Islamic State Member Charged With Yazidi Genocide in German Court
A high-ranking Islamic State (IS) member has been charged in Germany with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including aiding in the genocide of the Yazidi community, prosecutors announced Wednesday. The suspect, identified as Ossama A., is a Syrian national accused of significant involvement in IS operations in Syria.
Prosecutors allege that Ossama A. joined IS in 2014 in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor region and led a local unit that confiscated 13 properties. These buildings were reportedly used as housing for fighters, office spaces, and storage facilities. Two properties served as prisons where captured Yazidi women were held, sexually abused, and exploited by IS members, the prosecutor-general’s office stated.
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The charges against Ossama A. include aiding and abetting genocide, reflecting IS’s broader campaign to destroy the Yazidi religious community. The UN has recognized these atrocities as genocide, with IS killing over 3,000 Yazidis, enslaving 7,000 women and girls, and displacing much of the 550,000-strong community in northern Iraq.
Ossama A., arrested in Germany in April 2024, remains in pre-trial custody. His indictment underscores Germany’s leadership in prosecuting war crimes under the principle of universal jurisdiction. In 2022, a former Syrian intelligence officer was sentenced to life in Germany for murder, rape, and torture.
