More Than 4,000 Yazidis Now Live in Australia, But Their Pursuit of Justice Has Been Hampered by a Lack of Prosecutions

Australia is poised to follow Germany's lead in prosecuting ISIS members for the genocide of the Yazidi people, as landmark cases move through the courts. The Islamic State's 2014 invasion of northern Iraq killed 5,000 Yazidis and abducted 6,000 women and children, who were forced to convert to Islam and sold into slavery. More than 4,000 Yazidis now live in Australia, but their pursuit of justice has been hampered by a lack of prosecutions.

"Yazidi people in Australia and around the world exist in a state of recognition without redress, said Professor Aldo Zammit-Borda, an international law expert at the University of London. "A large number of states have recognised the genocide against the Yazidi people, including Australia; however, they have taken very little action to live up to their legal obligations to prevent and punish genocide. The return of ISIS-linked families in May has heightened anxieties among Yazidis, who fear sharing communities with Australians accused of joining the terrorist group.

"There could be the scenario where you have ISIS members walking freely alongside their victims in Australia or elsewhere, and that's an incredibly worrying and concerning situation, Dr Zammit-Borda told 7.30. "Without evidence of the crimes that they have committed, it is impossible to stop them, to even prosecute them. In May, the Australian Federal Police launched landmark prosecutions against Melbourne women Zeinab Ahmad, 31, and her mother Kawsar Ahmad, 54, over crimes allegedly committed during IS rule in Syria and Iraq. The alleges the pair were involved in the enslavement of a Yazidi woman in 2017, who was captured by IS in northern Iraq years earlier.

At the end of July, both entered not guilty pleas in the Melbourne Magistrates Court and were committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria. They are the first Australians charged with international crimes, including crimes against humanity and using a slave, and in Kawsar's case, purchasing and possessing a slave. Dr Monique Cormier, an international law expert at Monash University, called the charges a "landmark decision" for Australia.

Until recently, the charged returning ISIS fighters with terrorism offences, but in these cases prosecutors have used laws introduced in 2002. "We upgraded all of our laws to include genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, Dr Cormier said. "Until very recently, they've never been used. "We're looking at about a maximum of 10 years in prison for terrorism offences, whereas for the slavery and the enslavement as a crime against humanity offences, [the] potential accused could be looking at up to 25 years in prison per charge.

The pair were among Australian citizens who had been living in the Al-Roj internment camp in north-east Syria since the fall of the caliphate. Kawsar's legal team said she had begun divorce proceedings against her husband, accused IS fighter Mohammad Ahmad. During Zeinab's bail application, her uncle Abraham Abbas told the court, "I hate those bastards.

Zeinab was refused bail, but Kawsar was released. Although IS committed atrocities in Iraq and Syria, few perpetrators have faced prosecution there. Much of the accountability effort has shifted to Europe, where countries like Germany have used universal jurisdiction laws to prosecute returning ISIS members.

"The International Criminal Court (ICC) can't prosecute these crimes because Iraq and Syria haven't signed up to the Rome statute, which would be a prerequisite for the ICC to get involved, German lawyer Natalie von Wistinghausen said. She added that Yazidis "want justice and they won't get justice in their own country, so the only possibility they have at the moment is before national courts, and they are asking for accountability.