BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi court issued a death sentence Wednesday against one of the wives of the late brutal leader of the Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadiclaiming he was an accomplice in crimes committed against Yazidi women captured by the militant group.
The decision comes weeks before 10 years have passed since IS launched a series of attacks against the Yazidi religious minority in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq in early August 2014, killing and capturing thousands of people – including women and girls who have been subjected to human trafficking and sexual abuse. The United Nations said the campaign against the Yazidis amounted to genocide.
A statement from Iraq’s judicial council said the Karkh Criminal Court convicted the woman of “detaining Yazidi women in their home” and facilitating their kidnapping by “ISIS terrorist gangs in Sinjar district.” He also said the decision was issued in accordance with Iraq’s anti-terrorism law and its “Yazidi Survivors Law.”
The statement did not name the defendant, but two court officials identified her as Asma Mohammed, who was detained in 2018 in Turkey. An Iraqi security official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she was handed over to Iraqi authorities last year. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
Survivors of IS attacks in Iraq have complained about a lack of accountability and criticized the decision – taken at the request of the Iraqi government – to close a UN investigation into IS crimes, including the alleged use of chemical weapons.
At the same time, human rights groups have raised concerns about the lack of due process in the trials of alleged IS members in Iraq and have particularly criticized the mass executions of those convicted on terrorism charges. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said convictions are often obtained under torture and called on Iraq to abolish the death penalty.
On June 29, 2014, al-Baghdadi, known as one of the most ruthlessly effective jihadist leaders of modern times, declared the militant group’s caliphate across large swathes of Iraq and Syria. In 2019, he was killed in a US strike in Syria, dealing a major blow to the militant group which has now lost control of all the areas it previously controlled, although some of its cells continue to carry out attacks.
