A Swedish court has sentenced a 52-year-old woman, Lina Ishaq, to 12 years in prison on genocide charges for keeping Yazidi women and children as slaves at her home in Syria, Al Jazeera reports.
This landmark case marks the first time Sweden has prosecuted crimes committed by the ISIL (ISIS) group against the Yazidi minority.
The court convicted Ishaq of “genocide, crimes against humanity and serious war crimes” committed in 2015, stating that her actions were part of ISIL’s systematic campaign of violence and enslavement targeting the Kurdish-speaking Yazidi community. The Yazidis have faced centuries of persecution for their religious beliefs.
The case specifically focused on the suffering of nine injured parties, six of whom were children at the time of the offenses. The court highlighted the “comprehensive system of enslavement” implemented by ISIL as a crucial element in their crimes against the Yazidi people. While her crimes would typically warrant a 16-year sentence, the court reduced the term to 12 years, taking into account a previous sentence Ishaq is currently serving.
Ishaq is already imprisoned, having been sentenced to six years in 2022 for allowing her 12-year-old son to be recruited as a child soldier for ISIL.
Around 300 Swedish residents, approximately a quarter of whom were women, joined ISIL in Syria and Iraq, primarily in 2013 and 2014. At the time, Sweden lacked specific legislation to prosecute individuals solely for membership in an armed organization. Consequently, prosecutors pursued charges related to other crimes committed by returning foreign fighters.
Swedish law allows courts to try individuals for crimes against international law, even if those crimes were committed abroad.
The United Nations condemns the recruitment and use of children under the age of 15 as soldiers, classifying it as a war crime under international humanitarian law and recognized as such by the International Criminal Court.
