https://arab.news/vqp7f
- New report suggests establishing international 鈥榟ybrid court鈥� to try members, repatriate children
- UK counterterrorism expert says victims of group deserve to have justice
LONDON: 鈥淚nsecure鈥� detention centers holding tens of thousands of Daesh members in northern Syria have created a 鈥渕ini-caliphate鈥� that poses a 鈥済rowing security threat鈥� to the region and Western nations, a new report has warned.
Researchers at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London said the international community needed to find a way to resolve the situation, suggesting creating a 鈥渉ybrid court,鈥� similar to systems set up in Kosovo, Cambodia and East Timor.
鈥淭he current international response is one of containment, but this is not sustainable,鈥� wrote Sabin Khan and Imogen Parsons, authors of the RUSI report. 鈥淎s well as denying justice to those who have suffered abuses, there is a growing security threat.鈥�
The report added that local authorities could not hold detainees 鈥渋ndefinitely,鈥� saying that the international community, through the UN or Global Counterterrorism Forum, needed to prioritize trying and imprisoning those accused of human rights violations, removing those convicted from Syria to their countries of origin, and repatriating children and the vulnerable.
Failure to do so, it added, would have 鈥渇ar-reaching and generational鈥� security and political consequences.
There are thought to be around 70,000 people, including Daesh fighters, women and 27,500 foreign children, currently being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces at camps in Syria, with detainees originating from at least 60 different countries.
They include 1,000 people from the UK and EU, with many Western states refusing to repatriate their citizens, including London-born Shamima Begum, who had her citizenship stripped by the British government in 2019.
The report has gained the backing of significant counterterrorism figures in the UK. Sir Mark Rowley, former Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner, told the Times that the current situation in Syria posed a 鈥渄angerous long-term threat,鈥� adding: 鈥淭he deceased victims and widely scattered survivors are surely entitled to this resolution.鈥�
Suzanne Raine, the former head of the UK鈥檚 Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, added that it was important to be seen to impose justice on members of Daesh. She told the Guardian: 鈥淎 stalemate which includes impunity for perpetrators should be unacceptable.鈥�