French ISIS militant to face trial for crimes against Yazidis
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A French Islamic State (ISIS) militant is set to stand trial in Paris for charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, primarily targeting Yazidi women and children, an NGO said on Wednesday.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) stated that French national Sabri Essid, also known as Abou Dojanah al-Faransi, who is believed to have died in Syria, faces accusations related to atrocities committed while he joined ISIS.
The FIDH added the investigative judges of the Paris War Crimes Unit issued the order on Oct. 8, following a lengthy investigation.
The charges stem from a series of brutal crimes carried out between August 2014 and 2016, during which Essid inflicted serious physical and mental harm on Yazidi victims.
These crimes included enslavement, imprisonment, torture, rape, and other inhumane acts constituting crimes against humanity, committed against Yezidi women and children.
The French courts issued an arrest warrant for Essid on Feb. 11, 2020.
“Given the absence of an investigation by the International Criminal Court, national courts are currently the only avenue for justice available to Yezidi victims who have suffered horror at the hands of ISIS jihadists, including French nationals,” said Bahzad Fahran, founder of the NGO Kinyat, which has collected thousands of testimonies from Yazidi survivors.
The judicial process was initiated in 2016 by FIDH and Kinyat, with the goal of ensuring that the crimes committed by ISIS militants against the Yazidis are prosecuted as international crimes rather than merely acts of terrorism.