The Iraqi courts Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the brutal leader of the Islamic StateThe country’s judicial authorities said Wednesday they allege she was complicit in crimes against Yazidi women held captive by the extremist group.
The ruling was handed down a few weeks ago. It’s been 10 years since IS launched a series of attacks. Against Yazidi religious minority In early August 2014, thousands of women were killed and captured in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq. Victims of human trafficking and sexual abuseThe United Nations has said military action against the Yazidis amounts to genocide.
The Kalhu Criminal Court found the woman guilty of “confining a Yazidi woman in her home” and aiding her in her kidnapping by “the terrorist (Islamic State) group in the Sinjar region,” according to a statement from the Iraqi Judicial Council, which said the sentence was based on Iraq’s anti-terrorism law and the “Yazidi Survivors Law.”
The statement did not name the defendant, but two court officials identified him as Asma Mohammed, who was arrested in Turkey in 2018 and later extradited. A senior Iraqi security official told The Associated Press that Baghdadi’s other wife and daughter, who were also extradited to Iraq from Turkey, were given life sentences.
The sentence was handed down a week ago but announced by the Judicial Council on Wednesday, he said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Survivors of IS attacks in Iraq have complained of a lack of accountability and criticised a decision, at the request of the Iraqi government, to close a UN investigation into IS crimes, including the alleged use of chemical weapons.
At the same time, human rights groups have expressed concern about the lack of due process in the trials of alleged ISIS members in Iraq, and have particularly criticized the mass executions of those convicted of terrorism charges. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said confessions are often extracted through torture and have called on Iraq to abolish the death penalty.
Al-Baghdadi, known as one of the most ruthless jihadist leaders of modern times, declared the militant group’s caliphate over large swaths of Iraq and Syria on June 29, 2014. He was killed in a U.S. raid in Syria in 2019, dealing a major blow to the militant group. Now they have lost all the territory they once controlled.However, some cells continue to attack.
