The Islamic State’s Enslavement of the Yazidi Minority : An Inquiry into the Female Devotees’ Responsibility

Abstract: The notion of female devotees of the Islamic State (IS) as being naive and submissive companions of their fighting husbands has recently been defied by cases of active women participating in violent atrocities within the Caliphate in Iraq and Syria. Nevertheless, cases of more passive IS-women still exist. Thus, their position within the organization raises important legal questions regarding the assessment of their individual criminal responsibility. A recent German judgment from Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court sparked such queries as a woman was convicted for aiding and abetting a crime against humanity for ha- ving made use of an enslaved Yazidi in her home. The question that arose here- in was whether her act was punishable as enslavement and, in that case, what form of liability that could be attributed to her. This research study inquire into the lives and deeds of the foreign, female IS-devotees who resettled in the organization’s self-proclaimed Caliphate between 2014 and 2019. Specifically, it examines their criminal responsibility for IS’s institutionalized enslavement of the Yazidi minority. The question is whet- her they can be held individually criminally responsible for enslavement as a crime against humanity according to article 7.1(c) of the Rome Statute. The issue is attacked in a three-part way, starting with the establishment of the definition and the parameters of the crime of enslavement through, inter alia, international case law and authoritative guiding documents from e.g. ICC. Subsequently, the IS-women’s role within the Caliphate is clarified through, mainly, interpretation of official reports based on first-hand interviews with survivors, as well as ideological research on IS as an organization. Lastly, the governing law on individual criminal responsibility is settled. The research shows that the women can indeed be held individually crimi- nally responsible for enslavement, for having utilized enslaved workforce in the form of enslaved Yazidi women and girls. They can be convicted for complici- ty, however, it’s unlikely that they can be considered perpetrators, as their con- tribution to the crime can’t be considered ”essential”. Moreover, there is no opportunity to invoke coercion as a ground for excluding criminal responsibility since they have voluntarily joined the terrorist organization and placed themsel- ves in the position they’re in. The main conclusion drawn from this is that the women may hold an, essentially, dual position as both victims and perpetrators but their acts of enslavement is nevertheless criminal and should be punished accordingly.