An ISIS couple has received significant jail sentences in Germany for crimes including enslavement and rape against two Yazidi girls, aged five and 12. The convictions stem from actions that occurred between 2015 and 2017 in areas controlled by the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
Twana HS was sentenced to life imprisonment, while his wife, Asia RA, received a nine-and-a-half-year sentence. Both were arrested by German authorities in April 2024. They faced charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
Prosecutors stated that the couple enslaved the two Yazidi girls, forcing them to perform household chores and indoctrinating them with ISIS ideology. The girls were allegedly prevented from practicing their own religion and compelled to follow Islam. Twana HS is accused of repeatedly raping both girls, with his wife reportedly facilitating these assaults by preparing a room and applying makeup to one of the victims.
The couple also subjected the girls to abuse, including Twana HS beating the older girl with a broom handle and Asia RA scalding the younger girl's hand with hot water. Both girls were also reportedly punished by being made to stand on one leg for extended periods.
After ISIS lost territory in late 2017, the couple fled the region but did not release the children. Instead, they handed the girls over to other members of the terror organization. The couple was later arrested in Bavaria, Germany, with Asia RA apprehended in Regensburg and Twana HS in Roth.
The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking ethno-religious minority primarily from northern Iraq, who have been systematically persecuted by ISIS. This persecution has included mass killings, widespread rape of women, and the forced recruitment of children.
In a separate case, a German woman identified as Jennifer W. was sentenced in 2023 to 14 years in prison for enslaving a five-year-old Yazidi girl who subsequently died of thirst. Initially given a 10-year sentence, her term was increased after an appeal court found that sentencing errors had been made and aggravating circumstances were overlooked. Her appeal against the 14-year sentence was rejected as unfounded.