May 19, 2025
Iraqi couple faces trial in Germany for alleged IS crimes against Yazidi girls
The 43-year-old man and the 29-year-old woman are charged with genocide, human trafficking, and crimes against humanity at the Munich Higher Regional Court.
According to prosecutors, in 2015, the man purchased a 5-year-old Yazidi girl as a dowry for his wife upon her request. The child was allegedly held in captivity by the couple in Iraq and Syria for over two years, enduring forced labor, sexual abuse, humiliation, and torture.
In October 2017, the couple reportedly acquired a second Yazidi girl, 12 years old, who suffered similar abuse.
Both girls were subsequently transferred to other IS members in November 2017. While the older girl was freed after a ransom was paid, the younger child’s fate remains unknown.
The couple was arrested in Bavaria in April 2024 and has been in custody since.
IS sought to establish a theocratic state under Sharia law during the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
German prosecutors argue that the couple’s actions were part of IS’s systematic campaign to enslave Yazidi women and girls, aiming to destroy their group’s identity and continuity.
Germany has become a significant player in prosecuting IS war crimes committed in Iraq and Syria under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
