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Tengrinews.kz – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan has addressed the situation of several Kazakh women serving life sentences in Iraq’s Rusafa prison, following questions from journalists in the corridors of the Mazhilis.
A journalist asked First Deputy Foreign Minister Akan Rakhmetullin why, after eight years, the ministry had not managed to assist the women or seek a review of their cases, noting that human rights advocates had reached out for support.
Rakhmetullin confirmed that both relatives of the women and rights activists had contacted the ministry, but stressed that the situation is complex.
“First, it is not confirmed that all eight women are citizens of Kazakhstan. Some sources say only two are Kazakh nationals, while the rest are from neighboring countries,” he said.
He explained that the primary obstacle is the life sentences handed down by the Iraqi courts for terrorism-related offenses.
“As you know, we cannot interfere in another country’s judiciary, and Kazakhstan has no authority to overturn court decisions,” he noted.
However, Rakhmetullin said the government is in talks with Iraq regarding a possible agreement on readmission and prisoner transfer, though the process is lengthy.
When asked if there is still hope to bring the women back to Kazakhstan, he replied:
“There is always hope. But there are two main issues: first, they have already been sentenced to life imprisonment for aiding terrorism. Second, if we succeed in signing such an agreement, it may allow for the transfer of these women to serve their sentences in Kazakhstan—but only if they are confirmed to be Kazakh citizens.”
In May 2023, Tengrinews.kz received a letter reportedly from one of the women imprisoned in Baghdad’s Rusafa facility. The writer claimed she was a Kazakh national and said that five other Kazakh women were also incarcerated there. According to her, they had once left Kazakhstan with their husbands 'in search of true Islam', but later ended up in prison. The current whereabouts and fates of their husbands remain unknown.
The National Security Committee later confirmed that the women mentioned in the report were indeed in Rusafa and had been sentenced in 2017 for participating in terrorist activities under Iraqi law.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earlier conducted an operation to repatriate the children of these women from Iraq, even while the mothers remained behind bars.
