Holding ISIL Accountable: Prosecuting Crimes in Iraq and Syria By SaretaAshraph, CarmenCheung Ka‐Man, and JoanaCook. ICCT Press, 2024. 199 pages.

This edited volume delves into the unraveling of the self-proclaimed “caliphate” of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), analyzing the global challenge to document and prosecute the terrorist organization. Investigations have centered on captured ISIL soldiers and other individuals associated with the group, and legal actions have primarily focused on terrorism-related activities. However, these probes have not yet addressed other fundamental crimes, such as massacres, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws of war. Numerous trials have failed to achieve genuine justice for those who suffered the full extent of ISIL atrocities. Further efforts are required to gather and examine information pertaining to ISIL's philosophy, organizational framework, decision-making processes, and capabilities that facilitated these crimes. At the time of this review's publication, we have just witnessed the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which throws into question whether the Islamic State or its remnants will stay contained. Holding ISIL Accountable compiles the findings of eight academics who have conducted inquiries into the internal mechanisms of ISIL. The contributors are interdisciplinary specialists, and some have served as testimony experts for investigations by the United Nations as well as local criminal proceedings. These works explain their research and serve as a basis for lawyers and other officials pursuing charges against ISIL and its members. In “Beyond Material Support: Promoting ISIL Accountability for Atrocity Crimes,” Sareta Ashraph and Carmen Cheung Ka-Man provide a detailed account of legal actions against the organization. Islamic State began a vicious campaign in 2013 and quickly gained control over large areas of both Iraq and Syria. By August 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had declared its caliphate. Until its territorial defeat in Syria in March 2019, ISIL committed heinous crimes like forced labor, enslavement, sexual assault, torture, and genocide. Despite its defeat, the group's influence persists, with an estimated 2,500 to 3,500 members who pose a risk of radicalizing and recruiting others.1 The United Nations, nongovernmental groups, and some states have sought the repatriation of foreign captives to their countries of origin. However, countries are still unwilling to prosecute ISIL, preferring to concentrate on acts linked to terrorism and ignoring the organization's primary transnational crimes (p. 2). In the first of his two chapters, Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi explores how the Islamic State has treated “out groups”—Yezidis, Shi'a, and Christians—finding both similarities and differences. The terror group generally seeks to eliminate those it sees as atheists and disbelievers, and considers Christians second-class citizens. Al-Tamimi's research reveals evidence of war crimes, including illegal killings, kidnappings, enslavement, and abuse of property rights. The chapter also examines how the Islamic State defines itself as moderate, rejecting the term “extremist” while committing crimes against those perceived as non-Muslims (p.25). Understanding the complexity of ISIL's ideology and behavior in this complex way indicates how, in a place like Afghanistan, it would treat non-Muslim communities such as its Hindu and Sikh populations, who could face comparable international crimes.2 Tore Hamming and Amarnath Amarasingam investigate a different but crucial topic, the experiences of children and young people residing in the Islamic State. There is an ongoing debate about the potential threat of these ISIL members and the appropriateness of prosecuting or repatriating them. This chapter adds to this discussion of children's agency by examining the responsibilities of boys and male youth within the caliphate. The literature is divided between the idea that children cannot be held responsible for participation in a project of violence like ISIL's and the belief that they can have a reasonable, politically aware sense of who they are. The authors contend that the Islamic State used boys and girls as propaganda tools, future warriors, role models, executioners, sex slaves, and in other roles, forcing them to commit crimes against their will (p. 46). To help more than 34,000 children under the age of 17 living in camps with substandard conditions, lack of education, exposure to violence, and repeated displacement, it is crucial that they experience restorative justice, repatriation, and support for mental health.3 These measures will allow young people to overcome trauma and resume their normal lives. They still face many obstacles despite pleas from UNICEF and Save the Children, which emphasize the necessity of adequate psychosocial and community support to guarantee their well-being. The contribution by Devorah Margolin and Joana Cook addresses the roles and agency of foreign women in the Islamic State: their responsibilities, the reasons behind their membership, ISIL's ideological conception of women, and the significance of gender in any analysis of the organization. The chapter identifies the institutions to which women contributed, as well as the roles that women played in both public and private life. The authors contend that it is crucial to examine the potential limitations of their agency in diverse settings (p. 84). Margolin and Cook conclude by laying out the place of women today in northeastern Syria's detention facilities. Many of them have been in the region for a decade; girls who were taken as children may now be adults, mothers, or widows. Therefore, child-welfare principles should be considered in many cases, and justice vigorously pursued.4 Prosecutors must take into account factors such as rehabilitation and reintegration, and they must balance the needs of victims with the goal of diverting women from ISIL's ideological and material support in the future. This is especially important for women accused of crimes and who may face prosecution. Charlie Winter analyzes the role of the media in Islamic State operations. He examines articles and photos, radio bulletins, phone apps, feature films, newspapers, and video clips, all disseminated in as many as eight languages.5 The propaganda aimed to influence actions, alter perceptions, and create new allies (p. 123). While ISIL had long focused on communications, it expanded its media reach and accelerated the pace after the caliphate was declared in 2014, helping draw in more members. Winter demonstrates the sophistication of ISIL's capacity to generate propaganda, a boost to its everyday but also strategic operations. This technical expertise was also evident in ISIL's use of digital archives to provide overseas militants and attackers with information, including training materials (p. 147). These documents showed how to create explosives, maintain security, and use intelligence, including in carrying out war crimes like the use of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Moustafa Ayad explores this subject in part through the story of the Australian-Sudanese Abu Hamza al-Sudani, who passed away while praying in a trench in Syria. He was one of 230 Australian foreign fighters spurred on by the Egyptian military's 2013 crackdown on demonstrators affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. In 2014, al-Sudani left Australia and returned to Syria with the intention of joining the Islamic State. His narrative is connected to that of Mohammad Ali Baryalei, a prominent Australian ISIL commander accused of enlisting numerous fighters for the Syrian conflict. Prosecutors must understand how foreign fighters used digital archives to ascertain their intentions. In addition, close examination of this deployment of technology can help develop counterterrorism policies. Gina Vale relates accounts of those who survived ISIL's enslavement system. One crucial indicator of the imminent territorial collapse of the Yazidi ethnic group was the release, resale, or ransom of their female members. The treatment of slaves is still largely unrecorded (p. 171). Patrilineal institutions continue to intensify the pain experienced by Yazidi women and children, particularly those born as a result of rape. While women were victimized, the chapter also discusses the forced militarization and conversion of young Yazidi boys, a challenge to the survival of the tribe.6 Political and procedural obstacles have obstructed securing justice for these victims of slavery, and healing depends on international assistance in the conviction of those responsible for genocidal crimes against the Yazidi people. The book concludes with a second chapter by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, an examination of the Islamic State's economic strategy and revenue creation. Previous discussions have focused mostly on counterterrorism policy, which aims to undermine the group's financial resources and diminish its military power. Territorial control was essential to the group's financial stability, enabling it to charge taxes, sell crude oil, and impose confiscations.7 Although the Islamic State has lost ground in Syria and Iraq, concerns about international funding continue. This chapter examines immobilized and mobile property seizures (p. 192). Although complete financial records are not available, confiscations have played a crucial role in the group's ability to generate income and provide housing. The acquisition and sale of oil and gas resources further highlight the value of confiscations. Documentary proof verifies the group's grave abuses of property rights against “apostates,” minorities, and sovereign countries. It is imperative to acknowledge the illegal character of the financial operations of the Islamic State and the harm they cause to their victims (p. 191). Holding ISIL Accountable is an essential look at ISIL's violations, supporting the pursuit of punishment for individuals and strengthening initiatives to make the group pay for its crimes. The volume's comprehensive examination and interdisciplinary methodology make it a useful resource for those seeking to achieve justice. It emphasizes the insufficiency of current legal measures in dealing with the major offenses committed by ISIL. Although there have been attempts to prosecute terrorism-related activities, these cases have not sufficiently dealt with horrendous crimes like massacres, unlawful acts against society, and acts of war, which are at the heart of their horrors. There is an immediate demand for additional attempts to collect and analyze data on ISIL's organizational structure, decision-making procedures, and capacities. Moreover, the book provides an illuminating examination of the suffering endured by many groups that have been specifically victimized by ISIL, such as the Yazidis, Shi'a, Christians, women, and children. It offers invaluable knowledge of the organization's extremist philosophy and its detrimental effects on vulnerable people. The research highlights the pressing necessity for justice and accountability, while also offering crucial insights that can assist in accurately depicting the magnitude of ISIL's atrocities.