Australia prosecutes first citizens for ISIS-era crimes as Germany outlines universal jurisdiction path

Australian authorities have charged a mother and daughter with slavery and crimes against humanity linked to ISIS, while Germany highlights its universal-jurisdiction approach to holding perpetrators accountable.

Melbourne prosecutors have brought the first Australian charges for international crimes against Zeinab Ahmad, 31, and her mother Kawsar Ahmad, 54, accusing them of participating in the enslavement of a Yazidi woman during ISIS rule in 2017. The pair entered not-guilty pleas in the Magistrates Court and will face a Supreme Court trial, where they could face up to 25 years per charge under laws upgraded in 2002 to include genocide and crimes against humanity.

Experts say this represents a landmark application of those statutes, which previously were used mainly for terrorism offences. Meanwhile, Germany has become a leading venue for prosecuting ISIS atrocities through its universal-jurisdiction framework, allowing cases to proceed even when neither the accused nor the victims are German and the crimes occurred abroad. German lawyer Natalie von Wistinghausen stresses that this legal avenue is currently the only realistic path for Yazidi survivors seeking accountability, given the lack of ICC jurisdiction over Iraq and Syria. The contrasting approaches underscore a growing international effort to address the legacy of ISIS-related genocide and slavery.