Amal Clooney: Prosecute Daesh terrorists for rape

By Umar Farooq</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney demanded justice for victims of sexual violence at the hands of Daesh terrorists in Iraq and Syria, urging the international community to prosecute them. </p> <p>The wife of U.S. actor George Clooney urged the UN Security Council to “stand on the right side of history” as a resolution was introduced aiming to prevent rape as a weapon of war, reminding the council of how Nazi war criminals were prosecuted after World War II.</p> <p>She offered options that could be adopted to prosecute individuals, including having the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh establish a court, or referring the matter to the International Criminal Court.</p> <p>The latter option may not be as feasible, with the U.S. having restricted visas for ICC personnel who investigate or prosecute crimes suspected of being committed by U.S. forces.</p> <p>“If 79 states can come together to fight ISIS on the battlefield, why can they not establish a court?” Clooney asked the council.</p> <p>Clooney is also the legal counsel to Nobel Prize Laureate Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who had been sexually abused by Daesh terrorists.</p> <p>Murad said that she would swap her prize for the chance to face those who murdered her family and raped her.</p> <p>“This council itself has made clear that the genocide pursued by ISIS through murder and through rape represents a threat to international security,” Clooney said.</p> <p>“And when you reached a similar conclusion about such crimes in Rwanda and Bosnia you established tribunals to put the perpetrators on trial,” she added.