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talik – “to hang” Arabic – Iraqi slang for a torture device that tosses victims into the air, with their hands handcuffed above their heads. Akrab, or “scorpion”, is the more painful version, when the hands are first forcefully pressed together behind the back.
Elizabeth Tsurkov experienced both and other excruciating torture while held captive for 2 1/2 years in Iraq by Iran-backed militias.
The 38-year-old Israeli-Russian doctoral student at Princeton, who speaks fluent Arabic and has researched the Middle East for more than a decade, was studying sociopolitical movements in Iraq in March 2023 when she was forced into an SUV, blindfolded, sexually assaulted and beaten, then taken to a torture facility on the outskirts. Baghdad,
His release in September was announced by the President donald trump,
She is now recovering in Israel as Iraqis vote Tuesday in parliamentary elections that will include candidates linked to the militia that Tsurkov says abducted him. Kataib Hezbollah,
A ransom of $600 million was demanded
Israel Travel to Iraq, which Israel classifies as an “enemy state”, is prohibited by law.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Tsurkov said she knew the risks but thought she had taken adequate precautions, entering on her Russian passport and avoiding contact with the militia. He did not count on Kata’ib Hezbollah’s deep penetration into activist circles in Baghdad.
She said her captors did not at first know she was Israeli and believed they had kidnapped her to extort a large ransom for a foreigner. While Kata’ib Hezbollah has never publicly claimed to have kidnapped her, it has released statements on social media that include false information given by her during torture, indicating its involvement.
The group, Hezbollah’s affiliate in Lebanon, is part of a coalition of Iranian-backed militias that are officially part of Iraq’s armed forces but often act on their own. The US has listed Kata’ib Hezbollah as a terrorist organization since 2009.
A month into Tsurkov’s captivity, his captors found Hebrew messages on his phone and other evidence of his being Israeli. That’s when the torture began, he said, because they accused him of being a spy. Israeli officials told them that their initial ransom demand was $600 million.
“The torture was incredibly cruel,” said Tsurkov, who is now recovering at a friend’s home near Tel Aviv.
“They electrocuted me. They constantly touched me inappropriately. They forced me into positions that were very painful for me because of my herniated disc,” she said. He said he had undergone back surgery just eight days before his kidnapping.
The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual abuse, except in cases where they publicly identify themselves or share their stories openly.
Surkov’s captors used plastic whips, especially on his legs, as legs heal slowly. They threatened to kill him with a gun stamped property of the Iraqi security services. She would beg to faint to end the torture session.
She said she made false confessions to appease her torturers to avoid implicating Iraqi acquaintances.
After 4 1/2 months, Tsurkov was transported to what is believed to be a Kataib Hezbollah base on the border with Iran, where the torture stopped. He was allowed adequate food and water and eventually a TV, while being held in solitary confinement in a windowless cell.
Hopes for release dimmed after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when Surkov became one of more than 250 hostages taken, a matter of concern to Israel.
shed light on militia
Tsurkov’s nerve damage caused by the torture is potentially permanent. Between doctor’s appointments and physical therapy, she mostly lies on the couch, changing positions to try to find relief.
It’s impossible to forget the details of the torture facility, she said: the blood splattered on the walls, the depressing photographs of the people held in the cell before her. It is inconvenient to share them publicly.
“Nobody wants to be told about the worst experiences of their lives,” Tsurkov said.
Still, she knows that as a Westerner she is in a unique position to shed light on Iraqi militias. Very few people survive Iraq’s torture facilities, and those Iraqis who do survive are afraid to speak out could put them or their families in danger.
Iraqi militias are not as well known globally because they are mostly active inside Iraq. Iraqi militias targeted US forces in the area after the October 7 attack due to Washington’s support for Israel, but this largely ceased after a US counter-strike killed a high-ranking Kata’ib Hezbollah commander.
“Their focus is mostly on oppressing their own people,” Surkov said.
She knew the militia was well funded, she said, because of the plush leather and new car smell of luxury vehicles that would drive her around blindfolded.
third generation imprisonment
Tsurkov, who was born in Russia, moved to Israel when he was about 4 years old. Earlier his parents were jailed in Russia for opposing the communist government.
His mother was imprisoned for three years, his father for seven years, and he was imprisoned for two years in Siberia. For a few months, Tsurkov’s father was held in a cell with Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident who later became an Israeli cabinet minister. His grandfather was imprisoned under Stalin.
Tsurkov’s family fought for his release and ran a campaign focused primarily on the US. His sister, Emma Tsurkov, is married to an American citizen.
Israel invested “great effort and many resources” to help secure Tsurkov’s release, said an Israeli official who was not authorized to speak to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to AP’s request for comment.
America puts pressure
As far as she knows, Tsurkov was not exchanged for any prisoners.
His release followed significant pressure from the Trump administration’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Adam Boehler, who held several meetings and regularly took to social media to demand Tsurkov’s freedom.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that with Tsurkov’s Princeton nomination and other ties to the US, Trump was “willing to leverage our country’s strengths and his negotiating skills to intervene.”
Tsurkov also credits the involvement of Iraqi-American businessman and Trump donor Mark Sawaya. Tsurkov said that while she was recuperating in Israel, Sawaya told her that he had warned Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani during a meeting that he must be released or the Trump administration would attack Kataib Hezbollah. Sawaya was later named US special envoy to Iraq.
Surkov’s release came as Israel cracked down on Iran, destroying many of its proxies during the devastating 12-day war, a campaign so intense that Surkov said he felt the building where he was being held at the border in Iraq shaking.
The Iraqi government and Kata’ib Hezbollah did not respond to AP’s requests for comment. But militia security chief Abu Ali al-Askari wrote on Telegram that the Iraqi government demanded Surkov’s release to avoid a possible attack against Iraq.
A Shia official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that militia leaders were worried they would be targeted by the US.
About a week after Tsurkov believed that Sawaya met al-Sudani, he was brought to Baghdad and handed over to an Iraqi security official in an undisclosed garage.
He had a joyous video chat with his family at the US Embassy before returning to Israel.
rebuilding a life
Before his kidnapping, Tsurkov was frequently cited in Israeli media for his expertise on the Syrian civil war. She traveled to Syria twice and got tattoos supporting Syrian independence, which she said angered her torturers. She has been outspoken in her criticism of the Israeli government and in support of the Palestinians, drawing increasing criticism online since her release.
Now she is rebuilding her life. She plans to complete her doctoral studies at Princeton. She takes great pleasure in experiencing small things, like looking at the ocean or feeling the sun warm her skin.
Once she has recovered sufficiently, she hopes to return to research, particularly fieldwork highlighting marginalized groups.
“It often feels like I’ve woken up from a nightmare,” she said. “It feels so surreal to go through such cruelty and overcome it.” ,
Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Seung Min Kim in Washington and Qasim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed.