Revenge Killings of ISIS Members

Five years after ISIS was defeated in Iraq, many Iraqi families of ISIS victims have still not found justice through legal means and turned to private investigators and assassins for help instead.

Five years after ISIS was defeated in Iraq, many Iraqi families of ISIS victims have still not found justice through legal means. And because they do not see any legal way to hold ISIS members accountable, they are taking matters into their own hands. Instead of looking for justice, many families are now taking revenge.

Due to corruption, Iraqi courts tasked with prosecuting ISIS members have not proved a reliable source of justice. Neither have international efforts like the US-established UNITAD, which families consider nothing more than a governmental PR move. So those with family members who were either killed or raped by ISIS members have now turned to private investigators and assassins for help. These professionals are men hired to track down and kill guilty ISIS members.

The market for such services is thriving in formerly ISIS-occupied territories like TalAfar, Anbar and Mosul, and there is a lot of money involved. On average, the cost to find and kill an ISIS member in hiding is between 100 and 200 thousand dollars, a lot of money in a country in the middle of an unemployment crisis. But families are motivated to find a way to raise the money.

“Most often, [it is the] fathers of raped daughters looking for such services,” explained one private investigator. “Usually, the whole extended family collects money to pay for the job. It is a question of honor. Neighbors know that their daughter was raped, so if they [the family] do not avenge her, it is a shame for the family.”

During ISIS times, rape was often committed by a victim’s neighbor who had joined ISIS. For example, if such a neighbor asked a father for his daughter’s hand in the past and the father refused, the man now raped the daughter. His allegiance to the ISIS black flag gave him the power to do so without repercussion. These cases became widely known in the community and brought reproach on both the women who were raped and their families.

First the victim was stigmatized, and often could only then be married to a cousin as a second wife. This kept the issue within the family. But then the family itself had to decide between two courses of action—to either relocate to a place where the incident was not known or to seek revenge for the committed crime. Most choose revenge.

Because those rape cases were very localized, a family knew who the rapist was. But once ISIS fell from power, and the members who were left scattered, the problem then became locating the perpetrators. And because those who committed sex crimes know they will be hunted, they are careful to protect themselves, especially if they return home.

In one case, a perpetrator returned to Iraq and enlisted in Hashd al-Shabi, a local pro-government militia, hoping again to find protection in an organization. That meant his assassination had to be done more carefully and while the perpetrator was not in uniform. So on the weekend an assassin arranged to have a car accident with him. Then, when the accident turned into a heated argument, the assassin stabbed and killed the perpetrator with a knife.

Because this assassination required more planning and resources, the cost was almost two times the average price. Part of that price had included money the assassin could use to bribe his way through court after he was arrested for murder.

Though there are other rapists who returned to their hometown, most of them are trying to hide abroad, in Syria and Turkey or even in Europe.

There are also many people avenging the deaths of family members. Ali (name changed), a Turkman from Talafar is one of them. When ISIS had arrived in his hometown, he and his family had tried to escape to Sinjar but were caught. Six of his family members—both parents, two brothers, and two nephews were killed in front of him. Two of the killers were local ISIS members he recognized.

He and a surviving brother did manage to run away, but as soon as ISIS was defeated in 2017, he returned home. The first thing Ali did was go to the house those two ISIS members with the intent of avenging his family. Because they were not there, he hired an investigator who located both of them living abroad. In 2021, one of them was found murdered in Turkey. Ali even went abroad to confirm the identity of the second killer, and is currently trying to figure out how to get his revenge.

“Several times I have located ISIS members from Mosul in Idlib and Damascus [Syria],” explained one private investigator. “Those are relatively easy cases. It is easy to find them, and no one cares if something bad happens to them.”

Because there is a lot of money in revenge, there are also scammers taking money from families with no intention of finding or killing ISIS members. This makes the personal reputation of investigators and assassins very important. Information about those with a proven track record are shared among the families and friends of those who have suffered loss at the hand of ISIS.

It is the absence of legal ways to hold ISIS members accountable for their crimes in Iraq that have led to a new spiral of violence and killings. And as long as there are no governmental mechanisms to prosecute ISIS members and check corruption, there will be no peace in post ISIS territories.