There has been a lot of international attention on prisons holding Islamic State-affiliated women in Syria, but not all of the terrorist group’s imprisoned adherents are located there. For over three years, more than 800 foreign women have been held in Rusafa prison in Baghdad. Their sentences range from 15 years to life. Some have been handed death sentences. The majority are serving their time alone, but in a few cases, several family members—mothers, daughters, sisters—are in jail together. And as in other Islamic State prisons and camps, this one houses women of many different nationalities including Azerbaijani, Austrian, French, German, Jordanian, Russian, Saudi Arabian, Swedish, Syrian, Tajikistani, and Ukrainian. There’s even a family from Trinidad and Tobago.
Although these women are currently in prison in Baghdad, they are not just an Iraqi problem. They’ve been sentenced to crimes in Iraq, of course, but holding them there for life or executing them is also not a sustainable policy. It not only leads to an increase in pro-Islamic State sentiment but puts a heavy burden on Iraq, which is finding itself less able to manage the challenge of imprisoning Islamic State affiliates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
