Forty-nine French citizens currently imprisoned in Iraq are facing imminent execution as their trials for alleged terrorist offenses commence on Sunday. In response to this developing crisis, a coalition of human rights organizations, United Nations experts, and defense groups has issued an urgent appeal to the French government. They demand the immediate repatriation of these individuals, citing France’s legal and moral obligation to protect its nationals from torture, unfair trials, and capital punishment.
The detainees were originally held in northeastern Syria for several years without formal legal status before being transferred to Iraqi custody. According to reports, all of them have suffered acts of torture and inhumane or degrading treatment during their detention in both Syria and Iraq. Under Iraq’s Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005, they are subject to the death penalty. Among those detained are young adults who were forcibly taken to Syria by their parents as children. Advocates argue that these individuals are victims of their parents’ choices and, more critically, of the French state’s prolonged refusal to intervene and bring them home.
The urgency of the situation is underscored by historical precedents. In 2019, the Central Criminal Court of Baghdad tried eleven French nationals and sentenced them to death. Human rights institutions and UN experts have since detailed the arbitrary nature of these proceedings, describing them as a flagrant denial of justice. On April 13, 2026, the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights formally requested the French government to repatriate all citizens in Iraq facing or condemned to death. The commission recommended that if France maintained its principled stance against repatriation, it must deploy all available means to ensure these individuals are not executed. The government has reportedly remained silent on this appeal.
Legal frameworks further reinforce the call for action. The European Court of Human Rights, in its 2010 ruling in Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi v. the United Kingdom, affirmed the absolute and fundamental nature of the right not to be subjected to the death penalty. More recently, in June 2022, the Court issued interim measures in cases involving Russia and Ukraine, instructing states to guarantee convention rights for combatants facing execution. Given the comparable situation, France is legally bound to act to prevent irreversible harm to its citizens.
Signatory organizations, firmly attached to Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Protocols 6 and 13 which prohibit the death penalty, solemnly urge French authorities to take all necessary measures. They assert that only the urgent repatriation of these nationals can prevent irreparable violations of international conventions ratified by France. Furthermore, bringing them home is seen as essential to ensuring that the truth can be revealed regarding victims of terrorism and atrocities committed by the Islamic State.
This report was produced by the HuMedia newsroom.
