This information was confirmed by minister of justice Paul Van Tigchelt in a statement to Sudinfo on Friday and reported by Belga.
"These are long and complex procedures, with many requests for international legal assistance, which require travel by investigators and magistrates," explained Van Tigchelt, highlighting the challenges involved in these investigations.
The federal prosecutor’s office handles these cases and has a team of five magistrates. Their workload is extensive, as they also investigate crimes committed by Belgian soldiers abroad and cases of international corruption within the European Union.
Atrocities committed
The Yazidi genocide in August 2014 marked one of the darkest chapters of ISIS’s reign of terror. Over two weeks, ISIS militants invaded the Sinjar region of Iraq with the intent to eradicate the Yazidi community. Thousands of Yazidi men and elderly women were executed, while children and women were subjected to slavery, torture and sexual violence.
Approximately 400,000 Yazidis fled to the neighbouring Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and tens of thousands sought refuge on Mount Sinjar. Those unable to escape were either killed or captured and subjected to abuse, including forced labour, conscription, torture and systemic rape. More than 6,000 Yazidi women and children were captured, with nearly 2,800 still missing today.
In 2023, Belgium and the Netherlands joined forces to establish a joint investigation team to target crimes against Yazidi victims in Syria and Iraq.
