Iraq News
Terrorism

Around 1,200 children of ISIS currently held in Iraq

By Khalid al-Taie

Children of ISIS parents are seen at an Iraqi correctional centre during class. [Photo courtesy of the Iraqi Justice Ministry, posted on February 17th]

Children of ISIS parents are seen at an Iraqi correctional centre during class. [Photo courtesy of the Iraqi Justice Ministry, posted on February 17th]

Iraq's Independent High Commission for Human Rights on Wednesday (July 24th) revealed that a total of 1,191 children of "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) elements are currently held in correctional centres and prisons across the country.

The commission received the report from the Justice Ministry on the number of ISIS Iraqi and foreign children held in juvenile correctional centres, said commission spokesman Ali al-Bayati.

The number also includes children accompanying their mothers who are held in the ministry's prisons, he told Diyaruna.

"There are 1,191 children in total, 21 of whom are Iraqi, and the rest are all foreigners," he said, adding that they were detained during the fight against ISIS.

Some underage children have terrorism-related charges against them, while others have been convicted by the court and are currently serving their sentences in correctional centres, said al-Bayati.

Children under the age of three are placed in central women's prisons with their Iraqi and foreign ISIS mothers, who are being tried for terrorism, he added.

"About 700 foreign women are detained in Iraq on terrorism-related charges," he said, noting that this number fluctuates as some women are acquitted or complete their prison periods and are released.

In such cases, the government contacts these women's countries of origin to receive them and their children, he said, as well as the children separated from their mothers who are serving their sentences.

Over the last three years, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry has repatriated 473 foreign children to their parents' countries of origin following government and diplomatic efforts, the ministry announced on July 15th.

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