French ISIL Detainees Transferred to Iraq Allege Torture by Interrogators

Lawyers for several French nationals accused of affiliation with ISIL, who were recently transferred from Syria to detention facilities in Iraq under US military escort, claim their clients face systematic torture and inhumane treatment.The allegations, detailed by legal representatives Marie Dose and Matthieu Bagard following a visit to Baghdad, suggest physical abuse was employed to secure confessions that would establish Iraqi jurisdiction over the suspects, according to reports Wednesday.Detainee Accounts and Interrogation MethodsThe detained individuals reportedly denied ever being in Iraq prior to their arrest in Syria and subsequent transfer to Baghdad.The abuse reportedly included slapping, strangulation, restraint via handcuffs fastened with a pulley system behind the back, and threats of sexual violence using iron bars, all intended to compel admissions of presence in Iraq.During their two-day visit, the lawyers met 13 of the 47 French nationals currently held in Iraq, all arrested between 2017 and March 2019, the date the ISIL territorial caliphate collapsed in Baghouz, Syria.The detainees reported harsh conditions in Syrian jails, where four French inmates allegedly died due to illness and inadequate care.They also confirmed being interrogated multiple times by agencies believed to represent the FBI, CIA, and European Union member states, including France.These transfers, facilitated by US military flights, followed recent advances by Syrian government forces against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who had managed the detention sites.Jurisdictional Concerns and Repatriation CallsThe movement of thousands of detainees to Iraq follows concerns that ISIL prisoners could escape amid the fighting, prompting the US-backed arrangement to move them to Iraqi jails for processing. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani characterized the transfers as temporary, simultaneously urging the detainees' home countries to repatriate their citizens.Iraq’s highest judicial body confirmed on Sunday that it intends to prosecute the transferred individuals, solidifying the legal basis for holding them under Iraqi law, despite the allegations of coercion used to establish that necessary jurisdiction.