Iraq Completes Interrogation of 5,704 Suspected ISIS Members

Iraq 01:43 PM - 2026-09-02

Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council.

Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council has announced the completion of interrogations involving 5,704 defendants accused of being members of ISIS who were transferred to Iraq from north-eastern Syria.

The Council’s Media Centre said the First Karkh Investigation Court had completed the interrogation stage and would now begin the next phase, referring the defendants to the appropriate courts based on the evidence and circumstances of each case.

The Council described the case as one of the largest judicial and investigative files related to ISIS. The proceedings were conducted under the direct supervision of Supreme Judicial Council President Judge Dr Faiq Zaidan, with judges, public prosecutors, judicial investigators and law-enforcement personnel involved in the process.

Preliminary investigations began in February 2026 and continued through interrogations, evidence collection and other investigative procedures until the cases of all 5,704 defendants had been examined.

According to the Council, the defendants hold 67 nationalities, including 16 Arab nationalities, 19 from European Union member states and 32 other foreign nationalities. Of the total, 474 are Iraqi nationals and 3,497 are Syrian nationals.

The investigations identified individuals alleged to have held senior positions within ISIS’s security, religious, military and media structures, as well as others suspected of involvement in major operations and crimes with an international dimension. Investigators also uncovered evidence of the organisation’s broad range of activities, including military, security, financial, logistical, administrative, medical, technical and media operations.

The National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation assisted in documenting and organising information gathered during the investigations, linking it to relevant databases and preparing the material for analysis. It also supervised the work of an Intelligence Analysis Centre comprising judicial investigators and specialists from the Ministry of Interior, the National Intelligence Service, the National Security Service and the Military Intelligence Directorate.

Forensic procedures included recording detainees’ biometric information, such as fingerprints, iris scans, DNA samples and palm prints, under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior’s Criminal Evidence Investigation Directorate.

The Ministry of Justice also played a role in managing the detainees’ conditions at Karkh Central Prison, implementing judicial detention orders and providing necessary services, healthcare and humanitarian assistance.

The investigations also uncovered information concerning serious crimes allegedly committed by ISIS against the Yazidi community. Six defendants were identified whose case files indicated direct involvement in the enslavement, detention, transportation, sale, supervision or exploitation of people subjected to ISIS’s slavery system.

The judiciary established separate procedures for certain cases, including age assessments by specialists from the Forensic Medicine Department and assessments of detainees’ social and psychological circumstances. The Council said that where sufficient evidence was not found, defendants were released or transferred to the relevant authorities.

This included the transfer of a Finnish detainee to Finnish authorities and an American detainee to US authorities, while seven Iraqi detainees were released.

The Council also said procedures were being completed to release 457 Syrian detainees against whom there was insufficient evidence to justify continued legal proceedings. They are expected to be handed over to the Syrian authorities following the completion of the necessary judicial and legal procedures, in coordination with the Syrian Embassy in Baghdad and through official diplomatic channels.

The investigations were conducted alongside a number of legal and humanitarian safeguards. Each detainee was provided with a lawyer in coordination with the Iraqi Bar Association, while medical examinations and healthcare were provided by Ministry of Health personnel. The International Committee of the Red Cross also conducted regular visits, and detainees were permitted to communicate with their families within the applicable legal and security framework.

Diplomatic and consular missions from several countries also visited their nationals among the detainees, allowing them to follow up on their cases in coordination with the National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation and relevant Iraqi authorities.

As the cases move towards trial, a remote courtroom equipped with closed-circuit television and live video conferencing has been established to allow high-security defendants to attend criminal proceedings remotely, reducing the risks associated with transporting them.

The Supreme Judicial Council said the cases fall under Iraqi judicial jurisdiction and are being handled under national legislation, including the Counter-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005, the Penal Code No. 111 of 1969, as amended, and the Criminal Procedure Code No. 23 of 1971, as amended, alongside legislation concerning juveniles and the protection of witnesses and victims.

With the investigative phase now complete, the defendants will be referred to the competent courts in batches. The Council stressed that each case would be examined and decided on the basis of the evidence and facts relating to the individual defendant, with no case being judged collectively or on the basis of another defendant’s circumstances.

The Council said the proceedings had been managed by Iraqi personnel through a system integrating judicial investigations, evidence collection, analysis, documentation and databases. However, it noted that the international nature of the cases and the number of nationalities involved would require continued judicial cooperation with the countries concerned.

The Council also called on the international community to fulfil its responsibilities in completing the relevant procedures, saying this would contribute to delivering justice, protecting victims’ rights and upholding the principle of accountability.



PUKMEDIA