Baghdad will not extradite ISIS fighters before trial in Iraq: Official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An official from Iraq’s Justice Ministry said on Thursday that Baghdad will not extradite foreign fighters of the Islamic State group (ISIS) before they stand trial in Iraqi courts, adding that some countries have expressed willingness to repatriate their nationals.

“None of the ISIS members will be extradited to their countries unless investigations and trials are concluded in Iraq,” Ahmed al-Luaibi, spokesperson for the justice ministry, told Rudaw.

In mid-February, the United States military announced it had completed the transfer of 5,704 male ISIS prisoners from detention facilities operated by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria. The operation lasted 23 days.

A judiciary official confirmed on Thursday that Iraq will prosecute all 5,704 militants recently transferred from Syria.

Of the detainees, 467 are Iraqi nationals, 4,253 are non-Iraqi Arabs, and 983 are citizens of dozens of other countries.

Luaibi said several countries have indicated their readiness to take back their nationals, “but it is too early to speak about this matter or the procedures for handing them over.”

He added that one of Iraq’s key conditions for transferring foreign ISIS militants is that “they must not have been involved in committing crimes against Iraqis or posed security threats to Iraqi national security.”

Rudaw has learned that Iraq has already completed preliminary investigations into 1,000 of the ISIS fighters.

“The investigations are being conducted by the interior ministry and the intelligence agency,” Luaibi said.

Luma Fadhel Naif, head of research and studies at the Supreme Judicial Council’s National Center for International Judicial Cooperation, told Rudaw that foreign suspects will be prosecuted under Iraq’s Penal Code No. 111 of 1969.

She added that the trial process could take between four and six months.