Washington Kurdish Institute
July 9, 2019
The Rojava Center for Strategic Studies (NRLS) hosted the three-day International Forum on ISIS (Da’esh) which focused on security, social, economic, and legal issues currently facing the region as a result of the five-year war. International intellectuals, academics, and political experts from 15 different nations traveled to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) to participate and hear from local military, civil society, and administration officials. This is the second forum the NRLS has held, the first of which focused on the on-going ethnic cleansing in Afrin after it fell to Turkish backed militant groups in March 2018 during Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch.
With Tens of Thousands of Da’esh Prisoners in Legal Limbo, Experts Call for International Tribunal
On the first panel, victims of Da’esh attacks domestically and internationally detailed the persistent threat of Da’esh and emphasized the need to bring those responsible for the atrocities to justice. There are now more than 15,000 Da’esh fighters and 74,000 family members imprisoned in AANES. Excluding Iraqis, 14,000 of these individuals are foreign nationals representing 85 different countries, most of whom are women and children. The AANES is struggling to maintain the prisons and camps due to a lack of international support and limited resources.
While a few countries have repatriated some of their Da’esh members to put on trial at home, the vast majority remain in AANES without any indication from their national governments as to what their fate will hold. In some cases, such as that of former Briton and ‘Da’esh bride’ Shamima Begum, citizenships have been revoked altogether, while a handful of French citizens have been sent to Iraq to face trial, most of which were promptly charged with membership in a terrorist group and sentenced to the death penalty.
The forum served as a platform to discuss the challenges and dimensions for AANES to bring Da’esh to justice. The AANES is not recognized internationally, thus is seeking assistance to form an international tribunal court to bring charges against those who committed crimes. Soad Khalef, a Yazidi and former Da’esh captive who joined the Kurdish-led Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) stated, “I have fought against Da’esh and sought justice, and I believe those who committed crimes against the people here should face justice. We are calling for an international court in Syria because the atrocities were committed here.”
International Figures Voice their Support
Speaking from a video feed, former Italian prime minister Massimo D’Alema echoed Ms. Khalef’s call for a Syria-based tribunal.
“The international community must assume its own responsibilities,” Mr. D’ Alema stated. “I support the idea of creating an international court and public trials for Da’esh terrorists.”
Former U.S. Congressman Thomas Garrett of the Republican Party implored American and international leaders to consider human rights in their foreign policy.
“Often American foreign policy treats friends as enemies and enemies as friends,” he began. “If our policies are shaped by the needs of human beings, I would argue it would be a simple, but good policy.”
Congressman Garrett went on to praise the SDF for its “policies… based on basic human rights values.”
Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank, spoke of the valor of SDF fighters during the war, arguing that Da’esh “would not have been defeated if it had not been for the sacrifices of people in this room.” The SDF lost more than 11,000 members fighting against Da’esh over the course of the five-year war.
Dr. Rubin next turned his focus toward President Recep Erdogan’s Turkish government, which continues to pose a grave threat toward the AANES by supporting extremists groups.
“When it comes to Da’esh and the empowerment of the group, it is important to recognize it is the product of an intellectual and theological evolution, parts of which also took part in Turkey,” Dr. Rubin stated.
The Wilson Center’s Holmes Presents Research on Role of Da’esh Women
The second day of the forum emphasized the role of women under Da’esh. Dr. Amy Austin Holmes, a scholar from the Wilson Center in Washington and assistant professor at the American University in Cairo, presented her findings from Da’esh’s internal documents and manifesto on women, which revealed how the Islamic State used women as a part of its tactic to bring local communities under its submission.
“Destroying women’s independence was not a second-order objective, but constituted the core of the caliphate’s raison d’etre,” argued Dr. Holmes.
From 2014 to 2016, Da’esh’s excluded women from participating in their own communities by strictly imposing rules on their movement. Only after the fall of Raqqa, Da’esh started to push the idea women could also participate in jihad. This shift itself, Dr. Holmes argued, revealed how Da’esh instrumentalized women in the caliphate.
The AANES endorses full gender equality, evidenced by its co-presidency system and the military success of the all-female YPG. Dr. Holmes’s presentation served as a stark reminder of how far the region’s society can far if Da’esh is allowed to reemerge.
SDF Advisor: International Tribunal Would Bolster AANES Security, Boost Development
In an interview with WKI, Polat Can, Senior Advisor to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), argued that an international tribunal would allow the AANES to progress from the war and confront other important issues.
[The establishment of a tribunal] would serve as an acknowledgment from the international community for the struggle and the efforts of the people here and belief in the success of Rojava in its continued battle against Da’esh,” stated Mr. Can.
Although Da’esh no longer has a defined caliphate, Mr. Can says it still has a deadly presence in the region. Eliminating it completely will “require great effort.”
“We have at least five IED explosions per month, [and] every single day we uncover Da’esh members and bombing attempts, particularly in the regions of Raqqa, Deir Ezor, and Shadadia.”
Dominique Inchauspé, a French criminal lawyer with experience in the realm of non-state actors and the International Criminal Court, believes that the establishment of such a court has precedence.
“International courts have been established with the help of the UN in regions such as Central African Republic and Cambodia,” he stated. “It is possible to set up an international court here.”
He emphasized the importance for the people at the conference to convince the world of the need for the court in Northeast Syria. “The ICC only requires a territory, population, and self-governance,” he said. All three exist in AANES.
Conclusion of Conference
The conference concluded with a pledge to “develop a joint strategy” with international players to combat all aspects of Da’esh terrorism, to “find a solution to the Syrian crises” via the implementation of a democratic system, and to install an international tribunal in order to “to prosecute tens of thousands of members of Da’esh” that are imprisoned in SDF camps.
Additionally, the forum pledged to create a “system that guarantees the rights of all women,” and given the brutality against children by Da’esh, to devote resources to their rehabilitation and reintegration.