At Karkh Prison in Baghdad, a suspected ISIS member arrives for questioning.
For Letta Tayler, Human Rights Watch’s senior counterterrorism adviser, the transfer of suspected Islamic State members to Iraq has brought a basic legal question into sharper focus: whether men and boys held for years will receive humane treatment and a meaningful chance to answer the allegations against them. “The thousands of boys and men sent to Iraq deserve humane treatment and due process, just as survivors of ISIS crimes deserve genuine justice,” Tayler said.
The cases arise from a conflict that left thousands in detention after the Islamic State seized territory across Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2019. Iraq declared victory over the group’s territorial presence in 2017, and the group lost its final stronghold in Syria in 2019.
Many suspected Islamic State members then spent up to seven-and-a-half years in detention in northeast Syria without being charged or prosecuted. As clashes intensified between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, US Central Command moved approximately 5,700 men and boys suspected of links to the group from Kurdish-controlled prisons in northeast Syria to Iraqi custody between 21 January and 12 February 2026.
About 3,500 of those transferred are Syrian. Approximately 2,200 are Iraqi or nationals of 65 other countries, and detainees include nationals as young as 12. Thirteen Australians are among those held in Iraq.
The immediate conditions described by Human Rights Watch are severe. Cells are filled to 158 percent of capacity, more than 1,100 detainees have serious health conditions, and the organisation has reported allegations of torture and unsanitary surroundings. One detainee died during the transfer, while 14 others are believed to have died after arriving in Iraqi prisons.
In early September 2026, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said it had completed interrogations and would begin prosecutions of the transferred detainees. An Iraqi official said the cases were being handled exclusively by the Counter-Terrorism Service and the Supreme Judicial Council because of their sensitivity.
Iraq is preparing to bring the cases under its counterterrorism law as dozens of countries delay the return of their nationals. Human Rights Watch says there are serious questions about access to effective legal representation, and warns that detainees face unfair trials followed by the death penalty. The specific allegations against individual detainees, the evidence available to courts and the defences open to them are unclear.
Several governments have left their nationals in Iraqi custody. Human Rights Watch has accused the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Australia of failing to assist detainees held over alleged ISIS links. The Australian Government has explicitly said it is making no effort to repatriate the 13 Australians, a position Human Rights Watch says amounts to the Albanese government outsourcing its responsibilities. French lawyers have also objected to the handling of ISIS detainees in Iraq.
Human Rights Watch describes the wider situation as a global detention crisis. “The international community should not leave Iraq to manage this responsibility alone,” Tayler said.
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