Arabic version: النموذج القانوني الألماني يرشد قضايا تنظيم الدولة الإسلامية في أستراليا
According to ABC News, Australia’s first prosecutions for international crimes linked to Islamic State rule could draw lessons from Germany’s use of universal jurisdiction. The cases come as Yazidi survivors continue to seek accountability for atrocities committed after Islamic State invaded northern Iraq in 2014.
The invasion led to the deaths of 5,000 Yazidis and the abduction of 6,000 women and children, who were forced to convert to Islam and sold into slavery. More than 4,000 Yazidi people are now rebuilding their lives in Australia. University of London international law expert Professor Aldo Zammit-Borda said recognition of the genocide had not been matched by sufficient action to prevent and punish it.
In May, the Australian Federal Police launched prosecutions against Melbourne women Zeinab Ahmad, 31, and Kawsar Ahmad, 54, over allegations connected to Islamic State rule in parts of Syria and Iraq. The AFP alleges the pair were involved in the enslavement of a Yazidi woman in 2017. Both pleaded not guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court at the end of July 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. Kawsar Ahmad also faces charges of purchasing and possessing a slave. Monash University international law expert Dr Monique Cormier described the use of laws introduced in 2002 as a landmark decision, noting that penalties for slavery and enslavement as a crime against humanity can reach 25 years per charge.
Germany has become a leading venue for prosecutions of Islamic State atrocities because its universal-jurisdiction framework can allow international crimes to be tried there regardless of the nationality of the accused or victim, or where the crimes occurred. German lawyer Natalie von Wistinghausen said Iraq and Syria are not parties to the Rome Statute, preventing International Criminal Court prosecutions. In Germany, Taha Al-J was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2021 and Jennifer W received 14 years’ jail in 2024 over the enslavement of a Yazidi mother and her daughter.
Professor Zammit-Borda is also establishing a community-based Truth Commission into the 2014 genocide, planned for Germany in late 2026. Yazidi witnesses who have moved to Australia will be invited to testify.
