KRG Coordinator: minors detained for links to ISIS are treated as victims, not suspects

Shafaq News/ The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Coordinator for International Advocacy, Dindar Zebari, on Monday said that minors detained for connections with the terrorist organization of ISIS are being treated as "victims, not convicts".

More than 1,000 children are being detained in Iraq on national security-related charges, some due to suspected links with Isis, according to a United Nations report which says the number of detained minors has increased significantly in recent years.

The UN Children and Armed Conflict report said that 1,091 children, some as young as nine, were behind bars in Iraq, which is a "serious protection concern".

The report hinted that the KRG, among other official authorities in Iraq, have detained children for charges of terrorism for alleged ISIS affiliation.

Zebari said in a statement he issued earlier today that "the correction facilities in the Kurdistan Region are supervised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)."

"The Kurdistan Regional Government is fully committed to the law, the principles of the United Nations, and other international pacts on the human rights issue," he said, "the Regional Government respects the citizens who believe they are victims of forcible detention and bear painful memories. Therefore, it categorically denies those deeds and will continue to provide shelter and education for the internally displaced persons, refugees, and ISIS victims, in coordination with the international organizations."

"For three years, the Kurdistan Region was constantly under the threat of ISIS. In fact, this threat persists until the moment. The Kurdistan Regional Government's endeavors to prosecute ISIS are underway, in coordination with the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes committed by Daesh (UNITAD)."

"The United Nations report confirms that many of the detainees took part in armed training under ISIS, had family members who were active members of ISIS, or served in the terrorist organization themselves. This critical issue requires a thorough judicial investigation," he said, "the inquiries are underway, and the UNITAD is on board to collect and evaluate the evidence and documents."

"People less than 18 years old with suspected affiliation to ISIS are being treated as victims to the terrorist organization, not convicts. Those cases were subject to the legal proceedings and they were discharged accordinly," he concluded.