Inside the Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. Trial #12: The Cruelty of Slavery and ISIS
TRIAL OF TWANA H.S. AND ASIA R.A.
Higher Regional Court – Munich, Germany
Trial Monitoring Summary #12
Hearing Date: September 22 & 23, 2025
CAUTION: Some testimony may include graphic descriptions of torture, rape or other violent acts.
Note that this summary is not a verbatim transcript of the trial; it is merely an unofficial summary of the proceedings.
Throughout this summary, [information located in brackets are notes from our trial monitor] and “information placed in quotes are statements made by the witness, judges or counsel.” The names and identifying information of witnesses have been redacted.
[Note: SJAC provides a summary of the proceedings while redacting certain details to protect witness privacy and to preserve the integrity of the trial.]
SJAC’s 12th trial monitoring report details day 22 and 23 of the trial of Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. in Munich, Germany. On this trial day, the Court heard the testimony of F33. She lived with the Accused, P1, and P2 for a short time. P1 told her about her treatment at the hands of the Accused. F33 reported that P1 had been raped by Twana H.S. after Asia R.A. gave him permission.
On the second day this week, the Court again heard F33. She testified about the circumstances of the rape of P1, reporting that while Twana H.S. had wanted to rape P1 earlier, he had waited until Asia R.A. gave permission. Once Asia R.A. had given permission, Asia R.A. prepared P1 for the rape by washing her. F33 then answered the Defense Teams’ questions.
Day 22 – September 22, 2025
On this trial day, the Court heard [redacted name], F33. After explaining the roles of the people present in the courtroom and informing F33 of her rights and duties as a witness, the Presiding Judge asked F33 if she recognized the Accused. F33 answered that she knew both Accused as Abu and Um Abdullah. F33 told the Court that Abu Abdallah came with two Yazidi girls, [redacted name], P1, and [redacted name], P2, to the place she and her sister, F29, were living in [redacted location]. Later, his wife Um Abdullah came as well. After one week, they took P2 away. According to F33, there were various people living in the house: Abu and Um Abdullah with P1, P2, and their daughter, [redacted name], F43, who had [redacted name], F34 as a Sabaya, a man named [redacted name], F70, with his wife [redacted name], F71, and their two sons, as well as [redacted name], F42, who had F33 and F29 as Sabayas. F43, F42, and Twana H.S. were ISIS fighters, to F33’s knowledge, as she had seen all of them with large rifles.
After ISIS had lost Raqqa, the women were moved into a house in [redacted location] with one room, a yard, a bath and a kitchen. The women were in the big room, but F33 did not know where the men were for most of the day. The Sabayas spoke Kurmanji, including P1, but P1 had been taught Arabic by Asia R.A. and spoke mostly Arabic.
The daily routine for the Sabayas involved cooking, cleaning and praying. They were forced to pray in accordance with ISIS customs. While F71 cared for her children herself, P1 had to take care of Asia R.A.’s daughter. When the Presiding Judge asked if F33 saw anything to indicate that P1 liked taking care of the child, Defense Counsel for Asia R.A., Shervin Ameri, objected to the question, as it contained a judgment. F33 answered despite the conversation between Counsel and Judge, that P1 did not like taking care of the child and was being forced to do so by Asia R.A. Mr. Ameri asked that the interpreter Mrs. [redacted name], C3, wait to interpret it until the conversation had been concluded, which she did.
***
[22-minutes-break]
F33 said that Asia R.A. had told F33 her name herself and that F33 estimated Asia R.A. was twenty-seven years old at the time. She estimated that F34 was about [redacted information] years-old, F29 and F71 [redacted information] years-old, P1 [redacted information] years-old, and P2 [redacted information] years-old.
F33 had been told by Asia R.A. that the Accused were from Iran, which she had been told by [redacted name], F31, and that Asia R.A. had joined ISIS through her father.
P1 told F33 that she was [redacted information] years old, that she had been raped by Twana H.S., and that ISIS had taken her from her parents and siblings. F33 tried to console P1. F33 asked the Court how anyone could rape an [redacted information]-year-old and asked if the Accused had ever asked themselves what they would do if it were their daughter being raped. The Court asked about P1’s siblings.
P1 could remember her siblings, according to F33, and had told F33 about her sister [redacted name], F48. F33 told P1 that she had met F48 in Mosul. F48 had told F33 that she had been separated from her youngest sister and through the description of F48, F33 knew that P1 was that younger sister. P1 had been given a different name, hailing from the Quran, by the Accused.
The Court then asked how Twana H.S. treated P1, and F33 answered that he treated P1 very badly, as raping someone could not be counted as treating someone well. Asia R.A. had hit P1, forced her to serve coffee, from which she had sustained a burn on the arm, and to wash the dishes, despite P1 being too small to reach the sink. P1 had to take care of Asia R.A.’s daughter, which included changing her diapers and carrying the baby, despite being very small herself.
On one occasion, F33 told Asia R.A. that the way she was treating P1 was a disgrace and that her daughter would be P1’s age very soon. Asia R.A.’s only answer was that as she was her Sabaya, Asia R.A. would treat her exactly the way she wanted. As P2 left very early, F33 could not say much about Asia R.A.’s treatment of her.
While there was no one else present when P1 told F33 of being raped, P1 did tell the other women living in the house about being raped as well. A week later, Twana H.S. wanted to sell P1, but F33 was not there for that anymore, as she and F29 had been rescued.
P1 had told F33 that Twana H.S. had raped P1 because Asia R.A. had given him permission to do so. All in all, the Accused treated P1 very poorly; sometimes she was not allowed to wash for over a week and was only allowed to wash while the Accused were present. While Asia R.A. had everything for her daughter, even cookies, P1 was dressed in any clothes and was not allowed to even touch the cookies.
***
[70-minutes-break]
***
F33 answered more questions about the layout and exterior of the house in [redacted location] with the help of a sketch she had drawn for the [redacted location] Police.
P2 did not tell F33 about being raped, but P1 told the other Sabayas about being raped as well when they were sitting under a tree. When asked about the specific wording, F33 found it difficult to repeat what P1 had told her. She was ashamed of talking about it, though F33 told the Court that the Accused should be ashamed of what they did to such a small girl.
F33 then told her own story. She had been captured in 2014, separated from her family, and sold as a Sabaya. She was brought to Bawizah in Mosul, where she met [redacted name], F31. By then, F31 had met Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. and told F33 about this. In Mosul, there were multiple families who held Yazidi women as slaves.
At some point, the man who was keeping F29 died and she was brought to F33, which prompted the Judge to ask whether ISIS knew about familial relations between the Sabayas and if they were registered. F33 affirmed this, testifying that ISIS took their whole name down before selling them.
F33 had seen Twana H.S. with a weapon. When asked why the Sabayas did not try to flee, F33 cited the punishment for trying to escape and asked the Court where they were supposed to go anyway, as they had been deep in ISIS territory.
F33 testified that P1 always had to be within plain view of Asia R.A., or Asia R.A. would start screaming for her. Despite it being forbidden to have slaves by their religions, ISIS members like Asia R.A. thought it was okay to hold Yazidis as slaves.
***
[21-minutes-break]
***
F33 had only seen how P2 had been sold. When Twana H.S. came to take P2 away to sell her, P1 and P2 cried.
After being freed, F33 had talked with her mother about what happened to her, but did not see any reason to talk about it with F29, as she had been with F33.
The proceedings were adjourned at 3:16 PM.
The next trial day will be on September 23, 2025, at 9:30AM.
Day 23 – September 23, 2025
In the second session this week, F33 was first questioned about her statement to UNITAD. F33 and W7 had contact via WhatsApp, where W7 sent F33 various photos in which F33 recognized Asia R.A and told him how and where they had met.
Next, the Court turned to the rape of P1. F33 reported to have asked P1 about being raped in the kitchen of the house when the two were by themselves. P1 told F33 how Twana H.S. had stripped P1, lay on top of her, and then P1 felt something penetrate her. P1 bled and was in pain afterwards. The second occasion was when the Sabayas were sitting under a tree in the courtyard. The Presiding Judge then asked if anything happened between Twana H.S. stripping her and laying on top of her. When F33 replied with confusion, the Presiding Judge asked a follow-up question if Twana H.S. had tied P1 up. Defense Counsel for Twana H.S. Martin Kämpf objected to that question for being suggestive. A discussion ensued between all Judges and the Defense Counsel in which the Presiding Judge took the time to explain to F33 that this discussion had nothing to do with her, so she should not be worried. After the Presiding Judge asked Counsel Kämpf what question he would have in mind instead, Mr. Kämpf objected formally against the question. The Court then took a break to deliberate the exact wording of the question.
***
[9-minutes-break]
***
After the Court and the Defense Teams had agreed on the wording of the question, the Court took the time to deliberate in chambers about the permissibility of the question.
***
[24-minutes-break]
***
The Court made the decision to deny the objection and permit the question. Subsequently, the Presiding Judge asked F33 if P1 had been tied up by Twana H.S. F33 answered that she could not remember this detail.
F33 then elaborated that Asia R.A. gave Twana H.S. permission to rape P1. Twana H.S. had wanted to rape P1 beforehand, but Asia R.A. had not given permission before this point. Asia R.A. did not treat P1 and P2 very well, screaming at them and insulting them on various occasions.
The Court then asked various procedural questions about F33’s statement to the [redacted location] police. As the other parties did not have questions, the Defense was given the opportunity to ask questions. Defense Counsel for Asia R.A Shervin Ameri asked F33 various questions about her identification of Asia R.A. via the pictures she had been shown by the police and sent by W7. Then, the Counsel asked questions about F33’s immigration status in [redacted location], asking if her statement had allowed her to gain that status, which F33 denied as she had been granted her status before the statement.
***
[94-minutes-break]
***
Defense Counsel for Twana H.S., Peter Ewald, asked various questions about F33’s freedoms while with ISIS, as well as how she found and brought her sister. F33 replied that, while she was with ISIS, she was rarely permitted to leave the house, and when she did, it was only with a male companion. When asked if the Sabayas got enough to eat, F33 answered that it depended: sometimes there was enough food and sometimes not, but the Sabayas never got enough food to feed every one of them.
Next, he asked questions about the burn P1 had sustained and how P1 had known that Twana H.S. had wanted to rape P1 before he actually did. F33 reported that P1 had overheard a conversation between Asia R.A. and Twana H.S. to that effect.
***
[77-minutes-break]
***
Defense Counsel for Twana H.S. Martin Kämpf asked a few questions about the general supply situation, which F33 could not answer. Mr. Kämpf then asked various questions that had either already been answered or were not concrete enough for the Court, which the Court therefore asked F33 not to answer. He then asked if F33 had tried to flee, to which F33 recounted one instance where she and a few other Sabayas had tried to flee. The Sabayas were caught.
Then, Defense Counsel Ameri asked questions regarding the statement to UNITAD. After F33 had answered them, Mr. Ameri turned to questions about the daily routine in the house. F33 restated her previous answers.
Mr. Ameri then asked whether Asia R.A. could see P1 when F33 spoke with her about the rape, which F33 denied, though Asia R.A. also did not call for P1 on that occasion. F33 also revealed that Asia R.A. had personally washed and prepared P1 once she had given Twana H.S. permission to rape P1.
Then, Mr. Ameri asked about F33’s relationship to [redacted name], F48, sister of P1. The two had met while still in captivity and established contact after being freed. The last time F33 and F48 had contact was a year before F33’s testimony in court.
While F33 and F29 talked about F29’s testimony, they did not speak specifically about what F29 had said.
The proceedings were adjourned at 4:31 PM.
The next trial day will be on September 30, 2025, at 9:30 AM.
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