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Home > German Federal Court of Justice's First-Ever Genocide Conviction of ISIS Member

German Federal Court of Justice's First-Ever Genocide Conviction of ISIS Member [1]

Blog Name: 
International Law in Brief [2]
Author: 
Justine N. Stefanelli

On January 17, 2023, the German Federal Court of Justice published its judgment [3] [in German only] of November 30, 2022, confirming the November 2021 conviction of Taha A.-J., an ISIS member, for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against Yazidi victims in Fallujah, Iraq. According to a press statement [4] issued by the victim’s counsel, this is the first-ever conviction of an ISIS member for genocide. The Federal Court of Justice held that “. . . the organised enslavement of women and girls, especially in connection with religious re-education […] served to destroy the Yazidis religious minority in order to establish an Islamic caliphate. All in all, the approach was capable of bringing about . . . the (partial) destruction of this group as such.” Taha was sentenced to life in prison. No further appeal is possible. See also a press release [5] in German from the Court.


Source URL: https://www.asil.org/ILIB/german-federal-court-justices-first-ever-genocide-conviction-isis-member

Links
[1] https://www.asil.org/ILIB/german-federal-court-justices-first-ever-genocide-conviction-isis-member
[2] https://www.asil.org/blog-name/international-law-brief
[3] https://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh&Art=en&nr=132381&pos=0&anz=1
[4] https://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/news/german-federal-court-justice-confirms-first-ever-conviction-isis-member-genocide
[5] https://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh&Art=en&Datum=Aktuell&Sort=12288&nr=132299&linked=pm&Blank=1