An Iraqi court has sentenced Asma Fawzi Mohammad, also known as Umm Hudaifa, to death for her involvement with the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) and her role in detaining Yazidi women. Umm Hudaifa was the first wife of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the late leader of the IS, who declared a self-styled caliphate over large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The Al Karkh Criminal Court in Baghdad convicted her of collaborating with IS and holding Yazidi women captive in her home. These women were later subjected to abduction and abuse by IS fighters. The Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq confirmed the sentence, stating that it was in accordance with the country’s anti-terrorism law and the Yazidi survivors law.
Umm Hudaifa was arrested in Turkey in 2018 while living under a false identity and extradited to Iraq in February 2024. During her trial, she denied involvement in the IS’s atrocities, including the kidnapping and enslavement of Yazidi women. Court officials presented evidence of her complicity in these crimes, leading to her conviction and death sentence by hanging.
This ruling comes nearly five years after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who killed himself during a U.S. raid in Syria in 2019. The IS’s brutal campaign against the Yazidis in 2014 resulted in thousands being killed or enslaved, with many women and children subjected to severe abuses. The United Nations has described these actions as genocide and war crimes.
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