Sweden sentences IS woman to 12 years for enslaving Yazidis

Sweden sentences IS woman to 12 years for enslaving Yazidi women and children — Lina Ishaq, an ISIS woman from Sweden, is shown in this old photo from when she was younger. Now 52 years old, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison for keeping Yazidi women and children as slaves in Syria while involved with the Islamic State group, Fabruary 11, 2025. Photo: Swedish media

STOCKHOLM,— A Swedish court sentenced a 52-year-old woman to 12 years in prison on Tuesday for genocide, marking the country’s first trial over crimes committed by the Islamic State (IS) group against the Yazidi minority.

Lina Ishaq, a Swedish citizen, was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and serious war crimes for keeping Yazidi women and children as slaves in her home in Syria during the winter and spring of 2015.

The court ruled that her actions were part of IS’s broader campaign against the Yazidi people, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority targeted by the Islamist extremist group.

Initially, the court determined that her crimes warranted a 16-year sentence. However, after considering a previous conviction, her sentence was reduced to 12 years.

Ishaq was already serving a six-year prison term handed down by a Swedish court in 2022 for allowing her 12-year-old son to be recruited as a child soldier for IS.

The ruling comes weeks after the Swiss Parliament officially recognized IS crimes against the Yazidis as genocide on December 17, 2024.

The Islamic State launched a large-scale assault on Sinjar (Shingal) in northwest Iraq in August 2014, a region home to hundreds of thousands of Yazidis.

In the days leading up to the attack, forces from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by then-Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani, withdrew from the area without resistance. The sudden retreat left Yazidi civilians defenseless against IS fighters, who carried out mass killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence.

As IS militants advanced, thousands of Yazidi families fled to Mount Sinjar, where they were trapped without food or water. Those who remained behind faced brutal executions, systematic sexual slavery, and forced recruitment. Women and girls were sold in slave markets, while men and boys were murdered or forced into servitude for IS.

An unpublished report by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) revealed that 18,000 KDP Peshmerga fighters were stationed in Sinjar at the time of the attack but withdrew without mounting a defense, leaving Yazidis at the mercy of IS.

The genocide resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000 Yazidis over several days, while 6,800 others were abducted. Though thousands have since been rescued, around 3,000 Yazidis remain missing, according to official figures.

The failure of Barzani’s forces to protect the Yazidis led to widespread outrage and condemnation. Many Yazidis, Kurdish politicians, and human rights advocates hold Massoud Barzani—who was commander-in-chief of the KDP Peshmerga—responsible for the massacre.

Before 2014, Iraq was home to about 600,000 Yazidis, most of whom lived in Nineveh Province and the Kurdistan Region. When IS took over large parts of Nineveh, an estimated 360,000 Yazidis managed to flee.

Many have since resettled in displacement camps or emigrated, particularly to Germany, which now hosts one of the largest Yazidi diasporas.

Yazidis, whose religion has ties to ancient Mesopotamian beliefs, Zoroastrianism, and Sufism, were viewed as heretics by IS. The attack on their community was part of a deliberate attempt to erase their identity, an act now widely recognized as genocide.

Despite years of international investigations, justice for the Yazidis remains slow. Survivors continue to demand accountability, not only for IS fighters but also for those in positions of power who abandoned them in their time of need.

(With files from AFP | AP | Reuters| Agencies)