One of the twelve women who were brought to the Netherlands from an IS camp in November 2022 is suspected of crimes against Yazidis. It is the first time that someone in the Netherlands has been tried for crimes against the Iraqi minority, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) reports.
The Dutch women and their 28 children were picked up from Syria on November 1. Once in the Netherlands, the women were arrested on suspicion of terrorist crimes, because they were believed to be members of the terrorist organization IS.
The cabinet decided to bring the women back so that they can be prosecuted in the Netherlands for their possible involvement with IS. If this were not done in time, the crimes would become time-barred.
One of the women brought back is said to have enslaved a woman from the Yazidi community. According to the Public Prosecution Service, this happened in 2015. She is therefore suspected of slavery as a crime against humanity.
IS has also committed serious crimes against Yazidis on a large scale since 2014. The terrorist organization is held responsible for genocide against the religious and ethnic Kurdish minority.
The first preparatory sessions against the twelve women will be held on 14 and 15 February. Their children were handed over to the Child Protection Board upon arrival in the Netherlands.
