A German court has convicted an Iraqi couple of enslaving two Yazidi girls while they were members of the Islamic State group, with the man receiving a life sentence and his wife sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.
The Munich Higher Regional Court found Twana H.S. and Asia R. A. guilty of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, severe abuse of children, and membership in Islamic State. The couple was arrested in Bavaria in 2024.
Twana H.S., whose full name was withheld under German privacy rules, received a life sentence. Asia R. A. was handed a juvenile sentence of nine and a half years, the BBC reported. Prosecutors said the couple participated in Islamic State’s campaign against the Yazidi religious group after the group seized territory in Iraq and Syria beginning in 2014. It included forced displacement, and the enslavement of Yazidi women and children.
According to prosecutors, Twana H.S. and Asia R. A. became members of Islamic State between October 2015 and December 2017 after marrying under Islamic law in Iraq.
Prosecutors alleged that in 2015, Twana H.S. acquired a five-year-old Yazidi girl from a slave market in Mosul at the request of his wife. They also alleged that the couple acquired another Yazidi girl, aged 12, in 2017.
The prosecution said the girls were held as slaves, forced to perform household duties and childcare, and the couple prevented them from practicing their religion. Prosecutors also accused the couple of subjecting the children to repeated mistreatment while they were being held.
During the trial, the court heard testimony from the older Yazidi victim, who described the treatment she experienced while in the couple’s custody. The second victim remains missing, according to reports.
The Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority, were targeted by Islamic State after the group expanded across northern Iraq. Germany has recognized the group’s campaign against the Yazidis as genocide. The case was prosecuted in Germany under universal jurisdiction laws, which allow courts to try certain international crimes committed outside the country.
Twana H.S. first arrived in Germany in the early 2000s as an asylum seeker and later worked as a hairdresser in Munich. German media reported he returned to Iraq in 2015 after becoming radicalized.
Asia R. A., who is now separated from Twana H.S., apologized during the trial, saying, “I'm sorry”. Twana H.S. declined to speak in court.
The Munich Higher Regional Court found Twana H.S. and Asia R. A. guilty of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, severe abuse of children, and membership in Islamic State. The couple was arrested in Bavaria in 2024.
Twana H.S., whose full name was withheld under German privacy rules, received a life sentence. Asia R. A. was handed a juvenile sentence of nine and a half years, the BBC reported. Prosecutors said the couple participated in Islamic State’s campaign against the Yazidi religious group after the group seized territory in Iraq and Syria beginning in 2014. It included forced displacement, and the enslavement of Yazidi women and children.
According to prosecutors, Twana H.S. and Asia R. A. became members of Islamic State between October 2015 and December 2017 after marrying under Islamic law in Iraq.
Prosecutors alleged that in 2015, Twana H.S. acquired a five-year-old Yazidi girl from a slave market in Mosul at the request of his wife. They also alleged that the couple acquired another Yazidi girl, aged 12, in 2017.
The prosecution said the girls were held as slaves, forced to perform household duties and childcare, and the couple prevented them from practicing their religion. Prosecutors also accused the couple of subjecting the children to repeated mistreatment while they were being held.
During the trial, the court heard testimony from the older Yazidi victim, who described the treatment she experienced while in the couple’s custody. The second victim remains missing, according to reports.
The Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority, were targeted by Islamic State after the group expanded across northern Iraq. Germany has recognized the group’s campaign against the Yazidis as genocide. The case was prosecuted in Germany under universal jurisdiction laws, which allow courts to try certain international crimes committed outside the country.
Twana H.S. first arrived in Germany in the early 2000s as an asylum seeker and later worked as a hairdresser in Munich. German media reported he returned to Iraq in 2015 after becoming radicalized.
Asia R. A., who is now separated from Twana H.S., apologized during the trial, saying, “I'm sorry”. Twana H.S. declined to speak in court.
