THE HAGUE: A Dutch court Wednesday sentenced a woman to 10 years prison for keeping a woman from the Yazidi minority as a slave after joining the Daesh group in Syria.
The court in The Hague convicted the 33-year-old from Hengelo in eastern Netherlands, identified as Hasna A, for “enslavement, membership of a terrorist organization, promoting terrorist crimes, and endangering her young son.”
She traveled to Syria in 2015 with her son, aged four at the time, the court said. She married an Daesh fighter and had children with him.
Between May to October 2015, she lived with another Daesh fighter, who kept a Yazidi woman as a slave.
Hasna A. made the Yazidi woman do household chores for her and look after her son, the court ruled.
In 2014, Daesh swept across swathes of Iraq, carrying out horrific violence against the Kurdish-speaking Yazidis, whose non-Muslim faith the extremists considered heretical.
The jihadists massacred thousands of men and abducted thousands of women and girls as sex slaves.
Hasna A enslaved the Yazidi woman knowing that her actions contributed to the “widespread and systematic attack on the Yazidi community,” the court said.
“The court holds this against the suspect very seriously. Crimes against humanity such as these are among the most serious international crimes there are,” judges said.
According to public broadcaster NOS, Hasna A was repatriated in November 2022 to the Netherlands from a Syrian prison camp with 11 other Dutch women and their 28 children.
The women were arrested upon arrival in the Netherlands.
Dutchwoman gets 10 years for enslaving Yazidi
https://arab.news/yhvpu
Dutchwoman gets 10 years for enslaving Yazidi
- The court in The Hague convicted the 33-year-old from Hengelo in eastern Netherlands
- Hasna A. made the Yazidi woman do household chores for her and look after her son, the court ruled
Ceasefire with Kurdish-led force extended for another 15 days, Syrian army says
- The defense ministry said the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants to Iraq
- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension
RAQQA, Syria: Hours after the expiration of a four-day truce between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led fighters Saturday, Syria’s defense ministry announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
The defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension.
“Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability,” the group said in a statement.
Over the past three weeks, there have been intense clashes between government forces and the SDF, in which the SDF lost large parts of the area they once controlled.
Earlier in the day, the Kurdish-led force called on the international community to prevent any escalation.
The end of the truce came as government forces have been sending reinforcements to Syria’s northeast.
Syria’s interim government signed an agreement last March with the SDF for it to hand over territory and to eventually merge its fighters with government forces. In early January, a new round of talks failed to make progress over the merger, leading to renewed fighting between the two sides.
A new version of the accord was signed last weekend, and a four-day ceasefire was declared Tuesday. Part of the new deal is that SDF members will have to merge into the army and police forces as individuals.
The SDF said in a statement Saturday that military buildups and logistical movements by government forces have been observed, “clearly indicating an intent to escalate and push the region toward a new confrontation.” The SDF said it will continue to abide by the truce.
On Saturday, state TV said authorities on Saturday released 126 boys under the age of 18 who were held at the Al-Aqtan prison near the northern city of Raqqa that was taken by government forces Friday. The teenagers were taken to the city of Raqqa where they were handed over to their families, the TV station said.
The prison is also home to some of the 9,000 members of the Daesh group who are held in northeastern Syria. Most of them remain held in jails run by the SDF. Government forces have so far taken control of two prisons while the rest are still run by the SDF.
Earlier this week, the US military said that some 7,000 Daesh detainees will be transferred to detention centers in neighboring Iraq.
On Wednesday, the US military said that 150 prisoners have been taken to Iraq.
