BEIRUT: U.S. forces have been handing over suspected militants captured in Syria to the authorities in Iraq, where they face torture and botched trials, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.
The New York-based watchdog said the United States had transferred suspected Daesh (ISIS) members for trials in Baghdad.
"The U.S. should not be transferring Islamic State suspects from Syria to Iraq or elsewhere if they will be at risk of torture or an unfair trial," HRW's Nadim Houry said.
The rights group said independent observers told them that several foreign defendants – including from France, Australia, and Lebanon – were tried in Baghdad recently and reported being captured in Syria.
In some cases, the defendants said they had never been to Iraq before.
"Faced with the refusal by many countries to take back their nationals, the U.S. seems to have taken the easy way out by transferring some to Iraq and be done with it," Houry said.