Over 500 “foreigners” with ties to ISIS convicted in Iraq

The Iraqi Supreme Court announced that over 500 foreigners have been convicted in ISIS-related cases.

The Supreme Court announced that 514 foreign-born gang members have been convicted since the beginning of 2018. There are ongoing investigations for 202 individuals, as well as ongoing cases for 44 others. The announcement also said 11 individuals were acquitted and released.

The court did not provide details on which countries the gang members are citizens of, but stated that the interrogations as part of the investigations could take 6 months to a year.

ISIS gangs had invaded a significant portion of Iraq’s territory, including Mosul, in 2014. The country declared victory against ISIS in 2017.

Iraqi judiciary has put thousands of ISIS members on trial since, both men and women, and most have been sentenced to life in prison or execution.

According to Amnesty International, Iraqi courts issued at least 217 execution verdicts in 2018 alone. Compared to 2017, that is a four-fold increase.

Iraq is among the top 5 countries to issue execution verdicts in the world, but 52 individuals were hanged to death in 2018, while the number had been 125 in 2017.