UN Investigator: ISIS Terrorists Should be put on Nazi-like Trials

The head of a special United Nations probe into crimes committed in Iraq by the Islamic State terrorist group has called for jihadists to be subjected to Nuremberg-like trials similar to those of Nazi leaders. Allied forces conducted those military tribunals, primarily in Nuremberg, Germany, after their World War II victory, leading to the prosecution of many of Adolf Hitler’s top henchmen and high-ranking supporters from all spheres of society. British lawyer Karim Khan has for the past year traveled around Iraq with dozens of investigators to gather evidence and witness testimony for UNITAD. “It’s a mountain to climb,” Khan was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying, adding that his team had analyzed some 12,000 bodies from more than 200 mass graves, 600,000 videos of ISIS crimes and 15,000 pages from the terror group’s now-defunct political infrastructure. “Who could have thought in the 21st century we would see crucifixion or burning a human alive in a cage, slavery, sexual slavery, throwing people off buildings, beheadings,” Khan reportedly said. In 2014, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the formation of a “caliphate” as his followers rampaged across Iraq and Syria and eventually gained control over territory nearly equivalent in size to the United Kingdom. At the height of its power, ISIS ruled over approximately seven million people, who were forced to abide by an extreme interpretation of Islamic law. During its reign, ISIS killed and tortured thousands of members of minority groups, most notably the Yazidis.