Iraq Announces Return of 3,000 Syrian Detainees Following SIRAJ Investigation
Days after SIRAJ published its investigation “The Final Charge,” Iraq announced plans to return approximately 3,000 Syrian detainees to Syria, after the investigation revealed discrepancies in detainees’ cases and the charges recorded against them before their transfer to Iraq.
Days after SIRAJ published its investigation, “The Final Charge,” which exposed the circumstances surrounding the transfer of thousands of detainees from prisons run by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria to Iraq, Iraqi Justice Minister Khalid Shwani announced that Iraqi authorities intend to return approximately 3,000 Syrian detainees to Syria, except for those who committed crimes on Iraqi territory.
Based on documents, case files, and witness testimony, SIRAJ’s investigation found that the transfer included Syrians who had been detained for widely varying reasons and under different case circumstances. Among them were individuals whose original detention records contained no documented links to ISIS, but who, after being transferred to Iraq, found themselves facing terrorism charges before Iraqi courts that could carry the death penalty.
In televised remarks published on August 28, Shwani said Iraq had received approximately 5,700 detainees from Syria. He stressed that “not all” of those transferred were terrorists and said approximately 3,000 Syrians would be returned to their country, with the exception of those who committed crimes in Iraq.
The announcement comes just days after SIRAJ revealed discrepancies in the backgrounds of some of those transferred and in the charges recorded against them prior to their transfer. The documents reviewed by the investigation also contained no indication that their cases had undergone an independent, individualized judicial review before the transfer took place.
The announcement marks a new development in the case of the Syrian detainees. Thousands had been transferred from northeastern Syria to Iraq for investigation and prosecution under Iraq’s counterterrorism law, while their families have called for information about their fate and for their return to Syria.
The Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism (SIRAJ) is an independent organization and a leading advocate for investigative journalism in Syria. SIRAJ is a member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Founded in November 2016, SIRAJ trains Syrian journalists and produces in-depth investigations exposing corruption, human rights violations, and sanctions evasion in Syria and across the Syrian diaspora.
