Da’esh / Islamic State
investigation | cases supported | assistance to justice actors | analysis and case building | capacity Building
CIJA has been investigating Da’esh (Islamic State) in Syria since early 2014 when it established a dedicated Da’esh Crimes Team of investigators. By the beginning of 2015, CIJA expanded this investigation to the territory of Iraq where it operated with the approval of the Kurdistan Regional Government. On 31 March 2021, CIJA concluded its flagship investigation into Da’esh crimes in Iraq, having transferred its evidence archive to the Kurdish Regional Government and UNITAD.
INVESTIGATION
CIJA investigators have salvaged a wide range of Da’esh-related material including foreign fighter passports, computer hardware, recruitment forms, and other organisational documents, preserving over 59,000 pages of documents in its dedicated Da’esh archive. In addition to original documentation and digital material, CIJA has interviews over 2,600 witnesses within Syria, Iraq and neighbouring countries, including victims, suspected Da’esh members in detention, their family members, and other witnesses with direct knowledge of the terrorist organisation and its crimes.
cases that cija has supported
CIJA’s work has been instrumental in achieving convictions across several jurisdictions holding Da’esh fighters accountable for a range of international and transnational criminal offenses.
Zoher J.: convicted in Munich, Germany in March 2019, for the provision of material support to a terrorist organisation, in Aleppo, Syria. Sentenced to seven years imprisonment and three additional years of parole. The Court found that Zuhair had held a leadership role in the Aleppo-based battalion (katiba) ‘Mohamed Ibn Abdullah’ from November 2012, also noting that the battalion was later affiliated with Jabhat al Nusra and the Islamic State. During the trial, CIJA personnel offered several days of testimony. CIJA Executive Director Bill Wiley, testified to CIJA’s objectives, structures and working methods. More importantly, the key witness in the case, a CIJA field investigator based in Syria, addressed questions regarding the individual criminal responsibility of Zuhair.
Oussama Achraf Akhlafa: convicted in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in July 2019, for the war crime of outrages against personal dignity and membership of a terrorist organisation in Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria between 2014-2016. The verdict constituted the first conviction within Europe of a former Da’esh fighter for war crimes. CIJA supported the Dutch prosecutors in charge of the case with a series of evidentiary materials, including the submission of a detailed analytical report.
Sarah O.: convicted in Dusseldorf, Germany on 16 June 2021 under the German juvenile justice framework for crimes against humanity of assault, deprivation of liberty, aiding and abetting rape, enslavement and religious and gender-based persecution as well as membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, for offences carried out in Raqqa, Syria. Her conviction was upheld on appeal. CIJA responded to one RFA, providing a contextual report of the IS slave trade, its modus operandi in Raqqa, and the role of German IS members and submitted one proactive report to German authorities detailing newly-received evidence related to criminality perpetrated by an individual bearing the kunya reportedly used by the accused and her husband.
Sami AS.: convicted in Dusseldorf, Germany on 26 August 2021, for aiding and abetting a war crime of killing, aiding and abetting the murder of a person and participation of a terrorist organisation abroad, and sentenced to 9 years imprisonment. As a member of Jabhat al-Nusra, Sami A.S was responsible for creating a propaganda video of the execution of a captured Syrian Army officer. The conviction was upheld on Appeal by the Federal High Court on 05 April 2022.
Taha al-J.: convicted in Frankfurt, Germany on 30 November 2021 for genocide based on causing serious bodily or mental harm for the enslavement of a Yezidi woman and her daughter and the subsequent murder of her daughter, in Fallujah, Iraq. The conviction was upheld on appeal.
Walid Al Zeytun: acquitted in Stockholm, Sweden on 02 May 2024, for war crimes of violation of personal dignity, humiliating and degrading treatment and killing of a protected person, allegedly carried out in Al Sawanda, Homs, Syria. CIJA responded to four requests for assistance from Swedish authorities.
Mustafa M.: indicted in Koblenz, Germany on 18 January 2024, on charges of membership of a Da’esh, a foreign terrorist organization; war crimes of killing, taking hostage, torture, imposing sentences without due process; war crime of attempted killing; Murder; and the war crime of illegal appropriation of property. CIJA located Mustafa M. who is a Syrian national, within Germany in 2020, developing and pro-actively submitting a suspect dossier to national authorities. The dossier included evidence and analysis of their alleged crimes in and around Palmyra in 2015, including pillage, torture, executions and mutilation of corpses, alongside his known location in Germany. Following the submission of the suspect dossier, until the arrest of Mustafa M. on 21 March 2023, CIJA received and responded to four requests for assistance alongside frequent liaison between CIJA and relevant authorities.
Sonia M.: indicted in Paris, France on 14 March 2024 for crimes against humanity and genocide including sexual slavery of a Yezidi teenager, for acts committed in Iraq, Syria and Turkey between 2014 – 2019. The civil party / victim was kidnapped in August 2014 before being sold to several jihadi families: at age 16 she was bought by the suspect’s husband, Abdelnasser Benyoucef aka Abou Moutana, who was Head of Da’esh external operations. CIJA responded to one RFA in 2022.
Anon.: arrested in Belgium on 28 March 2023 for crimes against humanity and war crimes including pillage, kidnapping, torture, murder, and mutilation of corpses as a member of Da’esh. CIJA had identified and tracked the suspect, submitting a Suspect Dossier to Belgian authorities, and responding to RFAs including the submission of further evidence and analysis.
Amer A.: arrested in Kiel, Germany on 06 September 2023 for crimes against humanity, war crimes and membership of a terrorist organisation, as a suspected leader of Liwa Jund Al-Rahman, for his role in an attack carried out against a Shia-populated village in Deir ez-Zor in 2013. CIJA responded to three RFAs relating to the case.
Support to rescue operation of a Yazidi girl: CIJA was able to contribute towards a rescue operation by KRG authorities of a thirteen year-old Yazidi girl from Syria following nearly four years of captivity, following positive identification of the child by CIJA investigators in Syria and Iraq.
Imminent terrorist threat: CIJA was able to corroborate and promptly share evidence pointing to an imminent terrorist plot with the relevant national authorities.
assistance to justice actors
Investigating Da’esh has been a major priority for countries throughout the world as governments counter the threat of global terrorism, including by holding accountable their own nationals who joined the organisation as “foreign terrorist fighters” (“FTF”). CIJA has provided evidence, analysis, and briefings to support the law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities of 16 governments conducting numerous criminal investigations into current and former members of Da’esh. Moreover, our proactive suspect dossiers have led to the creation of multiple Joint Investigative Teams with whom CIJA continues to provide additional assistance to.
CIJA has also contributed towards critical investigations led by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) including the use of chemical weapons by Da’esh in Marea, Syria, on 01 September 2015
analysis and case building
Based on this evidence, CIJA completed 10 case briefs and reports that identify a wide range of ranking Da’esh members responsible for atrocities committed in Iraq and Syria, which include crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. In addition, CIJA has produced 8 suspect dossiers of Da’esh members, including leaders and those involved in the slave trade, sharing them with law enforcement within the jurisdictions they are located in.
capacity building
CIJA’s two teams of Da’esh Investigators have been trained, mentored, and supported by a team of international multi-disciplinary experts. Their professionalism and tireless dedication ensured the collection of one of the most robust evidence holdings regarding Da’esh most of it secured in the midst of ongoing conflict whilst maintaining criminal justice standards.
Many of CIJA’s former investigators, analysts and lawyers have gone on to support other justice and accountability initiatives, including the European Agency for Asylum, the International Criminal Court, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, UN Independent and Impartial Investigative Mechanism for Syria, UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL (UNITAD), national investigative agencies, as well as Syrian, Iraqi and international NGOs.
“[W]hen the investigator is part of the social fabric of the area they work in, they are very well positioned to be successful as an investigator because they are fully aware of the locals’ ways of thinking and can choose the best and most satisfactory method to conduct the interview with any case they encounter. They can also anticipate any outcome or reaction before it happens, and can therefore avoid countless problems.”
Syrian Field Investigator
“I see and feel that I have adhered to the principle of Do No Harm, because the witnesses keep in touch with me, and this indicates that I have built a bridge of trust with them.”
Iraqi Field Investigator