Nasiriyah Central Prison

IRAQ: ALLEGED ISIS DETAINEES TRANSFERRED FROM SYRIA AT RISK OF ABUSE

February 23, 2026:

The United States transferred 5,700 detainees held for alleged ISIS affiliation from Northeast Syria to Iraq, where they are at risk of enforced disappearance, unfair trials, torture, ill-treatment, and violations of the right to life, Human Rights Watch said on February 17, 2026. 
The United States began transferring the detainees, including Syrians, Iraqis, and third country nationals, on January 21, 2026, amid a Syrian government military offensive to claim control of Northeast Syria from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The United States conducted transfer flights under its military’s Operation Inherent Resolve, which is responsible for counterterrorism operations in the region. Iraqi officials have said the United States agreed to cover the cost of jailing the detainees in Iraq and processing their future trials, the New York Times reported. 
“Regardless of their affiliation or alleged actions, these detainees have been held for years without due process, and they are now held in another country without proper safeguards,” said Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Victims of ISIS crimes deserve genuine justice, and that requires fair trials for the accused.” 
Given the substantial risk of torture in Iraq, these transfers appear to violate the principle of non-refoulement in international law: not returning anyone to a country where they would face abuse. In light of Iraq’s well-documented due process violations in counterterrorism proceedings, the United States’ role in detaining these people and carrying out these cross-border transfers may make it complicit in any resulting abuses, Human Rights Watch said.
Iraqi authorities are holding transferred detainees in Nasiriyah and Karkh prisons, The National reported, while awaiting the results of investigations carried out by the Supreme Judicial Council. The council said that among those transferred are senior ISIS leaders accused of genocide and the use of chemical weapons.
ISIS committed numerous atrocities in Iraq between 2014 and 2017. Transferred detainees found to have participated in such crimes should be tried and held to account in trials that are fair and that respect due process guarantees, Human Rights Watch said.