Sammy Djedou, reported killed in a 2016 airstrike, faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for the systematic persecution of the Yazidi minority in Syria and Iraq.
(BRUSSELS) – In a landmark legal proceeding, Belgium opened its first trial for genocide against the Yazidi minority on Thursday, prosecuting a Belgian ISIS fighter who is presumed dead but is being tried in absentia.
The defendant, Sammy Djedou, was reported killed by the Pentagon in a 2016 airstrike in Raqqa, Syria. However, in the absence of formal confirmation of his death, Belgian authorities have proceeded with a trial, accusing him of participating in the Islamic State’s campaign to exterminate the Yazidis.
Djedou, previously convicted in Belgium on terrorism charges, now faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, specifically for the rape and sexual enslavement of Yazidi women. The case centers on three identified victims, two of whom were minors at the time of the alleged crimes between 2014 and 2016.
The trial, expected to last a week, will hear powerful testimony from the victims, two of whom are formal plaintiffs. Their accounts will detail the systematic persecution faced by the Yazidi community, which the United Nations has classified as genocide.
According to the investigation, Djedou, a Brussels native who converted to Islam and joined ISIS in Syria in 2012, rose to become a senior figure in the group’s external operations unit. Prosecutors argue that ISIS “institutionalized the sexual enslavement of Yazidi women,” turning it into a perverse form of commerce.
The case relies on evidence gathered by journalists and NGOs from former ISIS territories, highlighting the challenges of prosecuting international crimes committed in conflict zones. The trial represents a significant step in the long quest for justice for the thousands of Yazidis who were killed, enslaved, and displaced by the terrorist group.
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