading to many experts being concerned that such a board could undermine the United Nations.
Governments around the world have reacted cautiously to Trump’s invitation to join that initiative. While some of Washington’s Middle Eastern allies have joined, many of its traditional Western allies have thus far stayed away.
A UN Security Council resolution, adopted in mid-November, authorized the board and countries working with it to establish an international stabilization force in Gaza, where a fragile ceasefire began in October under a Trump plan on which Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas signed off.
Under Trump’s Gaza plan revealed late last year, the board was meant to supervise Gaza’s temporary governance. Trump thereafter said it would be expanded to tackle global conflicts.
Many rights experts say that Trump overseeing a board to supervise a foreign territory’s affairs resembled a colonial structure and have criticized the board for not including a Palestinian.The fragile ceasefire in Gaza has been repeatedly violated, with over 550 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers reported killed since the truce began in October. Israel’s assault on Gaza since late 2023 has killed over 71,000 Palestinians, caused a hunger crisis and internally displaced
Gaza’s entire population.
Multiple rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry say it amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defense after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages in a late 2023 attack.
