Iraq condemns 15 Turkish women to death for belonging to ISIL

BAGHDAD – Agence France-Presse

An Iraqi criminal court on Feb. 25 sentenced to death 15 Turkish women after finding them guilty of belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, a judicial official said.

Another Turkish woman accused of membership of the jihadist group was given a life sentence, the official said, adding they had all acknowledged the charges against them.

Iraq, which has detained at least 560 women, as well as 600 children, identified as jihadist or relatives of suspected ISIL fighters, is wasting no time in putting them on trial.

In January, a court sentenced a German woman to death on charges of providing logistical support to ISIL, and a Turkish woman was earlier this month also handed the death penalty.

Human Rights Watch denounced the rulings as “unfair.”

Earlier this week, a Baghdad court sentenced a French woman, Melina Boughedir, to seven months in jail for entering Iraq illegally but ordered her release on time already served.

Baghdad declared military victory over ISIL in December, after having expelled the jihadists from all urban centers they had held in northern and western Iraq since 2014.

According to experts, an estimated 20,000 people are being held in jail in Iraq for alleged membership of ISIL. There is no official figure.

Separately, authorities in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) region in north said in early February they had detained some 4,000 suspected ISIL members, including foreigners.

Iraq’s anti-terrorism law empowers courts to convict people who are believed to have helped ISIL even if they are not accused of carrying out attacks.

It also allows for the death penalty to be issued against anyone -- including non-combatants -- found guilty of belonging to ISIL.