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HRW Says 8 Alleged IS Members May be Abused in Lebanon
 [AnNahar] Eight alleged members of the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group could face abuse if they are transferred from northern Syria to their native Leb, Human Rights Watch has said. The Lebanese Army said this week that eight Lebanese nationals accused of fighting alongside IS in Iraq and Syria had been transferred to its intelligence units. HRW said it had previously documented rights violations committed by the Lebanese security forces now holding the suspected jihadists. "We and other organizations have documented torture and ill treatment by the army and the military intelligence, who are detaining these individuals," said Lama Fakih, the rights group's deputy regional director. "At the same time, we have concerns these individuals will not receive fair trials in military courts, where we have documented concerns about impartiality of judges," she told the AFP news agency. The Lebanese army has not specified when the suspected IS fighters were handed over to Leb, from where, or by whom. The operation came "within the framework of the international coalition to fight terrorism," the army said, adding that military intelligence has since transferred the detainees to the courts. A report by Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar said they were caught by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), for years Washington's main partner in the fight against IS in Syria. The suspects were brought to Leb more than a month ago in a U.S. military plane, al-Akhbar reported. A security source told AFP that the alleged jihadists were being interrogated by intelligence services. Human Rights Watch said the lack of transparency over the procedures was worrying. "Little is known about conditions of their confinement, access to lawyers, when they came to Leb -- all these things add to the baseline level of concern," said Fakih. Jreissati: Repatriated IS Members Fairly Questioned [AnNahar] Caretaker Justice Minister Salim Jreissati announced Saturday that members of the Islamic State group handed over to Leb recently are being questioned under the supervision of judicial authorities. Jreissati's comments came a day after Human Rights Watch said the United States should ensure no foreign IS suspects held by local allies in Syria are transferred to a country where they are at risk of torture or unfair trials. The Lebanese Army said in a statement earlier this week that eight Lebanese citizens who fought for IS in Iraq and Syria were handed over to Leb "by friendly security agencies in the framework of the international coalition to fight terrorism." Jreissati told LBCI TV that the questioning of the eight by military Sherlocks is supervised by Military Prosecutor Peter Germanos. Posted by: trailing wife 2018-08-05 |
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