‘An important day’: Yezidi activists welcome German trial of ISIS suspect

FRANKFURT, Germany – “Today is an important day for the women who were enslaved by ISIS,” Yezidi activist Duzen Tekkal said at the opening of a trial of an Iraqi man accused of committing crimes against humanity in the death of a Yezidi child in Iraq. 

The man, identified as Taha al-J, is accused of “mass murder, crimes against humanity and committing war crimes. We believe that he has committed all these crimes as a member of the terrorist organization ISIS [Islamic State],” explained public prosecutor Anna Zabeck at the opening of Taha al-J’s trial on Friday. 

Taha al-J and his spouse, a German woman named Jennifer Wenisch, are accused of enslaving a five year old Yezidi girl and her mother. Court documents allege the accused chained the young girl to a window as “punishment” in Fallujah in the summer of 2015. The girl died of thirst in the heat. 

Wenisch’s trial began last year and Friday was Taha al-J’s first appearance in court.

Some 400,000 Yezidis were displaced from their homes when ISIS swept across northern Iraq in 2014. Thousands of men and boys were killed, while women and children were enslaved. About 3,000 Yezidis are still unaccounted for. 

“The sorrow of the Yezidi girls and mothers are being discussed here. The sadness of these women is unforgettable. By punishing those who have committed crimes against Yezidis, the sorrow they have been living with since the ISIS attack will end,” said Tekkal. 

This is believed to be the first case of an ISIS member for atrocities committed by ISIS militants in the genocide against the Yezidi minority. 

Lawyer Amal Clooney, who represents Yezidi victims, welcomed the “historic” case in a statement issued jointly with fellow counsel Natalie von Wistinghausen and advocacy organization Yazda. “I commend the German authorities for their leadership in prosecuting those responsible for committing genocide against the Yezidis, and for answering the call from survivors to hold ISIS to account for their crimes,” said Clooney. 

As Iraq and the United Nations, through the Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh (UNITAD), continue to exhume mass graves and gather evidence of ISIS crimes, Yazda’s executive director Murad Ismael called on “all governments to work together to bring back our missing women, men, and children.”

 

Reporting by Zinar Shino