Sitara Thalia Ambrosio

Photojournalist and Visual Storyteller.

IS processes: Thousands of foreign IS supporters have been imprisoned in north-eastern Syria for years.

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Location: Hanover

Nationality: german

Biography: Sitara Thalia Ambrosio is a german Photojournalist and Visual Storyteller. She contributing to various online and print media on an international scale. Her journalistic focus revolves around gender-related issues, migration, and human... MORE

Focus: Photojournalist, Journalist, Politics, Environment, Documentary, Multimedia, News, Photography, Foreign, International News, Freelance, Humanitarian, Life, Impact, Assignments, Human Rights, Multimedia Journalist, Magazine, Editorial, Publications, Newspapers, Storyteller, Climate, News Reporter, Visual Editor, Political Journalism, Digital Journalism, Print Journalism, War, Environmental Stories, International Stories, Digital Media, Portrait Photography, Social Justice, Reportage, Visual Journalist, Visual Storyteller

Bombed houses in the "...uses are inhabited again today.

Bombed houses in the "Intefada" neighbourhood of the city of Rakka, in north-eastern Syria. Rakka was considered the largest city under the control of the so-called Islamic State and was designated as their unofficial capital. During the civil war and the rule of the so-called IS, many buildings and residential areas were destroyed. Even today, many have not been repaired, partly because reconstruction is too expensive for many families. Despite this, many of the only partially demolished houses are inhabited again today.

The so-called Naim Square in Ra...ve slowly returned to the city.

The so-called Naim Square in Rakka was the site of public executions during the rule of IS. Today, after the reconquest of Rakka, life and daily routine have slowly returned to the city.

The story can be read in the Amnesty Journal.

Portrait of Sabah al Ahmad (47)...ath could have been prevented.

Portrait of Sabah al Ahmad (47) in her living room. On the wall there is a black shelf, that the mother has rededicated as a shrine to her deceased son. On January 20th, 2020, Sabah saw her son for the last time. That morning, two IS supporters blew themselves up outside the Sinai prison in Hasaka.

Apart from Sabah‘s son, 120 other SDF members lost their lives during the prison uprising. 374 suspected IS fighters died as well. It took the Kurdish forces ten days to bring the situation under control. To this day, Sabah Al-Ahmad wonders if her son's death could have been prevented.

On the sofa of mother Sabah al ... all these objects to remember.

On the sofa of mother Sabah al Ahmad (47) stands a picture of her late son Ahmed. Around the picture is his jacket, his scarf and Ahmed's greatest treasure: his camera. A black Canon, EOS 77D. The family collects all these objects to remember.

The sentinel Idnan guards the J...Islamist attacks is still high.

The sentinel Idnan guards the Justice Department in the city of Rakka. This is necessary because the danger of Islamist attacks is still high.

The story can be read in the Amnesty Journal.

"People committed crim...the Autonomous Self-Government.

"People committed crimes on our soil, to our people. We have the evidence and the eyewitnesses here", says Rima Berkel, Judicial Councilor of the Autonomous Self-Government.

Bullet holes on a wall of a hou... Rakka, in north-eastern Syria.

Bullet holes on a wall of a house in the "Intefada" neighbourhood of the city of Rakka, in north-eastern Syria.

"We strive to follow p...;, says Shahin Lali, a lawyer.

"We strive to follow procedures based on the rule of law: We do not have a death penalty like in Iraq", says Shahin Lali, a lawyer.

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Public Story

IS processes: Thousands of foreign IS supporters have been imprisoned in north-eastern Syria for years.

Copyright Sitara Thalia Ambrosio 2024

Updated Aug 2023

Summary

For years, thousands of suspected IS supporters have been awaiting sentencing in prisons in northeastern Syria. Why is that? What is the legal procedure for dealing with the world's largest terrorist organization?

In the new issue of Amnesty Journal
→ Read the Story at Amnesty Magazin

"People committed their crimes on our soil, on our people. We have the evidence and the eyewitnesses here", says Rima Berkel, Judicial Councilor of the Autonomous Self-Government.

It has been ten years since IS first emerged. It had split from Al-Qaeda in 2013 and sought to use the chaos of the war in Syria to create a caliphate. While the Syrian regime quickly withdrew from the fighting, the Kurds in particular and militias allied with them opposed the jihadists. Starting in 2014, they were supported by an international alliance led by the United States, primarily through airstrikes. When the SDF captured the town of Baghouz, the last IS retreat near the Iraqi border, in 2019, the jihadists were considered defeated.
Thousands of fighters and their relatives were captured. Since then, the question for the Kurds has been: What should they do with all the men and women who for many years belonged to what is probably the world's most dangerous terrorist organization and many of whom are of foreign nationality?

Bartholomäus Laffert and me - with support of Shaveen Mohammad - went to the region to talk to those that suffered from the cruelties of the terrorist group and whose relatives were killed. Furthermore we spoke with officials, that try to hold the perpetrators accountable.