Wives of IS members in Iraq request divorce

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Females in some provinces of Iraq who were married to men that joined the Islamic State (IS) are requesting divorces, according to a recent news report.

Al Arabiya quoted a "judicial source" as saying that Iraqi courts in some Sunni-majority regions such as Anbar and Nineveh have received multiple requests for legal separation by women who fled from their husbands and the group.

Some divorces have been granted, said the source, citing “the damage to reputation caused to the wives by their husbands’ affiliation with terrorist entities." He added that some had been forced to marry the men.

Family members of those suspected of being IS members in Iraq, including children and distant relatives, have been displaced, refused entry to their homes and towns, killed, and arrested by Iraqi security forces and militias since the militant group took over nearly a third of Iraq in 2014.

Under Iraq’s counter-terrorism law, being found guilty of aiding, abetting or having membership in a group classified as a terrorist organization, even if no other crime is suspected, is punishable by a sentence of life in prison or the death penalty.