Iraq: Authorities must guarantee fair trials for 5,700 detainees and protect child rights in mass trials

Iraqi authorities must guarantee full due process rights for more than 5,700 detainees transferred to Iraq from north-east Syria, and ensure the urgent protection of child rights, Amnesty International said today, ahead of an upcoming trial session on 5 October.

The transferred individuals are being prosecuted for their suspected affiliation with the armed group calling itself Islamic State, following their relocation to Iraq between late January and February 2026. The transferred group includes 5,704 individuals from 67 countries, including 16 Arab countries with thousands of Syrian nationals and hundreds of Iraqis, 19 from European Union countries, and 32 other foreign nationalities, and at least 157 juveniles under the age of 18.

”The opening of these trials places an enormous responsibility on Iraqi authorities to uphold international human rights law and standards of all those being prosecuted at every stage of judicial proceedings,” said Grazia Careccia, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“While we acknowledge the security challenges and immense logistical strain this situation places on Iraq’s legal system, justice cannot be delivered through flawed procedures, forced confessions, or mass prosecutions. The Iraqi government must ensure that every single detainee receives a fair trial grounded strictly in individualized criminal responsibility, or else be released.”

In judicial proceedings, Iraqi authorities have said that prosecutions will move forward under Penal Code No. 111 of 1969 and Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005. This counterterrorism framework has drawn long-standing criticism for its overly broad definitions of terrorist activity and for its provision of the death penalty, including for acts that encompass mere membership or support of a group.

The Iraqi government must ensure that every single detainee receives a fair trial grounded strictly in individualized criminal responsibility, or else be released.

Grazia Careccia, Amnesty International

In past proceedings, Iraqi courts have repeatedly demonstrated an over-reliance on confessions extracted under torture and ill-treatment. Amnesty International has documented widespread patterns where detainees transferred from north-east Syria were subjected to severe beatings, electric shocks, forced stress positions, and suffocation to compel self-incriminating statements.

“Iraq’s history of relying on torture-tainted confessions in terrorism cases makes strict adherence to international safeguards an urgent necessity,” said Grazia Careccia.

“The Supreme Judicial Council must exclude any evidence obtained through torture or ill-treatment and thoroughly investigate all allegations of human rights violations. Defendants must be granted prompt access to legal counsel, qualified interpreters, and public hearings. Crucially, given that trials in Iraq could result in the death penalty any failure to guarantee fair trial standards carries irreversible, fatal consequences. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and calls on the Iraqi authorities not to impose or carry out death sentences, regardless of the offence or circumstances.”

The fact that at least 157 children are among the detainees standing trial also highlights the need for a child-rights-centered response that strictly adheres to international child rights and child justice standards, including the best interests of the child and child protection.

Many children and young adults were originally detained in north-east Syria under broad, indiscriminate circumstances. They include boys as young as 11 years old who were separated from their mothers in detention camps. International standards dictate that children recruited or used by armed groups must be recognized primarily as victims of human rights violations.

Criminal prosecutions of individuals for conduct allegedly committed while they were under 18 must remain an absolute exception, reserved only for credible allegations of crimes under international law or serious violent crimes under domestic law. In such cases, alternatives to judicial proceedings as well as community-based and noncustodial alternatives to detention must be considered, and sentencing options should support the child’s rehabilitation and reintegration, with detention used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. Children should never be prosecuted for mere association with an armed group.

Background

The recent transfers follow years of arbitrary, indefinite detention in north-east Syria, where tens of thousands of men, women, and children were held without charge or trial in substandard facilities and camps following the military defeat of the Islamic State. Trial proceedings for the transferred individuals began on 20 September and will resume on 5 October.

As documented in Amnesty International’s 2024 report Aftermath: Injustice, Torture and Death in Detention in North-east Syria, detainees faced severe overcrowding, inadequate food and a complete lack of healthcare, leading to outbreaks of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, which resulted in hundreds of deaths at facilities like Panorama prison in Hasakah.

Iraq continues to execute dozens of individuals annually, including following convictions under broad counterterrorism laws. In 2024, Iraqi courts issued more than 200 death sentences, and at least 63 executions were carried out, marking a four-fold increase from the previous year. Although executions slowed briefly following the passage of a General Amnesty Law in early 2025, judicial executions resumed in early 2026, raising severe international concern over systemic due process violations.

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