Pakistan Today

Iraq accused of violating due process for Islamic State suspects

BAGHDAD, IRAQ: Iraqi federal and Kurdish regional judiciaries are violating the rights of Islamic State suspects with flawed trials, arbitrary detentions under harsh conditions, and broad prosecutions, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

As the militant 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, Human Rights Watch said, and at least 92 executed.

Iraq’s government faces the task of exacting justice on Islamic State members while preventing revenge attacks on people associated with the group which could only undermine efforts to create long-term stability.

The New York-based rights group 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.”

A spokesperson for Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, which supervises the federal judiciary, declined to comment on the contents of the report ahead of its release.

Issues highlighted by the HRW report:

This stretches Iraq’s resources thin as casting such a wide net means the courts would not have enough time or manpower to go through all cases, the report says, and prevents victims from getting personal justice.

HRW said that when it raised concerns over prosecutors not charging suspects with crimes under the criminal code, judicial authorities said there was no need.

“Genocide and terrorism are the same crime, why would we need a separate charge for genocide?” the report quoted one counter-terrorism judge as saying.

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