An Iraqi ISIS couple, Twana HS and Asia RA, have been sentenced in Germany for enslaving, torturing, and repeatedly raping two young Yazidi girls, aged five and 12, in Iraq and Syria between 2015 and 2017. Twana HS received a life sentence, while his wife Asia RA was handed nine-and-a-half years in prison. The couple operated within territory controlled by the Islamic State terror group, according to the Federal Prosecutor's Office and the Higher Regional Court of Munich.
Details of the Crimes
The couple first enslaved a five-year-old Yazidi girl, then later a 12-year-old girl. The victims were treated as property, forced to do gruelling housework, and brainwashed with radical ISIS ideology. They were banned from practicing their faith and forced to follow Islam. Twana HS repeatedly raped both children, with Asia RA fully complicit. Investigators revealed that she actively supported the crimes, even preparing a room and putting makeup on one of the girls before the assaults.
Physical Torture and Punishment
The physical torture was relentless. Twana HS beat the older girl with a broom handle, while Asia RA scalded the younger girl's hand with boiling water. Both children were repeatedly forced to stand on one leg for hours as punishment. When ISIS began losing control of the region in late 2017, the couple fled but passed the girls on to other terror network members instead of freeing them.
Arrest and Trial
The pair evaded justice for years until they were tracked down and arrested in Germany. Asia RA was arrested in Regensburg, and Twana HS in Roth, both in Bavaria. They faced charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The victims are Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority from northern Iraq who have suffered brutal genocide at the hands of ISIS, which has killed hundreds of men, raped women, and forced children into soldier roles.
Precedent in German Courts
This is not the first time German courts have prosecuted ISIS members. In 2023, a German woman, Jennifer W., was sentenced to 14 years by a Munich court for enslaving a five-year-old Yazidi girl and letting her die of thirst. She was initially convicted in October 2021 of crimes against humanity and membership in a terrorist organisation, receiving a 10-year sentence, but the Federal Court of Justice overturned it, citing errors in sentencing. The new hearing ended in August 2023 with a tougher 14-year sentence, and her appeal was rejected as manifestly unfounded.
