Ex-Islamic State fighters face justice in Mosul
Iraq establishes a special court in Ninevah province to address a large number of terrorist cases related to former Islamic State fighters.
In the Assyrian-Christian city of Hamdaniya, which its inhabitants call Qaraqosh, 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of Mosul, a big house belonging to a Muslim family temporarily hosts a terrorism court as part of the Iraqi Criminal Court, where provincial trials are held. In this beige and orange two-story villa, Iraqi judges listen to prisoners who are accused of being affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group and having committed crimes against humanity. At the end of October 2016, when the city was liberated by Iraqi forces, the same house was occupied by IS foreign fighters, which is the reason it is one of the few houses that is not damaged.
Aside from the trials of former IS fighters, weekdays from Sunday to Thursday, around 300 people gather in front of the doors of the villa. These individuals, who arrive at the same time as the IS fighters, are the victims of the three-year IS rule who seek justice. They reach Hamdaniya by private or public transportation from Mosul and its outskirts, or even from the camps for the displaced in Ninevah province, to report the violence they faced. They lost their homes, their cars and their personal possessions, and they bring pictures and documents as proof to show the judges. Many cry out for the disappearance of a family member, a killing and other brutal acts committed by IS in front of their eyes.
On a daily basis, Iraqi special forces guide tens of blindfolded men with their hands tied behind their backs from the prisons in the area, especially from the two detention centers in Qayyara, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Mosul, and other makeshift prisons at police stations. They wait for their turn to see the judges, kneeling against the wall while being surveilled by the Iraqi special forces. In the same courtyard, victims and oppressors wait for justice. But the accused are called in faster than the victims.
“Did you pledge allegiance to Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?” the judge asked the accused in one of the rooms on the first floor, where Al-Monitor was present to listen to the interrogations.
