Amnesty documented the cases of eight people, including seven men and one woman, who were arrested in Al-Jed’ah Centre (also known as Jed’ah 1 Camp) in 2023 and 2024. Seven of them faced torture and other ill-treatment.

Interviewees said that the torture included severe beatings, electric shocks, being forced into stress positions, and being forcibly submerged in water or having their heads covered with a plastic bag so that air supply was restricted. Family members said they observed obvious effects of torture on their relatives, such as broken fingers and dislocated shoulders.

Many Iraqis have been transferred to Al-Jed’ah Centre from Al-Hol detention camp in north-east Syria, where tens of thousands are being arbitrarily detained as a result of their alleged links to the Islamic State (IS) armed group. Since 2021, an estimated 9,500 people have been returned to Iraq from Al-Hol. According to an agreement between the Iraqi authorities and the UN, all remaining Iraqis in Al-Hol – estimated at more than 18,000 – will be transferred to Iraq by 2027.

Amnesty conducted in-person interviews with individuals who had been arrested in Al-Jed’ah Centre and with their family members during a research visit to Iraq in July, and in remote interviews conducted between July and September. The organisation also interviewed 16 staff members of the UN and other international organisations, and the president of the Ninewa Court of Appeal.

Seven of the eight cases documented involved detailed accounts of torture and other ill-treatment used during interrogations by the Iraqi security forces. Six of those interviewed are now serving lengthy prison sentences, based on their torture-tainted confessions. These patterns of violations are similar to those faced by Iraqi men transferred from prisons in north-east Syria to the Iraqi authorities, which Amnesty International documented in a major report earlier this year.

In July, Amnesty was refused access to visit or to conduct interviews in Al-Jed’ah Centre by the Iraqi authorities citing “security concerns”. On October 2, it wrote to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani detailing the findings of the investigation. No response had yet been received by the time of publication.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said: “The torture and other ill-treatment suffered by those arrested in Al-Jed’ah Centre is horrifying. It must be stopped and investigated immediately.

“The Iraqi authorities and UN have agreed that tens of thousands of Iraqis will be returned to Al-Jed’ah Centre from Al-Hol detention camp in north-east Syria in the years ahead. It’s unconscionable that after escaping a decade of war and detention, Iraqis return only to face further horrors. Before these practices affect the thousands of people due to be returned to Al-Jed’ah Centre, the Iraqi authorities must take urgent steps to end the use of torture and other ill-treatment.”