Holding such a tribunal on Syrian soil would aid the difficult task of gathering evidence to secure successful prosecutions, foreign relations officials of the Self-Administration Authority in Northern and Northeastern Syria (NES) told a cross-party delegation of British politicians, academics, and journalists.
The UK delegation, led by Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, arrived in Qamishli on Monday to discuss the issue of foreign ISIS fighters, transitional justice, and future development.
“The families there, including the Daesh ideas they are harboring, which are like a ticking bomb in our areas, require rehabilitation and reintegration into their societies,” Ammal Dada, chair of the NES foreign relations committee, told a press conference on Monday, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
The NES officials raised the issue foreign children from 54 different countries currently held across three camps in northern Syria and the process of “repatriating them and re-integrating them to their societies,” Dada said.
“Also, [as for] the fighters in the prisons, an international tribunal should be set up to prosecute them because this area is the most suitable area for prosecuting them as they have committed their crimes here, and all the testimonies and evidence is here,” Dada added.
Western governments have been unwilling to repatriate their nationals who joined ISIS, fearing that the difficulty of gathering evidence from the Syrian battlefield would make it impossible to secure a successful prosecution in domestic courts.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which led the ground war against ISIS in northern Syria, has warned it lacks the resources to hold captives long term and could be forced to release them unless foreign states take responsibility for their nationals.
Russell-Moyle praised the Kurdish-led authority for its role in the fight against ISIS and promised to relay its suggestions to the British government.
“We were united in our discussions that we wanted to express our gratitude for the work that is being done to defeat fascism here,” Russell-Moyle said. “The work not just to protect this region, but the work to help protect the world against an extremely dangerous set of ideologies.”
“But that also means that we must do our best, and when it comes to foreign fighters, de-radicalization, economic development. We were determined to go back to the UK with practical solutions to move these issues forward. We cannot let the continued situation last,” the Labour MP added.
“When it comes to foreign fighters, as you have heard, we listened in great detail about some of the suggestions for an international tribunal, and these are things that we will continue to take back and try and pursue.”
During its visit, the British delegation will assess the security situation to determine whether the region is ready for reconstruction and development aid “to extinguish the ideology of ISIS”.
“We have just arrived, and I guess these are some of the issues that we will cover in our visits and talks,” Russell-Moyle said.
“We are not here to prescribe outcomes as we see it. We are not here to say these are the solutions. We are here to listen, to have a dialogue.”
