Germany: Iraqi man gets life in prison over 'enslavement'

A German court on Monday sentenced an Iraqi couple linked to the so-called "Islamic State" militant group to lengthy prison sentences over the enslavement and abuse of two Yazidi girls.

The pair were convicted of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. They were also convicted of sexually abusing children and aiding and abetting the listed offenses.

The man was sentenced to life in prison, while his former partner was given a juvenile sentence of nine and a half years.

The couple, identified as Twana H.S. and Asia R.A.  in line with German privacy laws, were most recently living in Germany and were arrested in the southern state of Bavaria in April last year.

What were the accusations against the couple?

The court proved that the defendants had enslaved and raped two Yazidi girls as members of the Islamic State — the group that was documented by several countries including Germany to have committed genocide against the Yazidi population in Syria and Iraq.

The couple bought the two Yazidi girls as slaves in Iraq when they were aged five and 12.

They then proceeded to exploit the girls, subjecting them to forced labor and torture. The man was found to have sexually abused the children, while the woman reportedly abetted this.

"The monstrous violence is so far removed from any sense of humanity that it seems unreal," the representative of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said.

One of the formerly enslaved girls was present in the courtroom in Germany. She burst into tears as the verdict was read out on Monday.

Presiding Judge Philipp Stoll noted that the ruling was the first such conviction in Germany for forced religious conversion — in this case, forcing the girls from Yazidism to Islam.

The female defendant, now aged 30, had apologized during the trial. Her former husband had declined to speak in court.

Edited by: Zac Crellin

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