ISIS detainees

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A woman in a chador, a full black covering, walks toward the camera with a young child walking on either side with smiles on their faces, against a backdrop of dirt and sand amid a sea of ragged tents, with a large red container at the back right of the photo that may hold water, in Al-Hol camp in northeast Syria.

In a New Era for Syria, States Must Take Responsibility for Their Islamic State-Affiliated Prisoners and Families

It is a matter not only of justice, law, and human dignity, but also an obligation to relieve Syrians of this war legacy as they rebuild their society.
People sit in a truck on a dusty road with a brown single-story building in the background.

Assessing Amnesties and Re-assimilation in Northeast Syria

Using amnesties, trials, and “parole boards” for detainees in northeast Syria would be consistent with the requirements of international law.
The episode title appears with sound waves behind it.

The Just Security Podcast: The Evolution of U.S. Hostage Policy

Joining this episode are Jim Foley’s mother, Diane Foley, and Luke Hartig, a former senior director at the National Security Council.

Since James Foley’s Death, a `Moral Awakening’ in America on Hostages Held Abroad

August 19 will mark 10 years since our son, James W. Foley, an American freelance journalist, was publicly beheaded by ISIS to fuel the violent extremist group’s hate-filled…
A woman who is covered except for her eyes carries a child in her arms as she walks along a dirt road in front of ramshackle tents, a slightly older child at her side. The heads of two young boys show in the foreground of the image.

Deaths, Torture, and Arbitrary Detention in the Wake of the Islamic State in Syria: The US Responsibility to Act

More than 56,000 people, including 30,000 children, are being held with US support and many face systematic torture and grossly inhumane conditions.
A picture shows the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the northeastern Hasakeh governorate. Children are pressed against a chain link fence during a security operation by the Kurdish Asayish security forces and the special forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces, on August 26, 2022. (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Extended Detention Compounds Trauma for Thousands of Child Victims of Terrorism in Syria Camps

Countries must accelerate repatriation of their citizens, but governments need assistance to enhance their support systems for families.

Repatriating Alleged ISIS-Linked Men from Northeast Syria: The Start of Judicial Responses to the Political Stalemate

Recent rulings may force countries to reckon with their denial of due process to the accused and justice to the victims.
Image: BAGHOUZ, SYRIA - MARCH 24, 2019: A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter walks past destroyed vehicles in the final ISIL encampment on March 24, 2019 in Baghouz, Syria. The Kurdish-led and American-backed Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) declared on March 23 the "100 percent territorial defeat" of the so-called Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The group once controlled vast areas across Syria and Iraq, a population of up to 12 million, and a "caliphate" that drew tens of thousands of foreign nationals to join its ranks. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Al-Kurdi Capture Raises Thorny Detention Issues

The capture raises a host of issues on detention and prosecution of terrorists in areas where the US does not have a large ground presence.
Children in Roj Camp, Northeast Syria.

A Visit to Northeast Syria Shows the Urgency for Governments to Repatriate Their Citizens, Many of Them Children, to Thwart ISIS

A majority of the approximately 72,000 detainees from 57 countries are children, and the militant group is targeting youths for recruitment.
Children walk out of a building during the handover of orphaned children, whose parents were suspected of belonging to the Islamic State group to a Russian delegation by Syrian Kurdish officials, at the headquarters of the department for foreign affairs of the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on April 18, 2021.

Foreign ISIS Suspects, Families: Why a Single “R” Word Matters at the UN

Whether governments should repatriate ISIS suspects and family members is under heated debate at the United Nations as it renews its Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS).
A crowded prison cell in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on October 26, 2019. Men accused of being affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group sit and lay on the floor close together. There does not appear to be an empty floor space.

A Tribunal for ISIS Fighters – A National Security and Human Rights Emergency

There is an immediate need to triage a coordinated response to the ongoing detention of roughly 10,000 ISIS fighters and 60,000 women and children in northeast Syria.
A woman clad in mask due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, sits outside a tent near a water cistern at Camp Roj, housing family members of people accused to belong to the Islamic State (IS) group who were relocated from al-Hol camp, in the countryside near al-Malikiyah (Derik) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 30, 2020.

When Terrorists Traffic Their Recruits

A full reckoning with ISIS' exploitation requires overcoming politics to understand when someone might be at once a victim and a perpetrator.
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