Australians captured fighting for ISIS in Iraq could face death by hanging

Dire consequences ... Major General Craig Orme has outlined out what will happen to Australians fighting with terrorists in Iraq. Picture: Gary Ramage. Source: News Corp Australia

AUSTRALIANS captured fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq will be dealt with under Iraqi law, where the penalty for terrorism offences is death by hanging.

Major General Craig Orme, who is leading the Joint Task Force that has joined the fight against ISIL in Iraq, said that any Australians captured in battle would go into Iraqi hands.
“We’re supporting the Iraqi Security Forces, so if someone was detained on the battlefield, the Iraqis are managing that process,” he said.
The Major General said the Australia military’s Rules of Engagement for the Iraq theatre related only to use the use of lethal force, not the taking of prisoners.

Our leader ... Major General Craig Orme says any Australians captured in battle would go into Iraqi hands. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: News Corp Australia

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It is highly probable that some of the estimated 60 Australians fighting in Iraq and Syria will either be killed or captured on the battlefield.

Converted ... there are an estimated 60 Australians fighting in Iraq and Syria. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Australia has no extradition treaty with Iraq and is unlikely to make pressing diplomatic pleas on behalf of death-row fighters who have renounced their citizenship, destroyed their passports and participated in ISIL’s campaign of slaughter.
What will become of captured foreign insurgents in Syria — which conducts its hangings in public town squares — is less certain.
The Syrian government lacks legitimacy and it is mostly Kurdish separatists at the battlefront who are in a position to detain enemy combatants.
But that would presuppose that detained foreign fighters made it to Iraqi or Syrian court systems in the first place.

Threats made ... Iraq is signatory to the Third Geneva Convention, which mandates that prisoners are dealt with by the state. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

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Some could face summary execution under tribal law were they captured in remote areas where villagers have been subjected to horrendous cruelties by ISIL, with men executed and their wives and daughters raped and sold.
Likewise, the Iraqi government would be anxious to formally prosecute — and hang — insurgents who have waged terror against its people and state.
The international Coalition is already on delicate ground with the Iraqis and wants to avoid any perception that it is an invading force.
They will be anxious not to overstep into sovereign Iraqi issues, such as interfering in Iraq’s domestic justice process by demanding that foreign prisoners be handed over.
Those from Australia fighting in Iraq have broken Australian law but foremost they have broken Iraqi law, which would demand primacy with prosecutions.

Australians fighting with ISIL ... have broken Australian law but they have also broken Iraqi law. Picture: Twitter Source: Twitter

US President Barack Obama has no appetite for the secret renditions of insurgents that occurred under his predecessor, George W Bush, or further filling up Guantánamo Bay with untried terrorists.
It could be expected that Australian intelligence agencies would seek interviews with detained terror suspects to learn more about their networks at home and to broaden their understanding of ISIL, but torture has been ruled out.
“We conduct our warfare according to the laws of the Geneva Convention,” said Major General Orme.
Iraq is signatory to the Third Geneva Convention, which mandates that prisoners are dealt with by the state, not the troops who have captured them.