ISIS prisoners in Syria
Rare interview with ISIS members
Brut. got rare access to a high-security and heavily populated Kurdish prison in Syria where 5,000 alleged ISIS members are being held. We were able to interview two different prisoners. One was a 33-year-old male from the UK, and the other was a 24-year-old male originally from Belgium. They both moved to Syria in 2014 but feel different about their decision to move there.
When asked if they regret joining ISIS
“No, I don’t regret joining ISIS. I came here initially to help the people. That was my sole purpose, to help the Syrian people, which I did even when I was in the Islamic State. Every time the coalition bombs would happen, I would try my best to go dig the people out of the rubble. Every time I would be digging graves to bury the Syrian people. This was kind of my services that I could do, I did this. And I don’t regret this.”, stated the UK prisoner.
“Of course, I regret. I got really brainwashed. I was ISIS, I had the ideology, I was in the movie, thinking I’m going to take all the world.”, revealed the Belgian prisoner.
The prisoners are unaware of current events
Access was granted under two conditions: No filming the exterior of the prison, and no speaking to detainees about the news to prevent a revolt from happening. Prisoners aren’t aware of the death of ex-ISIS chief Abou Bakr Al-Baghdadi. It is unclear whether their home countries will request their extradition and whether they will be released. There are an estimated 11,000 ex-ISIS members being held in Kurdish prisons.
When asked about their future and families
“All it is, I just want to know if my family is alive. Nobody has ever given me this information.”, the UK prisoner said.
Brut.