A German court on Wednesday sentenced a female ISIS terrorist to 9 years and 3 months in jail for enslaving and abusing a Yazidi woman. The accused woman, Nadine K., has been charged on multiple counts. A copy of the judgment has been accessed by OpIndia.
The Koblenz Higher Regional Court found Nadine, 37, guilty of crimes against humanity, aiding and abetting genocide, and membership in a foreign terrorist organisation. The victim, Naveen Rasho, was regularly raped by Nadine’s husband.
The judgment, however, is not final, and there is the possibility of an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice.
Naveen Rasho was the primary witness in the case and gave evidence of the dreadful exploitation at the hands of the savages standing face-to-face with her captor. Naveen was represented by Amal Clooney.
What is the case?
In April 2016, two years after ISIS had gained control over a majority of cities in Syria and some in Iraq, Nadine’s husband received Naveen as a “gift” from ISIS.
He took Naveen home in Mosul and introduced her to Nadine as his slave. They both forced Naveen to do household work including cooking, cleaning, looking after animals, and taking care of the terrorists’ daughters.
Naveen was forced to travel with the couple as they kept shifting base from wherever ISIS was losing ground to areas that were still under the terror group’s control. Naveen was enslaved, abused, and raped by Nadine’s husband for 3 years. Nadine was aware of the rape and sexual abuse.
Abducted, traded, raped, and abused for 5 years
In August 2014, Naveen Rasho and her family were abducted by the Islamic State (ISIS) from their home in northern Iraq.
Throughout the 5 years in captivity, Naveen was traded as a domestic and sex slave, was forced to convert to Islam, and was forced to pray daily as per Muslim customs. She was kept in prison cells between Iraq and Syria.
In a conversation with a media channel, Naveen narrates her ordeal. “When I was taken to that house (by Nadine K.) my life became worse,” she said.
Naveen was regularly subjected to sexual abuse by Nadine’s husband, a Syrian national who is now behind bars. Nadine K. was aware of the rape and abuse and did nothing to stop it.
Naveen was forced to do house chores till late at night and wake up early in the mornings. She was made to do all kinds of housework including looking after the terrorist’s children to cleaning.
She was constantly under surveillance and was isolated from the other ISIS house helps who were not allowed to lend Naveen a hand. Nadine K. connived to great lengths to prevent Naveen from escaping. She took away Naveen’s abaya, without which no woman was allowed to step outside the house, to ensure that would not leave the house unaccompanied or escape.
Accused Nadine K. and her husband attempted to convert Naveen by forcefully preaching to her the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. “In their minds the more they spoke about Islam the greater the chance I would change my religion, but it didn’t work.”
“God created us as Yazidis so we want to die as Yazidis,” Naveen Rasho said. Naveen’s mother died awaiting her return.
After her release, Naveen found refuge at the al Hol camp in Syria and garnered the courage to narrate her ordeal to a Scottish journalist. She finally returned to her family in 2019.
Who is Nadine K.?
Nadine K., a German citizen, met her future husband at the beginning of 2013 in North Rhine-Westphalia after leaving her studies mid-way. Her husband, a Syrian doctor, and his family were living in Germany under refuge after having fled the Assad regime.
After meeting her future husband, Nadine K. began following Islamic traditions including prayers and wearing hijab. She converted to Islam in July 2013 upon their marriage as per Islamic rites and rituals.
In 2014, the couple decided to return to Syria. While her husband moved first, Nadine followed him in December 2014.
How did Nadine K. become an ISIS fanatic?
Nadine K. and her husband willingly joined ISIS and developed activities to promote its goals. From names to their dressing style, they adhered to radical ISIS rules in all aspects.
The couple initially lived in Syria for a week before moving to Mosul where he worked as a doctor for ISIS and received his wages from them. They took in various ISIS women in their villa for accommodation and care; these were women who, as per ISIS rules, were not allowed to live alone.
The court also pointed out that during her stay in Mosul, Nadine and her husband kept Kalashnikov-type assault rifles and other weapons in the bedroom without the necessary licenses or permits.
Nadine K.’s return to Germany
On 8 March 2019, the Kurdish forces arrested Nadine K. and her family while they were attempting to flee Baghouz. While her husband was imprisoned after the arrest, Nadine K. and her children were shifted from one camp to another until she decided to return to Germany in 2022.
Nadine has been in custody since 31 March 2022. Her husband’s exact whereabouts are unknown.
ISIS and the Yazidi Genocide
The Yazidis are an ethnic and religious minority community in Iraq. They primarily hail from the Sinjar region situated near the Sinjar mountains in northern Iraq. The radical Islamists consider them as “devil-worshippers”.
At least 40,000 Yazidis were displaced, abducted, and abused by ISIS. Following the ISIS takeover of the Sinjar region, at least 10,000 Yazidis escaped to Mount Sinjar for refuge where they were trapped for the longest period. Many died of hunger and deprivation.
Around 7,000 Yazidi women were sold as sex slaves. Those who tried to escape were gang-raped as punishment. Girls as young as nine were traded.
Around 3,500 Yazidis have been rescued, but thousands are still missing and it is feared that many continue to be enslaved. This even after ISIS was defeated in 2019 by a US-led coalition including the Iraqi army, Kurdish forces, and SDF in Syria.
Now, the community is barely surviving out of camps with no home to return to. Listed below are stories of some of the many Yazidi victims:
20 June 2023: 39 bodies returned to the Yazidi homeland
39 dead bodies were returned to the Yazidi homeland in Sinjar from a forensic hospital in Mosul after being kept in Baghdad for two years. These victims were killed and buried in mass graves across Iraq by the jihadi radicals.
3 June 2023: Six Yazidi women rescued after eight years in ISIS captivity
Six Yazidi women were rescued from the clutches of ISIS after 8 years. They were trafficked from Iraq to Syria and were first taken captive in 2014. The women were rescued by Nobel Prize winner Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who survived the ISIS assault.
7 September 2022: 18-year-old Wafaa Ali Abbas rescued
Another Yazidi woman, Wafaa Ali Abbas (18), was rescued from one of the ISIS-infested camps which were being raided by the Syrian SDF. She was abducted from her village of Kocho, 15 miles south of Sinjar, Iraq, in 2014.
Nadia Murad: The Last Girl
Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who was abducted by ISIS, was among the few who managed to escape the persecution.
The captor had left his house unlocked. She flew to refugee camps, from where she managed to take refuge in Germany. Later that year she launched her campaign against human trafficking and spoke at the UN General Assembly about the atrocities meted out to Yazidis.
In her powerful speech, she talked about the massacre, and about women and captive children still stranded on the mountain
Germany recognises crimes against Yazidis as genocide
In January this year, Germany recognised crimes against the Yazidi community as genocide. With this judgment, Germany has now convicted three ISIS terrorists for crimes against Yazidis.
In November 2021, ISIS terrorist Taha AJ was convicted of genocide. The second conviction was followed in May 2022 of German ISIS-returnee Jalda A. Besides these, five other ISIS terrorists have also been convicted of crimes against humanity.
More than 1000 Germans fled the country to join ISIS when it began spreading its terror. 9 years on, now Germany is cracking down on the ISIS network which continues to exist in the country even as it battles growing jihadi activities.
