Thousands of ISIS suspects remain in prison in Iraq. AFP
Thousands of ISIS suspects remain in prison in Iraq. AFP
Thousands of ISIS suspects remain in prison in Iraq. AFP
Thousands of ISIS suspects remain in prison in Iraq. AFP

Iraq is in a legal mess over ISIS - and the West has made it worse


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A little over a fortnight ago, Karim Khan, the lawyer heading the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability against ISIS (Unitad), gave his final briefing in that capacity to the UN Security Council. He said there was "clear and compelling evidence" that between 2014 and 2017  ISIS committed genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Iraq.

No one knows exactly how many ISIS members are currently housed in Iraq’s overcrowded prison system, but a low estimate is somewhere in the thousands. No one knows how many have been tortured or sentenced to death, but the figures are thought to be high. And no one knows how many have actually been executed, either – Iraq does not publish records.

The ambiguity might be slightly easier to accept if it were certain that every convict were guilty, and that those slated for death row were killers themselves. It’s true that ISIS was hardly ambiguous in its intention to torture, enslave and wipe out whole sections of Iraq’s population. Due legal process didn’t come into it for them. That Iraq and other countries are disinclined to apply due process in return now that their terrorisers are themselves in the dock is, perhaps, understandable.

But the way in which Iraq and the dozens of countries from which foreign ISIS fighters hail have pursued the course of justice over the past few years has created a mess. Moreover, it risks damaging prospects for a real resolution to the years of suffering ISIS caused, and extending the terrorist group’s longevity.

The burden of dealing with ISIS should never have fallen so heavily on Iraq in the first place. Although thousands of Iraqi citizens joined ISIS, as many as 40,000 fighters were foreign, including several thousand from Europe.

ISIS brought many Iraqi and Syrian cities to ruin. Getty
ISIS brought many Iraqi and Syrian cities to ruin. Getty
The burden of dealing with ISIS should never have fallen so heavily on Iraq in the first place

When the terrorist group was finally run out of its last remaining Iraqi territory, there were three options for prosecuting its members: repatriate them to face trial in their home countries, create an international tribunal, or try them where they were caught (that is, in Iraq).

Astonishingly, the consensus achieved in the West was to go for the third option. Countries did not want to bring suspected terrorists home, and an international tribunal is apparently too complex and expensive. So they shuffled a huge pool of potentially dangerous individuals – and their families or innocents unlucky enough to have been near them when they were arrested – into a legal system incapable of dealing with them.

And so Iraqi authorities began a series of shotgun trials, seemingly more concerned with revenge and quick convictions than with ascertaining the level of guilt. There were a lot of cases to get through: from January 2018 to October 2019, Iraq’s judiciary processed more than 20,000 terrorism-related cases, and even after those were finished, there were thousands more pending.

Representatives from the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq (Unami) observed 619 of these cases. In a report, they wrote that Iraq “has made considerable efforts to ensure accountability” and that Unami “generally observed efficiency, structure and order in the conduct of judicial proceedings”.

There’s always a “but”.

“Nonetheless,” the report continues, “the findings show serious concerns.” These include violations of fair trial standards, an overreliance on confessions, frequent allegations of torture and a lack of transparency.

One of the biggest problems, Unami notes, is that all ISIS-related prosecutions are tried under Iraq's wide-ranging 2005 counterterrorism law. It is applied to a broad range of offences, in effect maximising the conviction rate. The death penalty can be used for as minor a charge as simply having been associated with a terrorist group. Thirty per cent of the sentencing hearings Unami attended resulted in the death penalty – 10 times the rate it saw in non-terrorism-related criminal cases.

Several of the ISIS suspects tried in 2019 were alleged foreign fighters. One French suspect, Mustapha Merzoughi, met his attorney just minutes before a short trial in which he was sentenced to death.

“Many judges are not necessarily seeking harsh penalties,” an Iraqi judge told Unami officials. “The law does not give much choice.”

In one case Unami observed at a juvenile court in Baghdad, a boy aged 14 at the time of his alleged offence was sentenced to 15 years in prison because he admitted that his family was part of a group of civilians that acted as "human shields" to protect a group of ISIS fighters from an air strike.

Iraq's sentencing laws are risking more than the lives and liberty of potentially innocent suspects. They are also jeopardising its ability to investigate and arrest guilty suspects.

Mr Khan's team at Unitad have been in Iraq for three years, gathering mountains of evidence against ISIS that meet the most rigorous standards of international criminal law. He has been unable to share the vast majority of it with Iraq's government. The Security Council resolution that authorises Unitad's work mandates that the agency operate according to the "best practices of the UN", which Mr Khan rightly interprets to preclude assisting capital punishment.

There is some debate within the Security Council as to whether or not this should be the case. Amazingly, one of the strongest opponents of Unitad sharing evidence with Iraqi courts on death-penalty grounds is France. It spoke out about this at a Security Council session in 2019, even as Paris was refusing to repatriate Merzoughi, citing respect for Iraq's judicial sovereignty.

To avail itself of the treasure trove of evidence Unitad has secured, the Iraqi government must reform its legislation to try ISIS suspects to a higher standard, and without the death penalty. For most in the Iraqi government, who want to appear as tough as possible on ISIS, that could be an electoral problem. That is partly why a draft reform law has stalled in Baghdad’s Parliament.

It also does not help that so many ISIS-related arrests have been carried out with political or sectarian motive. As Vera Mironova, a former member of Unitad, has written: “Iraq’s aggressive approach to fighting terrorism has basically given ungoverned Shia militias that are often operating outside of government control a free pass to arrest Sunni Iraqis for alleged ISIS membership or sympathy.”

There is some recent progress. Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region has its own Parliament, which is reaching the final stages of establishing a special court to try ISIS suspects according to international standards. It was designed with the advice of Unitad, and aims to try even people who are not currently in Iraq. If this spurs Baghdad into action, there could be two parallel ISIS courts on Iraqi soil.

Whether either can shed all of the corruption and malpractice that has perverted the course of justice thus far remains to be seen. If they do not, then the cycle of injustice that rages between ISIS and those who wish to see it destroyed will continue.

But hopefully they do, because they will inevitably serve as a model for other legal systems throughout the developing world that have to deal with ISIS. As Mr Khan warned after his Security Council briefing, ISIS is now “alive and kicking in Afghanistan and the Sahel”.

Sulaiman Hakemy is opinion editor at The National

Expo details

Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia

The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.

It is expected to attract 25 million visits

Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.

More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020

The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area

It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South

The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

Key changes

Commission caps

For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:

• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term). 

• On the protection component, there is a cap  of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated. 

• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.

• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.

Disclosure

Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.

“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”

Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.

Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.

“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.

Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.

FIGHT%20CARD
%3Cp%3EAnthony%20Joshua%20v%20Otto%20Wallin%2C%2012%20rounds%2C%20heavyweight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDeontay%20Wilder%20v%20Joseph%20Parker%2C%2012%20rounds%2C%20heavyweight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDmitry%20Bivol%20v%20Lyndon%20Arthur%2C%2012%20rounds%2C%20light%20heavyweight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDaniel%20Dubois%20v%20Jarrell%20Miller%2C%2012%20rounds%2C%20heavyweight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFilip%20Hrgovic%20v%20Mark%20de%20Mori%2C%2012%20rounds%2C%20heavyweight%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EArslanbek%20Makhmudov%20v%20Agit%20Kabayel%2C%2012%20rounds%2C%20heavyweight%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFrank%20Sanchez%20v%20Junior%20Fa%2C%2012%20rounds%2C%20heavyweight%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EJai%20Opetaia%20v%20Ellis%20Zorro%2C%2012%20rounds%2C%20cruiserweight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

BRIEF SCORES

England 228-7, 50 overs
N Sciver 51; J Goswami 3-23

India 219, 48.4 overs
P Raut 86, H Kaur 51; A Shrubsole 6-46

England won by nine runs

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

Name: Colm McLoughlin

Country: Galway, Ireland

Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free

Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club

Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah

 

How green is the expo nursery?

Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery

An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo

Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery

Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape

The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides

All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality

Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country

Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow

Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site

Green waste is recycled as compost

Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs

Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers

About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer

Main themes of expo is  ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.

Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months

THE%20HOLDOVERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlexander%20Payne%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Paul%20Giamatti%2C%20Da'Vine%20Joy%20Randolph%2C%20Dominic%20Sessa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Analysis

Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.

The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement. 

We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.