ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The founding country of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS requested for other states to return their citizens from Syria to their own countries to face justice on Monday.
“The United States calls upon other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens detained by the SDF and commends the continued efforts of the SDF to return these foreign terrorist fighters to their countries of origin,” read a statement from US State Department deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino on Monday.
Most people suspected of having ISIS ties in eastern Syria are held by the predominately-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
“Facing the extraordinary challenge of fighting a brutal enemy in a disciplined manner the SDF has demonstrated a clear commitment to detain these individuals securely and humanely,” the statement added.
US President Donald Trump announced that because ISIS had essentially been defeated in December, he intends to withdraw all US forces from Syria. The SDF are the partnered ground force of the US-led coalition.
“… the SDF took into custody hundreds of foreign terrorist fighters from dozens of countries around the world,” the statement continued.
Some analysts had speculated that the SDF could use the prisoners as bargaining chips with the regime or with foreign countries possibly willing to assist the SDF in Syria when the Americans withdraw.
Different countries in and outside of the coalition have different policies on how to deal with their nationals detained on the battlefields of Syria when suspected of having ISIS ties. Some prefer for local justice to be dealt, others repatriation and trials in civil courts, while others tried in military courts as enemy combatants.
The lack of specific evidence for mid-to-low level ISIS members is also troublesome for many court systems. Courts may struggle to match eyewitness testimony with physical evidence, leading to light sentences.
The coalition will convene a ministerial-level meeting in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday following US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he expects Trump to make a big announcement with regard to the ISIS fight during the speech.
Most indicators seem to show that the Trump administration has lost interest in fighting ISIS on the ground in Syria.
