Amsterdam | 11 December 2024 

The verdict in the landmark Hasna A. case was delivered today by the District Court of The Hague at the Schiphol Judicial Complex (JCS). The Court found the defendant guilty on four counts: 

• slavery as a crime against humanity related to the enslavement of a Yazidi woman; 
• membership of a terrorist organisation (ISIS); 
• participation and promotion of terrorist crimes;
• endangerment of her underage son by taking him with her to the so-called ‘caliphate’. 

The Court sentenced the defendant to 10 years of imprisonment, exceeding the 8-year sentence requested by the Prosecutor. The defendant has been given two weeks to file an appeal. 

In its reasoning, the Court underscored the grave nature of the charges, particularly the conviction for slavery as a crime against humanity, recognizing the systematic exploitation and abuse suffered by the Yazidi community under ISIS. 

The Court determined that the defendant’s membership of ISIS is unarguable, and her conscious decision to join ISIS also amounts to a promotion of the terrorist activities committed by ISIS, which is reflected in her conviction on the second count.

Additionally, the defendant has also been found guilty of slavery as a crime against humanity. In its verdict, the Court found that the defendant knowingly contributed to the continued enslavement of a Yazidi woman (referred to as Z.) as she allowed her enslavement to persist despite being fully aware of the atrocities committed against Z and the larger Yazidi community by ISIS. The Court emphasized that slavery as a crime against humanity ranks among the most serious international crimes, which warranted a sentence higher than the Prosecutor’s request. The Court acquitted Hasna A. of the second charge of slavery related to the Yazidi woman (referred to as S.) due to inconsistent statements provided by the defendant. The Court found that the contradictions in her accounts created reasonable doubt, and as a result, there was insufficient evidence to conclusively prove her involvement in the enslavement of S.

Finally, the Court also found the defendant guilty of endangering her underage son by travelling to a war zone in Syria and exposing him to bombings and shellings, leading to adverse physical and mental effects for the child.

About the case

The defendant was Hasna A. a 33 year-old Dutch national from Hengelo, one of twelve Dutch women who were repatriated from detention camps in Northern Syria in late 2022. These camps housed individuals following the fall of ISIS’s self-proclaimed ‘caliphate.’ She had been charged with slavery as a crime against humanity, relating to enslavement of two Yazidi women (Z. & S.), and also faced charges of membership of the terrorist organisation ISIS and for allegedly endangering her underaged son.

This case is historic for being the first case in which an individual is being prosecuted in the Netherlands for crimes committed against the Yazidi community, and marks the first case in the Netherlands concerning slavery as a crime against humanity. The Hasna A. case also underscores the international commitment to seek justice for victims of mass atrocities and reinforces the role of national courts in addressing international crimes.

The Nuhanovic Foundation (NF), together with Yazidi Legal Network (YLN), supported this case by providing logistical aid to the lawyer of the victim, facilitating the participation of witnesses in the proceedings, and supporting the court in facilitating online and physical access. We would also like to thank the District Court of The Hague and the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service for providing a publicly accessible livestream of the Hasna A. case in Kurmanji and Dutch, which significantly enhanced the Yazidi community’s access to this landmark development in their struggle for justice and accountability. Additionally, we urge courts across other jurisdictions to take similar steps to make future cases more accessible to survivor communities.

The full verdict of the Court (in Dutch) can be accessed by clicking here, with an English translation to follow soon: