BAGHDAD: An analysis by The Associated Press has found that Iraq has detained or imprisoned at least 19,000 people accused of connections to the Islamic State group or other terror-related offences, and sentenced more than 3,000 of them to death.
The mass incarceration and speed of guilty verdicts raise concerns over potential miscarriages of justice and worries that jailed militants are recruiting within the general prison population to build new extremist networks.
The AP count is based partially on an analysis of a spreadsheet listing all 27,849 people imprisoned in Iraq as of late January, provided by an official.
Thousands more are believed to be held by other bodies, including the Federal Police, military intelligence and Kurdish forces.