By Dr. Amy L. Beam:
The Yezidi woman who has been held since October 2014 in prison in Erbil, along with her child born in prison, went before a judge FINALLY this past week, after activist Amy L. Beam posted the story on her Facebook page, and after Erbil Asayish headquarters threatened Beam not to “interfer,” and refused to let Beam see the prison director. Asayish (security police) held her passport overnight in exchange for keeping her phone for 2.5 hours.
The judge reiterated what the woman’s family had already been told: that she is not charged with anything and that she is not found guilty of any crime. (When escaping from ISIS in October 2014, in Zumar, Kurdistan, three Peshmerga were killed by a bomb when they entered the house where she had been held captive.)
The chief Asayish investigator on her case is himself Yezidi and insists she is “guilty” and asked to be held in prison for her own security.
After going before a judge last week, she was moved from the anti-terrorism prison in Erbil Asayish headquarters back to the Prison for Minors and Women by Family Mall in Erbil. It has a garden to sit in.
The judge said she is “being held for her own security” with the excuse that since she was forced by ISIS to convert to Islam, which she renounces, that she will not be safe among the Yezidi community. Although Beam provided the requested letter from Yezidi religious leader Hazem Tahsin, confirming that she is welcomed back to the Yezidi faith, this made no difference to the prison director.
Although she is not charged with a crime, she remains in prison with her child.
Dr. Amy L Beam – Executive Director, AAJ n.g.o. Duhok, Kurdistan