“If I sentence a man to death, I am spreading hate. We want to give people reasons to trust us. If you take revenge, people will be radicalized. But with reconciliation we are sure we can finish the problem.”
Good luck with that, but it’s more likely that many of these jihadis will take their jailors’ kindness for weakness, and will respond with contempt and violence.
“Here we have learned that the ISIS ideology was wrong.”
How exactly that was done is not explained. Yet deradicalization programs, upon which the West has placed so much hope, have long been an obvious failure. Such programs are based on the premise that the true teachings of Islam are peaceful, and so all that needs to be done is show the jihadis how they’re misunderstanding the Qur’an and overlooking its teachings of peace, and all will be well. But since the Qur’an and Sunnah are full of commands to make war against and subjugate unbelievers, the idea that jihadis can be “deradicalized” by reference to them is just a myth told to Infidel authorities to lull them into complacency.
Well, let’s see. Deradicalization programs have been implemented elsewhere, notably in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. Let’s look at how they fared. From the Jihad Watch archives:
Gitmo prisoner reveals: Saudi “deradicalization program” is really a jihad training program
11 ex-Gitmo prisoners flee the Saudi “rehabilitation program” and join up with terrorist groups
Jaw-dropper: 25 former Gitmo detainees “return to militancy” despite Saudi rehab program!
Flight 253 jihadist wasn’t cured by Saudi anti-jihad art therapy
Former Guantanamo detainee now top al-Qaeda ideologue — “He was transferred to Saudi Arabia in 2006 where he was placed in a national rehabilitation project.”
Indonesian government admits that its jihadist rehab program is a failure
Malaysia: Muslim cleric active in deradicalization program promotes hatred of non-Muslims
France’s only jihadi “deradicalization” center is closing — it was voluntary, and it was empty
“Captured ISIS fighters get short sentences and art therapy in Syria,” by Liz Sly, Washington Post, August 14, 2019:
QAMISHLI, Syria — At a closely guarded prison in this northeastern Syrian town, former Islamic State fighters make papier-mâché models of birds, flowers and trees while serving sentences that typically run two or three years.
Across the border in Iraq, Islamic State detainees are being held in degrading conditions, subjected to torture and often, when brought to trial, given long sentences or the death penalty, according to human rights groups.
The Syrian Kurdish allies of the United States are attempting a different approach. Their goal, Kurdish officials say, is to rehabilitate and reintegrate many of the Islamic State fighters in their custody, in hopes of deterring a revival of the militant movement.
The Syrian Kurds’ leftist ideology precludes the death penalty, and their few functioning courts issue light sentences for fighters not found to have committed major crimes. Hundreds more militants have simply been freed in deals with local Arab tribes whose cooperation the Kurds need to maintain.
By acting with leniency, the Kurds hope to break the cycle of revenge that has trapped so much of the region in conflict for decades, said Khaled Barjas Ali, a senior judge in the terrorism courts run by the self-proclaimed Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria.
“If I sentence a man to death, I am spreading hate. We want to give people reasons to trust us,” he said. “If you take revenge, people will be radicalized. But with reconciliation we are sure we can finish the problem.”…
The Qamishli facility, originally a Syrian government prison, features a visiting hall with glass booths and intercoms, a barber and a dentist clinic. The air-conditioned cells have three-tier bunk beds and televisions tuned to Arabic soap operas.
Two dozen prisoners were attending an art class, where they were painting papier-mâché palm trees in a room crammed with models, some of them elaborate reconstructions of towns and villages that were apparently made by prisoners.
“Here we have learned that the ISIS ideology was wrong,” said a 36-year-old former fighter, who said he had 10 weeks left to serve, in the presence of prison guards. Many prisoners said they were weeks or months away from release, but a handful had been given 20 years, the maximum, because they had been found guilty of planting bombs or killing people, prison officials said.
In a classroom, most of the few books were by Abdullah Ocalan, the founder of the PKK and the intellectual father of the Syrian Kurdish group that controls northeastern Syria. Prisoners are not forced to embrace his leftist ideology, staff said, but apparently it helps. Some who do are given jobs in the Kurdish-led militia or the administration when they are released, said a prison administration official who asked to be identified by her nom de guerre, Haval (Comrade) Abir.
Most only joined the Islamic State because they needed the salary and are not committed to the militants’ ideology, she said.
“It is our philosophy to give them a chance to start a new life. Maybe a man made a mistake and he joined Daesh, but maybe he’s a victim of his circumstances and he’s repentant,” she said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.
“Maybe a man made a mistake and he joined Daesh, but maybe he’s a victim of his circumstances and he’s repentant.”
Maybe. But how much are you going to risk on that possibility?