“They are charged on articles for aiding terrorism. They were convicted in Iraq. They have political articles. But there were gross violations of international law. That is, there was no participation of lawyers. Six citizens of Kazakhstan with different fates,” said the head of the public foundation “Air of Freedom” Zhanna Umirova at the National Press Club.
As the human rights activist said, the Kazakhstani women went to Iraq for their husbands and did not intend to fight. While in Iraq, the women lived in tents and destroyed buildings, raising children. In 2017, the women were imprisoned for aiding terrorism because of their husbands, who, according to the human rights activist, were shot.
“These are just women, these are children, they did nothing, that is, they were next to their husbands, and all this blame falls on them. There were no trials, no investigation. They were read these sentences, they were not given them in their hands. Life sentences. No one found out anything, these women did not fight there. They are the same victims of circumstances,” Umirova believes.
The Kazakh women have been in an Iraqi prison for eight years. At first, the children were with them, later they were sent to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to relatives. Due to the difficult conditions, overcrowded cells, poor food and lack of medicine, in 2023 the women went on a hunger strike, but this did not help attract attention.
Photo source: picture from an open source