Next week, the French-speaking Assize Court in Brussels will begin what is expected to be a historic trial. The accused, Belgian IS fighter Sammy Djedou, also known by several aliases, will be tried in absentia for his role in the atrocities committed against the Ezidi people. Djedou left Belgium for Syria in 2012 and has never returned. If he is still alive, he is now 35 years old.
The charges are among the gravest possible under international law: genocide, murder, and the rape and sexual enslavement of Ezidi women, including minors, between 2014 and 2016. Three survivors, now in their late twenties, will participate as civil parties, traveling from Germany and France to testify. Their courage will bring the human reality of these crimes into the courtroom, a reminder that behind every charge and legal term are the lives shattered by ISIS’s campaign of terror.
This trial marks Belgium’s first case concerning the genocide of the Ezidis. In Europe, other countries have already confronted these crimes in their courts: Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden have held similar trials, and France is expected to do so in 2027. Experts highlight that genocide encompasses not only the mass murder of men but also the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war and the exploitation of children as soldiers — all tactics that defined ISIS’s campaign against the Ezidi people.
While the trial of Djedou is an important step in recognizing the crimes committed, the fact that he will be tried in absentia underscores a painful reality: justice for the Ezidi people remains slow, partial, and often symbolic. The survivors who will testify carry the weight of a genocide that is still unfolding in memory and ongoing displacement. Thousands of Ezidis remain missing, their fates unrecorded, their families awaiting closure that may never fully come.
Yet even as the trial begins, it represents more than one individual’s prosecution. It is part of a broader struggle to document the genocide, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to ensure that the world cannot deny what happened. Trials like this are fragile but essential reminders that the Ezidi people’s suffering is not forgotten and that those responsible, even if absent, can still face the long arm of justice.
Belgium now joins the growing list of European countries confronting their citizens’ roles in ISIS crimes. But this trial also raises questions about the limits of legal accountability. While Djedou’s prosecution may provide a sense of recognition for survivors, it cannot undo what was lost, nor can it restore the lives disrupted by genocide. True justice will require sustained international attention, support for survivors, and a commitment to preserving the memory of the Ezidi people and their resilience in the face of targeted annihilation.
