Syria’s AANES considering issue of prosecuting ISIS militants
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) intends to initiate prosecutions for some militants of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) detained in prisons in northeastern Syria, Department of Foreign Affairs in the AANES said on Monday.
Spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the AANES, Kamal Akef, in a statement to North Press, said the prosecutions will first target convicted ISIS militants with complaints filed against them “whose hands have been stained with the blood of our people.”
An estimate of 15.000 terrorism-related inmates from Syria and from over 60 foreign nationals is held in prisons in the AANES-held areas on charges of “terrorism”. The majority of them are former militants of ISIS, according to the data of the AANES.
In June, Hassan al-Ahmad, the co-chair of the AANES Social Justice Council, said mechanism to prosecute the ISIS members “is still under discussion between the AANES and the US-led Global Collation.”
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defeated ISIS militarily.
Akef did not identify a date for the prosecutions to start, confirming that the AANES intends to begin trying the ISIS militants and that it is studying its aspects.
On October 9, 2021, the general council of the AANES approved the unification of the law to prosecute Syrians accused of terrorism cases.
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated ISIS after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist ISIS.
After Baghouz, thousands of ISIS fighters were transferred to prisons, while their families were transferred to Hawl and Roj camps in the AANES-held areas.
Issue of the family members of the ISIS held in camps in northeast Syria constitutes an ongoing challenge for the non-internationally recognized AANES, which repeatedly demands that the concerned countries repatriate their nationals.
Also, the AANES continues to call on the international powers to provide support for establishing rehabilitation centers and help in tackling the security situation in the facilities were ISIS foreign nationals are held.
Despite many calls, the majority of countries, including those participating in the Global coalition, refuse to repatriate their nationals.