Islamic State isn't a country (or caliphate) recognized by anyone else, but it's larger than some nations, and it runs the areas it conquers with its own laws and its own courts. That's been a hard, sometimes fatal, transition for the five to eight million people under ISIS control, The Associated Press reports, based on interviews with more than 20 Iraqis and Syrians who once lived under ISIS rule, too.
The punishments, meted out often by roving patrols of "Hisba" enforcers, range from 10 lashes for listening to music in your car to execution, communicated to family members with either a very basic, detail-less death certificate or a DVD of the killing. Cigarettes are strictly forbidden, and male smokers wear copious amounts of cologne to hide the scent because if they get caught, former ISIS prisoner Falal Abdullah Jamil tells AP, "they put a piece of iron between their fingers and break them, then they fine you 5,000 to 10,000 Iraqi dinar ($4-8) per cigarette." Learn more about ISIS's "nation of fear" in the AP video below. Peter Weber
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