Monday, December 2, 2019

About those ISIS prisoners in Syria . . .


A while back, I noted that with the Kurdish rapprochement with the Syrian government, the ISIS/ISIL prisoners held by the former were very likely to be handed over to, or captured by, Syrian forces;  and they could expect little mercy if they were.

Well, guess what?

Jihadis in prisons in Syria could face execution without trial after President Bashar al-Assad said he was setting up special terror courts, where the prisoners will be subjected to 'Syrian law'.

Membership of Islamic State (IS) is a hanging offence in Syria and the brutal dictator has now said foreign members of IS in the country will be brought to justice.

Thousands of prisoners have been secretly executed inside the infamous Saydnaya Prison near Damascus, according to Amnesty International. Thousands more are said to have died there through torture and starvation.

Inmates are regularly beaten while crammed inside tyres, electrocuted and sexually assaulted. Some have been forced to act like animals and beat or kill one another.

Assad’s comments were made in an interview with Paris Match magazine when asked about a deal with Kurdish-led forces that would eventually bring their areas back under government control. The Syrian Democratic Forces, who defeated IS in March with the help of the US-led coalition, is currently holding more than 10,000 militants, including 2,000 foreigners.

Abandoned by their US allies, the Kurds turned to Assad and Russia for protection when Turkey invaded and over the past weeks government forces have moved into areas once held by Kurds. President Assad said: ‘Every terrorist in the areas controlled by the Syrian state will be subject to Syrian law.

‘This one is very clear vis-a-vis terrorism. They will therefore be brought to justice in specialised courts dealing with terrorism.’

There's more at the link.

Considering the reign of terror that ISIS imposed on areas it took over, and the brutalities, atrocities and torture inflicted by its members on innocent people, it's hard to look on this as anything except "what goes around, comes around".  The Syrian armed forces have an almost equally atrocious reputation concerning their conduct in captured or recaptured areas.  They're unlikely to show any mercy.

Sadly, there's bound to be a fairly large proportion of innocent people caught up in this mess.  When anti-ISIS forces "liberated" an area, any able-bodied male survivor was likely to be rounded up and imprisoned on suspicion of being a terrorist;  and the process of interrogation and verification, whereby an innocent person would have an opportunity to prove he wasn't, was never particularly scrupulous, if it was available at all.  The mere fact that ISIS hadn't killed them was grounds for suspicion, as far as the "liberators" were concerned.  I daresay hundreds, possibly thousands, of innocent men are about to die as a result.

There's nothing we can do to help them;  but I suggest that at the very least, a prayer for their souls is in order, and for their families, who are about to lose their son, or lover, or husband, or father.  I hope those of you so inclined will join me in doing so.

Peter

9 comments:

Bob Gibson said...

Really? The U.S. led coalition fought to aid the Assad government in combating ISIS? Here I am remembering that we were aiding the 'good' anti-government forces in attempting to effect 'regime change' in Syria.

We are at war with Eastasia. We have always been at war with Eastasia.

Robin Datta said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Robin Datta said...

They have been killing each other since The Battle of the Camel, now having spread world-wide, and will continue to do so as long as they do not have one absolute hegemon. And every faction will turn upon outsiders with greater facility than on their other factions

Ray - SoCal said...

Interesting who Amnesty Vilifies...

Rick T said...

Given these are fighters would would gladly slaughter me and mine given the chance my 'give-a-damn' is flat busted.

At least the Great Satan isn't responsible for their executions.

 Ashley said...

Have to observe that what come around, goes around. A lack of kindness turned up so far that the dial is broken. I can see no way to resolve these troubles, but hope others brighter and smarter than me, will.

McChuck said...

They're just following the dictates of their religion. To paraphrase - Any Muslim who isn't helping your faction is a conflict is no true Muslim, but an Apostate, and must be killed.

And sexual abuse is just standard over there. All men are pedophiles. All boys were victimized. All men are bisexual. (99.44%)

Ritchie P said...

The Kurds are hardly our allies..... They have been playing the US for suckers for ages..... After dealing with them personally while in the Army, I couldn't care less what happens to them......I'm just gonna leave this right here..

http://mydailykona.blogspot.com/2019/10/post-about-kurds.html

milton f said...

Thanks, Peter, for that news, information and your request. One of the hardest teachings of Jesus, for me, was the one about praying for our enemies. Certainly the "extremist" muslims of the middle east are our enemies.

One prayer that addresses this issue is the Fatima Prayer:

Oh my Jesus, forgive us for our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of your Mercy. Amen.