At least 400 women reportedly on second week of hunger strike in notorious Iraqi jail

Hundreds of women convicted of being members of Daesh and serving long jail terms in a high-security prison in Iraq have reportedly been on hunger strike since April 24.

At least 400 female prisoners, jailed for between 15 years and life in Baghdad’s notorious Rusafa prison, are said to be refusing food in protest against their convictions and poor prison conditions, the BBC reported on Friday.

The women, originally from a number of countries including Russia, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Syria, France, Germany and the US, say that they were not given fair trials. According to media reports, there are also about 100 children held in the prison.

After the fall of Daesh in 2017, it is believed that thousands of the group’s male members were executed, while women and children were detained. Some were sent back to their home countries but many remain locked up. According to media reports, some of the female inmates were sentenced to death at their trials but no executions have been carried out so far.

BBC Arabic said it had obtained videos shot inside Rusafa prison that showing frail-looking women sitting or sleeping on stone floors. Children can also be seen in the footage, many of whom are thought to have been born in the prison.

The BBC said that when the hunger strike began, inmates initially survived on just half a glass of water a day but some have now stopped eating and drinking completely.

A Russian prisoner, who is serving a 15-year sentence, reportedly vowed not to eat again until she is released. She said she was convicted after a speedy trial that lasted less than 10 minutes, based on a confession she was coerced into signing that was written in Arabic, a language she cannot speak or read. It purportedly said she had been caught carrying weapons in Mosul, a charge she denies. Her claims could not be verified by BBC.

The women also say that they were not allowed to contact their nations’ embassies and there were no diplomatic representatives at most of their trials.

Inmates interviewed by BBC said that nearly 60 adult prisoners and 30 children have died in the prison in the past six years. They said they are being held 40 to a cell and often subjected to beatings and other inhumane treatment.

Last month, Iraq’s Ministry of Justice fired the director of the prison, citing “leaked audio” from the facility as the reason, and acknowledged that the prisoner population was four times over capacity.

The Iraqi government refused to comment on the hunger strike or prison conditions when asked by the BBC.