The IPM has retrieved more than 70,000 documents from former ISIS prisons and other sites.

The work to collect the documents started in 2017 after ISIS was defeated and expelled from most of the areas that it had controlled in Iraq and Syria. The IPM created digital copies of the documents, and entered their content into the database. The documents were later organized into categories, and analyzed in order to assist understanding of ISIS prisons and means of governance.

The documents include texts, both handwritten and printed; video and audio recordings; computer hard drives; CDs; and the personal belongings of former detainees and ISIS members. The majority of the documents in the IPM archive are text documents. These include arrest warrants, minutes of interrogations, informants’ reports, sentencing documents, court documents, military documents, administrative circulars and correspondence, expenses, receipts of fines, and payslips for ISIS members and informants.

The IPM restricts access to the documents and to all sensitive information. This page displays limited samples of documents to show the nature of the ISIS bureaucracy. The documents are categorized according to where and why they were issued, and who issued them. Names, addresses, fingerprints, and other identifying information have been hidden to protect the privacy and ensure the safety of the individuals mentioned in the documents.

All the documents published in this section are copies of the original Arabic documents. An accurate English translation matching the format of the original document is provided.