Sweden and France set up joint investigation team for crimes against Yezidis

"The joint efforts will also avoid multiple interviews of the same victims, who have lived through dire circumstances."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/01/07 18:25

Yezidis (Ezidis) at a Kurdistan Region displacement camp mourn loved ones killed or kidnapped by ISIS, Aug. 15, 2020. (Photo: Kirkuk Now)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Judicial authorities in Sweden and France have set up a joint investigation team (JIT) to support proceedings involving international crimes committed by foreign ISIS fighters against Yezidis.

"Eurojust has supported the setting up of the JIT, which will enable the long-term coordination of investigations and the swift sharing of information and evidence," the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) said.

"The joint efforts will also avoid multiple interviews of the same victims, who have lived through dire circumstances."

The main aim of the JIT will be to identify foreign fighters who were involved in core international crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, "primarily perpetrated against members of the Yezidi minority during the armed conflict in Syria and Iraq, in view of potential prosecution."

The JIT will also focus on identifying victims and witnesses of these crimes committed by foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq.

“This is a very important initiative by the EU. It is a little bit late, to be totally honest, but it is a good step,” Pari Ibrahim, Founder and Director of Free Yezidi Foundation, told Kurdistan 24.

“European citizens, men and women, have travelled to join Daesh and committed atrocities as if it was some sort of criminal vacation trip,” she added, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. “They must not return to Europe and escape accountability.”

Ibrahim said that European prosecutors and law enforcement are slowly waking up to the reality of what EU citizens have done abroad and “are beginning to mobilize the forces of justice.“

“Every prosecution for crimes committed against Yezidis is a small victory,“ she said. “We applaud this initiative.”

A German court in November handed a life sentence to Taha Jumailly, an Iraqi who joined ISIS, for genocide against the Yezidi minority in the first verdict worldwide to use the label.

Germany prosecuted Jumailly using the legal principle of "universal jurisdiction," which allows national prosecutors to try war criminals for atrocities they committed abroad.

This applies even if the defendant is not a German citizen, as in this case where the defendant was an Iraqi national.

The United Nations estimates that ISIS killed around 5,000 Yezidi men and forced 7,000 women and girls in Sinjar into sexual slavery.

A UN team investigating ISIS atrocities found "clear and compelling evidence" that the group committed genocide against the Yezidis.