War crimes charges brought for letting a Yazidi girl die of thirst
Published: 01 June 2019 Author: Stefan Talmon DOI: 10.17176/20220113-144731-0
On 9 April 2019 the first-ever war crimes trial against a member of the “Islamic State” started before the Higher Regional Court of Munich. The Federal Prosecutor alleges that Jennifer Wenisch, a German national, joined the decision-making and command structure of the foreign terrorist organization Islamic State (“IS”) in Iraq in September 2014. From June to September 2015, she patrolled parks in IS-occupied Fallujah and Mossul as a member of the IS morality police, enforcing rules of conduct and dress code for women. In order to intimidate she carried a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a pistol and an explosives vest. For her services she received a monthly salary from the Islamic State of some US$70 to 100. According to the indictment, it was during the summer of 2015 that the accused and her husband “bought a five-year old [Yazidi] girl out of a group of prisoners of war and subsequently kept the child in their household as a slave.” After the girl fell ill and wet her mattress, the husband of the accused chained her up outside as punishment and let the child die an agonizing death of thirst in scorching heat. The accused allowed her husband to do so and did nothing to save the girl. (more…)