09/23/2020

Verdict against IS returnee

German justice system must prosecute crimes (Press Release)

A verdict against the suspected German IS returnee Jennifer W. is expected for next Friday, September 25. The trial is taking place at the Higher Regional Court in Munich. The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) demanded that IS members should not only be prosecuted according to § 129b of the German criminal code (Strafgesetzbuch), which refers to membership in a terrorist organization abroad. Rather, it would also be necessary to prosecute concrete crimes in connection with the genocide against the ethnic group of the Yazidis and members of other minorities in Iraq and Syria. During her time in the terror caliphate, the accused is said to have watched inactively as a five-year-old enslaved Yazidi girl died of thirst. However, she will not have to answer for this crime.

"The German government must no longer show consideration for NATO partner Turkey. It should take up direct contact with the autonomous administration in northern Syria," demanded Dr. Kamal Sido, Middle East Consultant of the STP. "Through this contact, the German judiciary could directly investigate against the IS members and collect evidence of genocide crimes. We owe this to the members of the minority groups of the Yazidis, the Christians, Kurds, and Shiites, and to all other victims of IS violence". Even Sunni Muslims who reject the strict Islamic Sharia laws expect Germany and Europe to take a clear stance against radical Islam.

"Direct contacts with the Kurdish-led autonomous self-government in northern Syria are essential to monitor the situation in the prisons and camps where IS members and their families are held," Sido said. "This is the only way to ensure that no perpetrators are released. The attacks and other actions of NATO state Turkey were aimed at destabilizing northern Syria and at strengthening the radical Islamist forces," he emphasized. "Due to the Turkish attacks on northern Syria and the widespread corruption in the region, there is a danger that individual IS members from northern Syria could return to Europe and Germany via Turkey to try and threaten peaceful life here," Sido fears.

The victims of Islamic State's reign of terror in Syria and Iraq, especially the minorities, expect a clear policy in dealing with this group – and with all other radical Islamist militias in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. "Also, the federal government should speak a clear language to Erdogan's government, which continues to provide weapons and financial support to the militia groups," Sido emphasized. "At the special EU summit on Thursday, the German EU presidency should press for sanctions – not only against Lukashenko's regime in Belarus, but also against its NATO partner Turkey. Erdogan must no longer react to the Kurdish people's demands for freedom and democracy with terror and war." Turkey's threats of war against neighboring states such as Cyprus, Greece, and Armenia must end as well.