Iraqi authorities must
guarantee full due process rights
for more than 5,700 detainees transferred to Iraq from north-east Syria, and ensure the urgent protection of child rights, Amnesty International said today, ahead of an upcoming trial session on 5 October.
The transferred individuals are being prosecuted for their suspected affiliation with the armed group calling itself Islamic State, following their relocation to Iraq between late January and February 2026. The transferred group includes 5,704 individuals from 67 countries, including 16 Arab countries with thousands of Syrian nationals and hundreds of Iraqis, 19 from European Union countries, and 32 other foreign nationalities, and at least 157 juveniles under the age of 18.
”The opening of these trials places an enormous responsibility on Iraqi authorities to uphold international human rights law and standards of all those being prosecuted at every stage of judicial proceedings,” said Grazia Careccia, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“While we acknowledge the security challenges and immense logistical strain this situation places on Iraq’s legal system, justice cannot be delivered through flawed procedures, forced confessions, or mass prosecutions. The Iraqi government must ensure that every single detainee receives a fair trial grounded strictly in individualized criminal responsibility, or else be released.”
In judicial proceedings, Iraqi authorities have said that prosecutions will move forward under Penal Code No. 111 of 1969 and Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005. This counterterrorism framework has drawn long-standing criticism for its overly broad definitions of terrorist activity and for its provision of the death penalty, including for acts that encompass mere membership or support of a group.
The Iraqi government must ensure that every single detainee receives a fair trial grounded strictly in individualized criminal resp
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