A Dutch woman who joined Islamic State in 2015 is on trial in the Netherlands for crimes against humanity for allegedly enslaving two Yazidi women in Syria.
Hasna Aarab, 33, is accused of taking part in the enslavement of the women, whom she held captive as domestic slaves, between 2015-16 when she lived in Raqqa with her young son and her IS fighter husband.
The Netherlands is the second country to put an alleged Islamic State member on trial for crimes against the Yazidis, a minority whose religion includes Zoroastrian, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Manichaean elements.
Islamic State had controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria between 2014-17. The “caliphate” he had established collapsed in 2019. He considered the Yazidis “satanic” and killed more than 3,000 people. Nearly 7,000 women and girls were enslaved while 550,000 people were displaced from their homes in northern Iraq.
Germany has convicted two IS members for crimes they committed against the Yazidis.
Aarab is also accused of being a member of a terrorist organization between 2015-22 and endangering her 4-year-old son by taking him to a war zone. She told the court today that she felt alienated and disillusioned in the Netherlands and left for Syria to start a new life, not to join IS. “I heard some things (but) I didn’t think I would be involved in the atrocities of IS,” he told the judges.
Aarab’s lawyers argue that their client was young and naive and that her then-husband left her at home with the two Yazidis, whom she did not command. The defense will present its arguments later this week.
Under Dutch jurisdiction law, national courts can try suspects for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed on foreign soil, provided the defendant is connected to the Netherlands.
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