Female natives of Northern Caucasus go on hunger strike in Iraqi prison

About 30 natives of Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia and Chechnya, convicted under terrorist articles, are on hunger strike in a Baghdad prison, demanding a revision of their cases and return to Russia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in June 2021, the participants of the seminar in Moscow noted that Russian authorities understand the need to return militants' wives and children, including natives of Northern Caucasus, from Syria, but the problems of their social adaptation remain topical.

The women from Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia and Chechnya kept in the Baghdad prison "Rusafa" demand a revision of their cases and return to Russia, a source said. Some of them were sentenced by Iraqi courts to 20 years or life imprisonment for their participation in the "Islamic State" (IS)*, a terrorist organization. Basically, these are the wives or widows of those accused of terrorism, the "Kavkaz.Realii"** project reports.

In total, there are over 50 women-hunger-strikers; apart from natives of Russian regions, citizens of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine have joined the action. The women assert that the charges against them were unjustified; and their cases were considered formally without qualified interpreters and advocates. They also complain about absence of visits, medicines and medical care. Earlier, Russian women lived in a closed camp for militants' families and raised their children there.