Was SDF releasing hundreds of ISIS suspects to tribal elders wise?
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) released 283 Islamic State (ISIS) suspects on Saturday at the request of local Arab "elders and dignitaries" because they did not commit crimes against Syrians.
Abdul Hamid al-Mehbash, a co-chair of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, said it pursues a policy of "forgiveness and pardon," according to the SDF statement.
The SDF statement described the ISIS suspects as victims of the group who were "deceived by its dark agenda."
Because ISIS-controlled "cities and villages were destroyed, and the property of the people was stolen, the schools, science and universities were closed, and the life system was broken."
The group of ISIS suspects were released after "repeated" requests from "elders, tribal leaders and socially influential figures."
Authorities in self-administrated Rojava bear the responsibility to reintegrate them into the society and to create jobs for the, the statement added.
It said they had been initially arrested in Manbij and outlying regions, like Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.
The SDF statement wished "success" for them hoping they would stay away "from everything that harms the interest of the country."
How could their release effect Iraq and Syria?
“This is very dangerous for Iraq and Syria. These guys say they haven't committed crimes, but Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi also wasn't a fighter, he was an ideologist," Hashimi told Rudaw English of the ISIS leader whose whereabouts remain unknown.
He predicts they will rejoin or at the very least contribute to the extremist group.
"These guys who they released are going to be very a very important asset for Daesh. They are going to continue creating problems in Iraq and Syria,” Hashimi said.
He is adamant that ISIS is continuing to cross the porous border from Syria into Iraq.
"From August 2018 until now around 1,000 Daesh have managed to escape into Iraq and they are still at large," said Hashimi. "These militants who come across the border into Iraq have a lot of money and they pose a serious problem with the stability of the area."
So what should the fate of these alleged ISIS members be?
"Damascus and Baghdad need to take responsibility and try them in court," Hashimi said.
Dawd Cicek, a Syrian Kurdish political commentator who has covered the ISIS conflict in Syria, argued otherwise.
The SDF "made a good decision because the SDF should not be against all the locals who were once Daesh supporters. They supported Daesh and took arms for them in the first place fearing their lives,” he told Rudaw English
He believes SDF made the decision because it understands it cannot solely control one-third of the country, so they need to maintain good relations with influential Arab tribes.
Freeing ISIS suspects by SDF not unprecedented
The SDF has said it is incapable of bringing more than 3,000 Syrian and foreign ISIS suspects to justice.
US President Donald Trump announcing his intention in December to withdraw troops has prompted the SDF to call for foreign fighters to face justice in their own countries and reduce the number of Syrians held in SDF detention centers.
The SDF transferred custody of 150 alleged ISIS suspects to the Iraqi Security Forces on February 21.
As Raqqa was liberated in 2017, Washington defended a decision by the US-backed SDF, the Raqqa Civil Council, and local tribal elders to allow civilians and alleged ISIS fighters to flee the city.
In the liberation of Tabqa in 2017, the SDF allowed 70 ISIS fighter to leave in a "forced withdrawal."
In 2018, SDF said it was willing to swap alleged ISIS fighters with the extremist group in exchange for kidnapped member of the Druze religious minority in Suwayda.