A Swedish court on Tuesday sentenced a woman to 12 years in prison after convicting her of human rights violations, war crimes, and the enslavement of Yazidis in Syria.
The court ruled that Lynn Isaac, 52, a Swedish citizen, was guilty of enslaving and committing grave crimes against humanity against Yazidis in 2015. It stated that Isaac subjected nine Yazidis to slavery, including six children at the time.
The ruling emphasized that this crime was part of a broader campaign carried out by ISIS against Yazidis in Syria and Iraq during its control over vast territories in both countries.
According to the court, Lynn Isaac held the nine Yazidis in captivity and treated them as slaves and captives for over five months.
The verdict marks the first of its kind regarding crimes and violations committed by ISIS members or their affiliates against Yazidis between 2014 and 2019.
In August 2014, ISIS—designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, European nations, and several Asian countries—launched an assault on Sinjar, a Yazidi-majority region in Nineveh province, northern Iraq. During this attack, ISIS militants perpetrated genocidal crimes against the Yazidi population.
As of last year, Iraqi authorities identified 93 mass graves believed to contain the remains of Yazidi victims, with 32 graves still unopened in Sinjar and Al-Ba’aj.
Among the thousands of Yazidis still unaccounted for, the remains of about 700 individuals have been recovered. However, only 243 have been identified and returned to their families.
The United Nations estimates that ISIS left behind over 200 mass graves, potentially holding the remains of 12,000 victims.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
