Belgian court finds Islamic State jihadist guilty of Yazidi genocide

BRUSSELS,— A Brussels court on Thursday issued a conviction against Belgian Islamic State jihadist Sammy Djedou, finding him guilty of genocide committed against the Yazidi minority in Iraq and Syria.

Prosecutors said the case was held in absentia because Belgian authorities never obtained confirmation that he died during a 2016 airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, although the Pentagon had reported his death.

According to information presented in court, Djedou left Belgium in October 2012 and joined the Islamic State group in Syria. He was later connected to operations within the group.

Judges ruled that he participated in actions from 2014 onward that Belgian law identifies as genocide.

They also found him guilty of crimes against humanity for rape and sexual enslavement involving Yazidi women. Two Yazidi survivors testified during the proceedings.

Attorneys said other European courts have heard similar cases. One example mentioned during the hearing was a conviction in Sweden earlier in the year, when a woman received a twelve year sentence for keeping Yazidi women and children as slaves in Syria.

Documents entered into the record stated that Djedou was born in Brussels in August 1989 to a Belgian mother and an Ivorian father. He converted to Islam at age fifteen, according to investigators.

In 2021, a Belgian court sentenced him to thirteen years in prison for leading a terrorist group. In 2022, he was also convicted in a case concerning support structures connected to the November 2015 attacks in Paris, which resulted in 130 deaths. That case did not lead to further prison time.

The following section concerns events that took place in Iraq in 2014 and is not part of the Brussels proceedings.

In August 2014, Islamic State fighters moved into Sinjar (Shingal) district, a region in northwest Iraq where hundreds of thousands of Yazidis lived.

Reports from that period stated that KDP Peshmerga militia forces loyal to then Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani withdrew from the area without resistance. This left Yazidi civilians without protection as Islamic State fighters advanced.

Thousands of Yazidis escaped toward Mount Sinjar and came under siege with no access to food or water.

Many residents were killed or taken. Information from that period said that women and girls were subjected to sexual violence and enslavement, while men and boys were either killed or forced to take part in fighting.

A previously unpublished report from the Kurdistan Regional Government stated that approximately 18,000 Peshmerga fighters under Barzani’s command left their positions during the August 3, 2014 assault.

According to the reports, about 10,000 Yazidis were killed and more than 6,800 women and children were taken captive during the offensive.

The Islamic State assault and the abandonment of the district by the forces under Barzani’s command resulted in one of the most destructive episodes suffered by the Yazidi population.

(With files from AFP | Agencies)