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Syrian Kurds call for international court to try Islamic State militants

Syrian Kurds call for international court to try Islamic State militants
Syrian Kurds call for international court to try Islamic State militants

2019-03-25 00:00:00 - Source: Iraq News

Kurdish-led SDF fighters stand guard next to suspected men waiting to be screened after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, near Baghouz, eastern Syria, February 22, 2019. Photo: AP

AIN ISSA, Syria,— Syria’s Kurds on Monday called for an international court to be set up in the country to try suspected Islamic State group jihadists following the announced fall of their “caliphate”.

IS imposed its brutal interpretation of Islam on millions living in the proto-state that it declared across a large swathe of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014.

The extremists stand accused of carrying out numerous crimes including mass executions, kidnappings and rape.

“We call on the international community to establish a special international tribunal in northeast Syria to prosecute terrorists,” the Syria Kurdish administration said.

In this way, “trials can be conducted fairly and in accordance with international law and human rights covenants and charters”, it said in a statement.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday announced the end of the “caliphate” after defeating IS jihadists in the eastern village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border.

Kurdish-led forces, backed by a US-led coalition, have detained thousands of suspected IS fighters in more than four years battling the jihadists, including around 1,000 foreigners.

While alleged IS fighters are held in jail, women and children suspected of being affiliated to the group are housed in Kurdish-run camps for the displaced.

More than 9,000 foreigners, including over 6,500 children, were held in the main camp of Al-Hol, a Kurdish spokesman said, giving the latest figures from a week ago.

‘Not realistic’

The Kurdish administration in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) has repeatedly called for the repatriation of foreign IS suspects, and warned it does not have capacity to detain so many people.

But the home countries of suspected IS members have been reluctant to take them back, due to potential security risks and a likely public backlash.

“The Kurdish administration in northeast Syria has appealed to the international community to shoulder its responsibilities” with regards to IS suspects, it said Monday.

“But unfortunately there was no response.”

It urged the international community, particularly countries that have nationals detained, to support the establishment of an international tribunal.

A top foreign official for the Kurdish administration said foreign experts could work side by side with local judges.

“They could be foreign judges working with local judges and be experts in crimes committed by terrorist groups,” Abdel Karim Omar told AFP.

Previous international courts include the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which tried genocide perpetrators in the African country.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia meanwhile tried those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in conflicts that tore apart the Balkans in the 1990s.

Joel Hubrecht, a Paris-based expert in transitional justice expert, said setting up an special tribunal to judge IS was a good idea in theory in view of the international dimension of its alleged crimes.

“The idea of an international criminal court is relevant and interesting,” he told AFP.

“But in northeast Syria it’s not realistic.”

The Syrian Kurdish authorities are not internationally recognised, setting up such a tribunal usually takes time, and ensuring witness protection is tough in a war-torn country, he said.

Humanitarian crisis

Despite the declared victory against IS in Baghouz, the jihadists still maintain a presence in the country’s vast desert and have continued to claim deadly attacks in SDF-held territory.

President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have made a territorial comeback against rebels and jihadists with key Russian backing since 2015, but the war is far from over.

The battle to end the “caliphate” has triggered an exodus of tens of thousands of people — mainly women and children — out of crumbling IS territory, sparked a humanitarian crisis.

The main camp in Al-Hol is now bursting at the seams, housing more than 70,000 people — in a place designed for just 20,000.

“Humanitarian conditions in Hol camp are extremely critical,” World Food Programme spokeswoman Marwa Awad said Monday.

At least 140 people — overwhelmingly young children — have died on the way to the camp or shortly after arriving, the International Rescue Committee aid group says.

The Kurdish administration on Monday called on the United Nations to improve living conditions at the Al-Hol camp.

It particularly called for more humanitarian assistance, expanding the camp, and better water and sewage networks.

Syria’s war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Apart from fighting IS, the Kurds have largely stayed out of the civil war, instead setting up their own semi-autonomous institutions in the northeast of the country.

U.S. has for years supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). But U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced the pullout from Syria.

The Kurdish PYD and its powerful military wing YPG/YPJ considered the most effective fighting force against IS. The YPG, which make up the backbone of the SDF forces, has seized swathes of Syria from Islamic State.

In 2013, the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party PYD — the political branch of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) — has established three autonomous Cantons of Jazeera, Kobani and Afrin and a Kurdish government across Syrian Kurdistan in 2013. On March 17, 2016, Kurdish authorities announced the creation of a “federal region” made up of those semi-autonomous regions in Syrian Kurdistan.

Copyright © 2019, respective author or news agency, AFP | Ekurd.net

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