Justice for Yazidi survivors of ISIS. Persecution in Germany

2019/08/89456-1565760279.jpg
Read: 1135     10:30     14 Август 2019    

Extremist group "IG" tried to destroy the Yazidis. Many thousands have died, and the survivors tell terrible stories of abuse and enslavement. Now the German investigators took up the fight for justice. Mathias von Hein.

“Germany should not be a safe haven for war criminals." This is a sentence that police inspector Klaus Zorn repeats several times with a conviction. He and his team are determined to gather as much evidence as possible ready to be used for any future prosecution.

Zorn is also investigating terrorism. He is the Deputy head of the war crimes unit, more formally known as the Central office for the suppression of war crimes under International criminal law (ZBKV). Currently, the detective and his colleagues are busy collecting evidence of the last genocide in history: the mass murder of Yazidis (IG).

The crimes in question were committed five years ago in Northern Iraq, almost 3,200 kilometers from the city. In early August 2014, is militants attacked Yazidis, before the attack about 500,000 Yazidis lived around their sacred mountain Sinjar, which is located between the regional metropolis Mosul in the West and the Syrian border in the East. Brand Yazidis "unbelievers”and "develop economic". Jihadists systematically and ruthlessly attacked them.

Clear case of genocide

Almost 10,000 people – mostly men and boys over the age of 12 – were killed. More than 70 mass graves were found in the region. About 7,000 Yazidi women and children were abducted, sold into slavery, abused and raped. Hundreds of thousands fled-and only a few now dare to return home. Many survivors remain traumatized. This is particularly true of the approximately 3,500 women and children who have been able to escape their enslavement and who are now important witnesses of these atrocities.

For the well-known international criminal lawyer Lars Berster from the University of Cologne, the case is crystal clear: the actions of the is against the Yazidis constitute genocide. The decisive factor, he said, is the purpose of the criminals: “they must seek to destroy a national, ethnic or religious group, in whole or in part, and this " intention to destroy was very noticeable.”

In Germany, the international criminal code entered into force in June 2002. According to its provisions, the German judicial system could always prosecute crimes under international law, such as the Yazidis genocide, even if they had not been committed on German territory and neither the perpetrators nor the victims were German.

Ezidi 24





Tags: #yazidisinfo   #ezidi   #yazidi  



Justice for Yazidi survivors of ISIS. Persecution in Germany

2019/08/89456-1565760279.jpg
Read: 1136     10:30     14 Август 2019    

Extremist group "IG" tried to destroy the Yazidis. Many thousands have died, and the survivors tell terrible stories of abuse and enslavement. Now the German investigators took up the fight for justice. Mathias von Hein.

“Germany should not be a safe haven for war criminals." This is a sentence that police inspector Klaus Zorn repeats several times with a conviction. He and his team are determined to gather as much evidence as possible ready to be used for any future prosecution.

Zorn is also investigating terrorism. He is the Deputy head of the war crimes unit, more formally known as the Central office for the suppression of war crimes under International criminal law (ZBKV). Currently, the detective and his colleagues are busy collecting evidence of the last genocide in history: the mass murder of Yazidis (IG).

The crimes in question were committed five years ago in Northern Iraq, almost 3,200 kilometers from the city. In early August 2014, is militants attacked Yazidis, before the attack about 500,000 Yazidis lived around their sacred mountain Sinjar, which is located between the regional metropolis Mosul in the West and the Syrian border in the East. Brand Yazidis "unbelievers”and "develop economic". Jihadists systematically and ruthlessly attacked them.

Clear case of genocide

Almost 10,000 people – mostly men and boys over the age of 12 – were killed. More than 70 mass graves were found in the region. About 7,000 Yazidi women and children were abducted, sold into slavery, abused and raped. Hundreds of thousands fled-and only a few now dare to return home. Many survivors remain traumatized. This is particularly true of the approximately 3,500 women and children who have been able to escape their enslavement and who are now important witnesses of these atrocities.

For the well-known international criminal lawyer Lars Berster from the University of Cologne, the case is crystal clear: the actions of the is against the Yazidis constitute genocide. The decisive factor, he said, is the purpose of the criminals: “they must seek to destroy a national, ethnic or religious group, in whole or in part, and this " intention to destroy was very noticeable.”

In Germany, the international criminal code entered into force in June 2002. According to its provisions, the German judicial system could always prosecute crimes under international law, such as the Yazidis genocide, even if they had not been committed on German territory and neither the perpetrators nor the victims were German.

Ezidi 24





Tags: #yazidisinfo   #ezidi   #yazidi