ICC Note: New posts on social media have provided more information about the fate of Assyrian Christians kidnapped in Syria. The images show women holding signs with their names and July 27, 2015 written on them. Assyrian rights groups have not confirmed that these women are part of the more than 220 captured in the Hassakeh region of Syria in February of this year. The posts threatened that the women will become sex slaves if ransom demands are not met, this fate has primarily been reserved for Yazidi women who are considered polytheists, rather than Christians or Jews who are known as “people of the Book,” sometimes granting them greater rights.
08/15/2015 Syria (Daily Mail) Disturbing images which have appeared online could be of three Assyrian Christian women ISIS abducted in February.
In three ‘leaked’ images shared on social media, the women hold pieces of paper on which their names and a date – July 27, 2015 – are written.
It is feared this means they will be sold to ISIS fighters if their families or charities do not pay ransom for their release, although no figure appears on the signs they hold.
On Tuesday, ISIS released 22 of more than 220 Christians they snatched from several Assyrian farming communities it raided in Iraq’s north-eastern Hassakeh province, Syria, earlier this year.
The Assyrian Federation of Sweden has told MailOnline the women’s surnames resemble those of families who lived in the region, although they cannot completely verify they are Christians.
It also said the theory of them being ransomed off to fund ISIS is plausible but, once again, difficult to confirm.
One woman stands over her young daughter holding a sign which reads Susan Elias along with the date July 27, 2015.
The second, who is alone, is called Hannaa Assaf Youssef. The third woman is surrounded by what appears to be her own three children but the writing on the sign could not be made out accurately.
‘The names resemble the family names of people in a nearby village – Tel Jazire – so it is possible that these women could be from Assyrian villages but we cannot confirm that,’ a source at the Assyrian Federation of Sweden said.
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