An Iraqi court has sentenced one of the widows of the late Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to death for her role in crimes against Yazidi women. The woman, identified as Asma Mohammed, was accused of detaining Yazidi women in her home and facilitating their kidnapping by ISIS in Sinjar district. This ruling comes ahead of the 10-year anniversary of IS attacks against the Yazidi minority, which the UN deemed as genocide.
The Iraqi government’s decision to wind down a UN investigation of IS crimes has sparked criticism from survivors and human rights groups. Concerns have been raised about the lack of due process and mass executions of alleged IS members in Iraq. Rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have urged Iraq to abolish the death penalty.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared ISIS’s caliphate in 2014, but was killed in a US raid in 2019. The militant group has lost control of its territories, but remnants still pose a threat with sporadic attacks.