Jalda A.
Context
Conviction for international crimes committed in Syria, including the enslavement of a Yazidi woman
Type of jurisdiction
Active personality
Suspect
Jalda A., German and Afghan national
Country of residence of suspect
Germany
Charges
Crimes against humanity of persecution, enslavement and severe deprivation of liberty; aiding and abetting genocide; aiding and abetting the crimes against humanity of rape and causing severe mental harm; aiding and abetting the war crimes of rape, cruel and inhuman treatment and serious bodily harm; and membership in a foreign terrorist organization
Current status
Convicted; sentenced to five and a half years in prison
Facts
According to the indictment, Jalda A. travelled to Syria in April 2014, following her brother who had already joined the Islamic State (ISIS) in February 2014.
After her arrival, she married an ISIS fighter, with whom she lived in several houses that had fallen into the hands of ISIS after the former residents had fled or been driven out. Together they regularly attended public “punishment actions” by ISIS, including stonings. After the birth of their son in February 2015, Jalda A. lived in an ISIS apartment in Raqqa with her first husband, who died in April 2015.
Subsequently, Jalda A. lived as a “second wife” with another ISIS member, before she was married to a third man from September to October 2017, with whom she lived in several accommodations provided by ISIS in Mayadin. Part of the joint household was a 26-year-old Yazidi woman “M” who was enslaved by ISIS in August 2014 when her home village had been conquered. According to thefindingsofthecourt,JaldaA. facilitated her husband’s physical and sexual abuse of M by guarding the woman and preventing her from fleeing. Jalda A. used the Yazidi woman for slave labor and abused her several times over a period of approximately three weeks.
Procedure
After her capture by Kurdish forces at the end of 2017, Jalda A. was placed with her son in the Roj camp near al-Hasakah, where she gave birth to her second son in July 2018. In October 2021, she was transferred with her children to Germany, where she was arrested upon arrival and indicted in April 2022.
On 27 July 2022, the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg found Jalda A. guilty of the crimes against humanity of persecution, enslavement and severe deprivation of liberty; aiding and abetting genocide; aiding and abetting the crimes against humanity of rape and causing severe mental harm; aiding and abetting the war crimes of rape, cruel and inhuman treatment and serious bodily harm; and membership in a foreign terrorist organization. She was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.
