Iraq has embarked on a unique project to combat terrorism, the Daily Mail reported Monday - by broadcasting the aftermath of terror attacks on a reality show.
The show, entitled "In the Grip of the Law," forces Islamic State and other Islamist terrorists to return to the scenes of their crimes, where they experience the wrath of the victims' families on live television.
The show's producers say they help the unconventional approach will prevent more terrorism.
"We wanted to produce a program that offers clear and conclusive evidence, with the complete story, presented and shown to Iraqi audiences," the show's host, Ahmed Hassan, told the British news agency. "We show our audiences the pictures, along with hard evidence, to leave no doubts that this person is a criminal and paying for his crimes."
The show is broadcast every Friday on Iraqiya, the Iraqi satellite channel, and is in cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, intelligence agencies, and federal police officers.
A senior Iraqi intelligence officer is also overseeing filming, and noted that the process has caused a lot of terrorists "to feel remorse when they see the victims."
"When people see that, it makes them think twice about crossing the law," he added.
Despite the successes, rights groups - including Amnesty International - have protested the show, claiming it forces terrorists to make confessions "under duress" and that it circumvents changes to the Iraqi legal system, which has prevented terrorists from legal representation or seeing their families. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also objected to the show, stating to Newsweek that it violates the laws of due process.
Federal police have responded to the charges by noting that the defendants are filmed only with permission by the Iraqi legal system.
Nonetheless, host Hassan has become a target, he told Newsweek, and so many death threats have been levied against him that he now resides in an Iraqiya-funded safehouse.