Genocide of the Yazidis: The forgotten victims of German IS terrorists?

Thousands of Yazidis have been abducted, enslaved or murdered by IS terrorists. Many Germans had also joined the terrorist militia. But so far, few have been held accountable.

Enslaved, raped or murdered. Thousands of Yazidis suffered this fate at the hands of the terrorist organization “Islamic State” (IS). German IS fighters were among the perpetrators. More than 1,000 Germans had joined IS. But so far, hardly any of them have been legally prosecuted and the federal government has not yet recognized the acts against the Yazidis as genocide.

On Monday, possible recognition by the Bundestag was discussed for the first time before the Bundestag’s Petitions Committee. The petition was submitted by Gohdar Alkaidy, co-chair of the office for Yazidi affairs in Berlin. This had been signed more than 50,000 times within four weeks. “The Yazidis have been discriminated against, disenfranchised and systematically persecuted because of their identity for centuries,” said Gohdar Alkaidy. That extends into the 21st century.

Her owner was called al Almani – the German

On August 3, 2014, a martyrdom began for many Yazidis. On that day, the terrorist militia stormed the Yazidi areas in northern Iraq. For the IS ideologues, members of the ethnic minority are just infidels. More than 5,000 Yazidis died, 7,000 were kidnapped – like Norshan.

The then 14-year-old girl had fallen into the hands of a German IS terrorist. Eight years later it has ARD magazine FACT met the young woman who lives in a small town in northern Iraq. The atrocities of the German IS terrorist knew no bounds: “He kept hitting me with a stick and tied my hands. When he raped me, he taped my mouth shut.”

According to Norshan, her owner’s name was Ahmed, and his fighting name was Shams Aldien Al Almani been. Al Almani means translated: the German. “He often spoke to his family in Germany over the Internet. His mother said: Come back,” says Norshan. They talked in Arabic, so she could understand. Ahmed replied: “I’m not coming back. You are infidels.”

Resold after three months

After three months, the German IS man sold them on. The new slave owner was again a terrorist from Germany. Fighter Name: Abu Wagas Al Almani. “He was married and even worse than the others,” says Norshan. In addition to all other atrocities, he also wanted to force them to Islam. That’s why her arm is covered with scars the size of a fist. “I have a brother who is missing, so I had his initials tattooed on my arm,” says Norshan. The IS men said it wasn’t allowed in Islam and tried to etch it out with hydrochloric acid.

Norshan survived slavery, but she is severely traumatized. The Yazidi victims in the Iraqi refugee camps have hardly experienced any justice so far, says Katharina Dönhoff. The Berliner has been involved with the association “Hand für Hand” for years in northern Iraq with educational projects for the Yazidi minority.

People kept telling her about the crimes of the IS fighters: “There are many Germans who went there in 2014 and I know of a few cases that also had girls, boys or women in captivity.” The victims are of the opinion that the genocide must be recognized and that the perpetrators should then be prosecuted. “The victims need that. It’s also a security issue,” says Dönhoff. Because they do not know what the perpetrators are currently doing, whether they live freely in Germany. “That can not be.”

Limits of the German investigative authorities

Measured against the large number of IS crimes against the Yazidis, the number of procedures is manageable. At the end of 2022, a former IS couple was convicted. It is said to be responsible for the death of a Yazidi child. This is also due to the borders of the German investigative authorities in Iraq and Syria. “These are countries with which there are no agreements on the implementation of legal assistance,” says Cologne lawyer Gottfried Reims. As a joint plaintiff, he accompanied a case related to IS terror. So it is in fact impossible to question even witnesses in these countries.

Thousands of foreign IS fighters and their wives are still being held in Iraqi prisons and detention camps in Syria, which German authorities have little access to. In addition, many former IS members appear to be downplaying their own role in the terrorist state. end of September FACT met the former IS woman Jalda A. from Bremen in a camp in Syria. When asked if she was somehow guilty during her time with IS, she replied: “I didn’t do anything. I was at home. I was just scared and wanted to leave.” She was just a housewife.

IS woman is said to have aided and abetted genocide

A month later, Jalda A. was allowed to travel to Germany with her children. Federal prosecutors announced last week that they had issued a new arrest warrant: Jalda A. was accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes and complicity in genocide. Accordingly, in her third marriage to an IS fighter, she is said to have hit and kicked a Yazidi woman almost every day after her husband raped her. “The accused also forced the prisoner to pray according to the Islamic rite. All of this served the declared aim of the IS to destroy the Yazidi faith,” says the statement from the Federal Public Prosecutor General.

The victims of German IS fighters are on their own. In late 2017, Norshan managed to escape slavery. To date, the young Jesidin has not been questioned by investigative authorities. Norshan has expressed one wish: “There are tens of thousands of girls here who live in fear at home.” Those to whom this was done lived like in a prison. “We want justice. Those who have done this to us should be held accountable, not by force, but legally according to law and order.”

Acknowledgment of genocide important for trauma recovery

At the hearing in the Bundestag, the Minister of State in the Foreign Office, Tobias Lindner, explained why the federal government is currently not talking about genocide. It is the task of the courts to examine this on the basis of the recognized definitions. It is a problem for the validity of the judgments when the federal government talks about genocide in advance. It is good government practice to only do this after the judgments have been passed. The committee will only decide at a later meeting how to proceed with the petition.

The demanded recognition of the genocide by the Bundestag does not bring the dead back, says Gohdar Alkaidy. But: “That would be important for the Yazidi people to deal with trauma.” But that would also increase the pressure on Iraq to give the Yazidis a voice and enable them to return to their homeland.