Iraq has taken custody of thousands of extremists repatriated in recent months from neighbouring Syria, where they were caught by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces Those sentenced on Sunday were among 12 French citizens who were caught in Syria and transferred to Iraqi custody in February BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced three French citizens to death after they were found guilty of joining Daesh, a court official said. Captured in Syria by a US-backed force fighting the extremists, Kevin Gonot, Leonard Lopez and Salim Machou are the first French Daesh members to receive death sentences in Iraq, where they were transferred for trial. They have 30 days to appeal. Iraq has taken custody of thousands of extremists repatriated in recent months from neighbouring Syria, where they were caught by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces during the battle to destroy Daesh"s "caliphate". Iraqi courts have placed on trial hundreds of foreigners, condemning many to life in prison and others to death, although no foreign Daesh members have yet been executed. Those sentenced on Sunday were among 12 French citizens who were caught in Syria and transferred to Iraqi custody in February. Rights groups including Human Rights Watch have criticised Iraq"s anti-terror trials, which they say often rely on circumstantial evidence or confessions obtained under torture. Analysts have also warned that prisons in Iraq have in the past acted as "academies" for future extremists, including Daesh supremo Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.