The Netherlands is taking steps to prosecute crimes committed against Yazidis.
Prosecute As a Dutch citizen faces jail for Yazidi enslavement, the Yazidi community hails it as “the beginning of our path to justice.”
Last November, twelve Dutch women and their children were repatriated to the Netherlands from camps in northeast Syria for foreigners suspected of being affiliated with the armed group ISIL (ISIS).
They were arrested on terrorism-related charges.
Hasna Aarab, a Dutch woman from Hengelo in the Netherlands’ east, was among those repatriated. According to Dutch prosecutors, she was primarily detained for travelling to Syria with her four-year-old son in 2015 to marry a Moroccan ISIL fighter.
They also intend to charge her with enslaving a Yazidi woman, a crime against humanity.
In February, Aarab’s case was heard in a district court in The Hague. Dutch prosecutors have been investigating the case since then, which is still in the pre-trial stage.
“Hasna A has yet to appear in court in this case, but she has been represented by her lawyers, who stated that she had a Yazidi woman living in the house but did not work for her.” So they said Hasna A did not enslave a Yazidi,” Dutch Public Prosecution Service spokesperson Brechtje van de Moosdijk told Arab news.
According to Moosdijk, Aarab and the other women are being held in a women’s prison in the country’s east.
With this case, the Netherlands has joined Germany as the second European country to prosecute crimes against Yazidis.
Persecution for centuries
For centuries, the Ottomans, Arabs, and, most recently, ISIL have persecuted the Yazidis for their religious beliefs.
“We are a predominantly Kurdish-speaking religious minority that has been the victim of war crimes because our faith is widely misunderstood,” Wahhab Hassoo, co-director of NL Helpt Yezidis, a Dutch organization fighting for the community’s rights, told Arab news.
“Our religion is Mesopotamian in origin and is linked to nature.” We pray to Tawusî Melek, who the peacock represents. So, because we pray to a ‘peacock angel,’ we’ve been dubbed ‘devil worshippers,'” he continues.
Because they regard the mountain valleys of Lalish and Sinjar as sacred, most Yazidis have primarily lived in northwest Iraq’s mountainous regions. Others resided in Turkey, Armenia, and Syria.
However, when ISIL took control of major Iraqi cities in 2014, thousands were killed and enslaved, forcing many community members to live in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Syria and Iraq. Some also sought refuge in other parts of the world.
“I can confirm to the [UN Security] Council that based on our independent criminal investigations, UNITAD has established clear and convincing evidence that ISIL committed genocide against the Yazidi as a religious group,” Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, special adviser and head of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITED), said in May 2021.
In July 2021, the Netherlands also recognized the Yazidi genocide and began taking concrete steps to prosecute crimes against community members.
According to the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, the Netherlands joined an international investigation into atrocities committed against Yazidis in Syria and Iraq last month, along with Belgium (Eurojust).
Is it too late to Prosecute?
According to the European Commission for Home Affairs, more than 5,000 people from EU countries such as Belgium, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Finland, and Denmark travelled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIL between 2011 and 2016.
According to Mubin Shaikh, a counterterrorism expert, while half of them have returned since the group’s demise in 2019, European legal systems have struggled to manage the judicial aspects of the ISIL files and have been “dragging their feet” in prosecuting ISIL crimes committed by European citizens.
“Europe has not stood firm on existing laws and has not given their citizens who joined ISIL the sentences they deserve.” The ISIL brides are being treated as victims rather than perpetrators, and their sentences are being reduced. “Give them 20 years, just like the United States does with ISIL brides,” he said.
“The bigger story, I believe, is why are European nations sending a message to ISIL that says, ‘hey, sorry, we can’t even prosecute your people?'” Shaikh stated.
Members of the Yazidi community feel the same way.
“It has been nine years since ISIL murdered and raped their way through Sinjar, using enslavement and sexual violence as a premeditated weapon to annihilate the Yazidi people,” said Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman, Nobel Peace Prize winner and president of Nadia’s Initiative.
“While I am pleased that countries such as the Netherlands and Germany have accepted responsibility for their ISIS fighters, this should have happened much sooner.” Because the world has been slow to act, women and girls face horrific sexual violence in conflict zones. “One or two prosecutions will not deter,” said Murad, kidnapped by ISIL fighters in 2014 and sold as a sex slave.
Meanwhile, Hassoo stated there is a general lack of understanding about who the Yazidis are in Europe, resulting in a slow response to prosecuting crimes against the community.
“In collaboration with someone who survived the Holocaust, I began giving lectures and lessons about the Yazidi genocide in primary schools, universities, businesses, and even government institutions and ministries.” We believe that education, both as a Yazidi and as an organization, is an effective way to raise awareness about what has happened to us and to build the case for justice,” he said.
So far, a German court has sentenced a woman to more than nine years in prison for crimes against Yazidis.
To prosecute further, Moosdijk claims that Germany has more universal jurisprudence than the Netherlands.
“In order to be prosecuted in the Netherlands, the perpetrator must be Dutch or be present on Dutch soil.” However, there is contact between many European countries; they meet regularly to discuss dealing with such cases, and experiences are shared. “However, each country has its own legal system,” she explained.
When asked if Aarab’s nationality could be revoked if she is found guilty, Moosdijk said it was not up to the prosecutor to make that decision. According to her, it can only happen if the defendant has dual nationality.
What comes next?
The next pre-trial hearing in Aarab’s case is scheduled for September 22, and the prosecution has stated that there are sufficient serious indications of the slavery charges to keep the suspect in custody.
“I believe this is only the beginning of our journey to justice, but I’m glad the hearings have begun.” “It means a lot to our community,” said Hassan.
According to Murad, this case is also significant for every Yazidi who has survived abuse.
“I hear from survivors always that they want their abusers to face justice. “Knowing that not only are these people removed from a society where they could cause further harm, but also that the legal system has acknowledged their ordeal,” she said.
“I am personally indebted to the lawyers and teams who are actively pursuing perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence.” “However, more countries must follow Germany and the Netherlands in taking responsibility for their citizens who committed genocide and sexual violence,” Murad said.
“We’d also like to see more help for survivors.” They are traumatized; many have lost entire families, their homes, homelands, and any sense of economic security. They cannot be left in refugee and IDP camps indefinitely,” she added.
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