Dutch woman faces 8 years in prison for enslaving Yazidis in Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Prosecutors in the Netherlands asked on Wednesday judges to sentence a 33-year-old Dutch woman, Hasna Aarab, to eight years in prison for her involvement with the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and the enslavement of two Yazidi women.
The sentence was based on Aarab’s involvement in crimes against humanity between 2015 and 2016, during the ISIS era in Raqqa, northern Syria.
Aarab, who moved to ISIS-controlled Raqqa with her young son and her ISIS militant husband in 2015, is accused of enslaving two Yazidi women during her time in Syria.
One of the victims, referred to as Z., testified in the district court in The Hague, stating that Aarab played a role in the broader ISIS enslavement of Yazidis, including her own two daughters who were kept as domestic slaves in other households.
“I burned inside when I saw her with her son while I did not have my own children around me,” Z. told the court, as Aarab tearfully listened.
Hasna Aarab denied the charges, claiming she did not actively participate in the enslavement and that the Yazidi victims were lying when they accused her of giving orders and forcing them to pray.
The court has yet to set a date for the final judgment.