IS-wife Sentenced to Death by Iraqi Court – Committed Crimes Against Ezidis

On July 10, 2024, an Iraqi court sentenced Asma Mohamed, one of the wives of the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to death. The court found her guilty of crimes related to the detention and enslavement of Ezidi women, which occurred during the Islamic State’s (ISIS) campaign against the Ezidi people.

The sentencing comes nearly a decade after ISIS launched a brutal offensive against Ezidis in Sinjar, northern Iraq, in August 2014. During this assault, thousands of Ezidis were killed, and many women and girls were subjected to human trafficking and sexual abuse. The United Nations has recognized this campaign against the Ezidis as genocide.

The Karkh Criminal Court, which issued the death sentence, cited Mohamed’s role in detaining Ezidi women in her home and facilitating their kidnapping by ISIS fighters. This ruling was made under Iraq’s anti-terrorism law and the Ezidi Survivors Law.

Asma Mohamed, who was arrested in Turkey in 2018 and later extradited, was identified by court officials but not named in the official statement. The court’s decision must be ratified by an appeals court before it is finalized. The sentencing precedes the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the Ezidi people in Iraq and highlights ongoing efforts to hold those responsible for the atrocities accountable.