ISIS captives 'must be tried or freed'

Tens of thousands of Islamic State fighters and family members being held in Iraq and Syria must be tried or released, according to the UN.

Michelle Bachelet, human rights chief at the United Nations, also called on countries to take responsibility for their citizens and take them back them if they are not charged, saying that children in particular had suffered ‘grievous violations’ of their human rights.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said there should be no doubt about what must happen to those being detained, stressing that ‘accountability through fair trials protects societies from future radicalisation and violence’.

Children born to IS fighters are reported to number about 29,000, 20,000 of them from Iraq. However, as most of the children were born in Syria, the governments of parents' nations have often refused to recognise them, with many nations having shown unwillingness to allow repatriation.