UK government must not 'wash its hands of British-born ISIS fighters'

Committee criticises failure to prosecute war crimes and calls for 'transparency' on stripping of citizenship

Panorama prison in north-eastern Syria, which houses men accused of being members of ISIS. Getty Images

The UK has not yet “successfully” prosecuted former ISIS fighters' war crimes committed in Syria and Iraq, despite the possible involvement of British citizens, a report has found.

The terrorist group was accused of genocide by the UK government for the killing of about 5,000 Yazidis, and the kidnapping of women and children belonging to the minority group in Iraq in 2014.

Yet hundreds of ISIS fighters who are believed to have “returned” to the UK after the group was defeated by a US-led coalition in 2017 have yet to be prosecuted for their potential involvement in genocide, crimes against humanity or other war crimes, a report by the UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights found.

The report was based on two inquiries with evidence from barrister Amal Clooney, independent terrorism reviewer Jonathan Hall KC, the Met Police’s counter-terrorism unit and the Crown Prosecution Service.

It found police and the Crown Prosecution Service were too “focused” on bringing former ISIS fighters to justice on terrorism charges, causing them to overlook potential war crimes investigations.

The UK was also constrained by its own war crime laws, namely the International Criminal Court Act 2001, which meant it could prosecute only crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes suspected of being committed by British citizens or residents.

Committee chairman Lord David Alton accused the government of trying to “simply wash its hands” of the issue of foreign ISIS fighters because the group carried out its atrocities overseas. It was “unacceptable” that no successful prosecutions had yet taken place, he added.

“We know that British nationals committed the most horrendous crimes in Iraq and Syria under the Daesh regime and we have a duty to see them brought to justice,” he said.

“We want to see more action from the government in identifying the perpetrators, some of whom may have returned to Britain, others likely detained in camps in Syria. This will require better co-ordination from law enforcement and criminal justice, and also the removal of barriers preventing some prosecutions."

The committee has called for the ICC Act to be amended through the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently being debated by Parliament.

The inquiry also examined the issues of British ISIS fighters who have been detained since 2017 in north-eastern Syria, often with family members.

It called for "greater transparency" in the UK's policy of stripping British ISIS members of their citizenship. Shamima Begum, who travelled to ISIS-held territory a decade ago, aged 15, is the most famous example of the state's use of this power.

But the report said the UK "uses deprivation of citizenship orders more than almost any country in the world", and ministers must account for this.

About 20 British families are believed to be detained in camps in north-east Syria, in conditions which Lord Alton described as "deplorable". Women and children account for a high number of those detained, the report said. The committee called on the government to repatriate children and minors “where feasible as soon as possible”.

“It is in the UK’s interest to ensure they do not become a new generation of the radicalised and they must be brought home," Lord Alton said.

Proper identification of British citizens detained in Syria was also needed enable international war crimes prosecutions.

“The Government should step up efforts to identify British nationals currently held in camps in Syria. Where there is sufficient evidence that international crimes were committed, they should be prosecuted,” the report said.

About 850 British citizens are known to have travelled to join the group, which took over large parts of Iraq and Syria. An estimated 425 British nationals who joined IS in Iraq and Syria were believed to have returned to the UK in 2017, the UK government said that year.

Two British-born ISIS fighters, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, were stripped of their citizenship and sentenced to life in jail in the US in 2022.

Aine Davis, who was part of the same ISIS cell, sentenced in the UK to eight years in jail for funding terrorism in 2023.