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How Europe Is Handing Off Its ISIS Militants to Iraq
France is leading the way in washing its hands of its Islamic State fighters—whether they receive justice or not.
A French national, Djamila Boutoutaou, attends her trial at the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad. She was sentenced to
life in prison for belonging to the Islamic State terrorist organization.
The legal status and fate of European citizens who joined ISIS and are now detained in Syria ultimately rests with the home governments. But few are eager to face this responsibility, and a convenient off-ramp has apparently been discovered by the French. In effect, pay the Iraqis to "dispose" of the problem.
Related: A tribunal for ISIS fighters?
France is leading the way in washing its hands of its Islamic State fighters—whether they receive justice or not.
A French national, Djamila Boutoutaou, attends her trial at the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad. She was sentenced to
life in prison for belonging to the Islamic State terrorist organization.
Foreign Policy
6/15/19
The Europeans do not want ISIS detainees to return home, but the Syrian SDF does not have the sovereign power to sentence them, leaving their citizens in limbo. Transferring them to Iraq allows Europe to sidestep the issue, but it comes with a price—or, to be more precise, a fee. Sources from both the Iraqi and U.S. sides have alleged that Iraq wants to be paid for the trouble of trying foreigners. Senior Western officials reportedly have said the Iraqis want $10 billion as an upfront fee, with an additional $1 billion each year to take in detainees. Three Iraqi officials reportedly said they would charge $2 million per suspect per year. The French government has denied making any payments, according to a Reuters report this week. However the article also noted that “a French official briefing reporters after a visit by Iraq’s prime minister in May said Paris expected Baghdad to make an official request, including financially, on what it needed to handle large number of Islamist fighters.” Between 800 and 1,500 foreigners from countries including France, the United Kingdom, and Germany still remain in Syria detained by the SDF. France alone has about 450 citizens being held in Syria. “I believe this is the first wave of trials and we can anticipate other waves in the future,” he told Foreign Policy. “From what we know, the trials were very expedited and had very little time for defense. It is the opposite of our own values of justice.” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has portrayed the prosecutions as just, stating recently that the defendants had received “fair trials.” His statements have been condemned by lawyers and human rights organizations, but public opinion appears to be with the government.
France claims that the transfer was an agreement between the Kurdish SDF forces and the Iraqis and that it was not involved in the decision. France has officially stated that it respects Iraq’s sovereignty in this matter, but Iraq did not claim jurisdiction over these cases until recently. While Article 9 of the Iraqi Penal Code allows for the prosecution of foreign nationals who commit crimes outside of Iraq as long as those crimes affect Iraq, only a year ago senior judges’ interpretation of the law was quite different, said Belkis Wille, a senior Iraq researcher for the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “Last year they were saying no,” she said. “A few weeks ago, when I was back at the court, suddenly the tone had completely changed, and it’s obviously because politically they’ve been told that they have to prosecute,” she said. The Iraqi justice system is infamous for its abuses: Trials lasting 10 minutes, torture, and forced confessions have all been widely reported. If a country pays for its nationals to be prosecuted in Iraq, it could potentially violate international law and make France complicit in torture. Regardless of payment, France did not object to the transfer of its citizens to Iraq, a nation known for widely applying the death penalty in terrorism cases. A defense lawyer who did not want to be named said flatly that torture was common in these cases. “They’ll torture them with electricity to get them to sign something in a language they don’t understand,” he said in between court sessions. Thousands of people left Europe to fight for the Islamic State, a fact that years later European countries still appear reluctant to reckon with. But as Europe debates how to dispose of the fighters, Iraqis are left with a different question. “Iraq has the right not to be used as the most violent country,” said Pascale Warda, the president of the Iraqi Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, after attending the trials. “Why shouldn’t those countries take responsibility? Why should the responsibility be on our people?”
The legal status and fate of European citizens who joined ISIS and are now detained in Syria ultimately rests with the home governments. But few are eager to face this responsibility, and a convenient off-ramp has apparently been discovered by the French. In effect, pay the Iraqis to "dispose" of the problem.
Related: A tribunal for ISIS fighters?