Iraqis ‘violating due process’ for Islamic State suspects
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi federal and Kurdish regional judiciaries are violating the rights of Islamic State suspects with flawed trials, arbitrary detentions, harsh conditions and broad prosecutions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.
As the Sunni terrorist 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 and at least 92 executed, an HRW report said.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, at a weekly news conference on Tuesday, denied that Iraq puts ISIS suspects on trial without evidence but ignored other parts of the report.
HRW said that an 80-page report it released early on Tuesday “finds serious legal shortcomings that undermine efforts to bring [Islamic State] fighters, members, and affiliates to justice.”
The following issues are highlighted in the HRW report:
• It is too easy to accuse someone of belonging to ISIS and have them detained.
• Detention centers are overcrowded and authorities fail to separate children from adult detainees.
• Detainees are often subject to torture, not granted access to lawyers, and their families are not informed of their whereabouts.
• To prove guilt, a judge only needs proof that a defendant was a member of ISIS, even if only a cook or a doctor. This means everyone is subject to the same sentences, which range from life in prison to death.