Impact of War on Women in Iraq

Bereaved mothers, orphans, or widows? Death is the first assumption

that crosses their minds after a question lingering for five years

without an answer. Where are the men? Saqlawiyah, in

Anbar Governorate in western Iraq, seems devoid of men after

the forced disappearance of nearly 700 men.

The women of Saqlawiyah recount what happened after the liberation operations from

the Islamic State group.

2016. On June 3, we went out towards

what we thought was the army, but it was a force we didn't know,

and they took them—my son and my husband, 14 people in all.

They separated us women, and they took the men.

We don't know anything about them.

They were dancing: "We liberated it! We liberated it!" We were overjoyed.

We told them, "Don't touch them, they are innocent." They were

thirsty and hungry. But they said, "No, by God,

two days, their safety is on us. In two days, we'll put them in a

vehicle and send them back to you." And my son, my husband,

my sister's husband, and my other brother-in-law—seven people

from just my family are gone. And until now, it's been six, six years.

To this day, we don't know their fate. Could the government really not know

where they took them?

Where did they go? Swallowed by the earth? What is the fault of these children?

What is our fault? By God, my son was a newlywed.

He didn't get to enjoy anything in life. His wife was pregnant,

and he is gone without even seeing his child.

God is our sufficient protector against whoever caused this.

Women work in strenuous jobs to survive in the absence of

the men who used to work in agriculture,

having no ties to extremist groups or to politics.

There were men with us who left with us. They had no ties to the army or any group.

He said they're farmers living here. We're farmers living here.

By God, we lived on dates and said it was fine. We endured everything.

We said the most important thing was saving our people.

We left, having done nothing wrong, when we went out to them.

Holding white sheets, we came out.

We surrendered holding white sheets. The first army unit met us.

Then we were met by

another unit. How do you survive? Relying on God and aid organizations.

People helped us with charitable deeds. We don't have anything.

Give us aid like those who help me, give us a cow so we can live off it.

Working as a day laborer. This is a humiliating life.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to disclose

publicly the investigations, hold fair trials, and hold accountable

those responsible for enforced disappearances, regardless of their rank or the entity

they belong to. Maha Siraj, Saqlawiyah, western Iraq,

Monte Carlo Doualiya.