German Woman Sentenced to Prison for Keeping a Female Slave in Iraq

A German woman has been sentenced to prison for keeping a female slave in Iraq and Syria. She is accused of having enslaved a young Yazidi girl in her home during her membership in the Islamic State group while residing in Iraq. The accused, referred to only as "Nadine K," was found guilty on Wednesday, June 21, in a state court in western Germany, for holding a Yazidi woman as a slave and sentenced to 9 years and 3 months in prison. According to a report by the Associated Press citing a German news agency, the state court in Koblenz convicted the 37-year-old woman of crimes against humanity, membership in a foreign terrorist organization, and aiding genocide. The court determined that the accused had exploited a young Yazidi woman "for her own benefit as a domestic slave" for three years. It is reported that her husband brought the woman to their home and repeatedly raped her, while the accused facilitated this abuse. The court stated that the accused traveled to Syria with her husband in 2014 and joined ISIS. The couple moved to the city of Mosul, Iraq, in 2016. The woman was arrested in March 2021 after being returned to Germany from a camp in northeastern Syria where ISIS members were held. Last month, the Yazidi woman testified in court, stating that she recognized the accused. In another news, the U.S. State Department on Wednesday designated two ISIS leaders as "specially designated global terrorists" under Executive Order 13224. These two, named Arkan Ahmad Abbas Al-Matouti (known as Abu Sarhan), a senior military commander of ISIS, and Nawaf Ahmad Alwan Al-Rashidi (known as Abu Fares), have committed sexual violence against Yazidis and are responsible for the abduction and enslavement of Yazidi women and girls. Meanwhile, there is still no news about the fate of over 2,700 women and children – mostly Yazidis – in Iraq. Reports of ISIS crimes and the suffering endured by Yazidi women continue to emerge. Syrian Kurds are prosecuting ISIS prisoners. An Iraqi in Germany has been sentenced to life imprisonment for "genocide against Yazidis." "ISIS has committed war crimes against Yazidis."