STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATIONS AGAINST NONSTATE ARMED GROUPS IN SYRIA Context Ongoing structural investigation in Germany for serious crimes under international law committed by non-state armed groups in Syria and Iraq since 2014 Suspects Unknown Country of residence of suspects Syria, Iraq, Germany, elsewhere Charges Genocide, war crimes, including abduction and sexual enslavement Developments in 2018 The Office of the German Federal Public Prosecutor continued to hear witness testimonies and to receive evidence in form of documents, pictures, videos, etc. In 2018, the structural investigation resulted in opening of further personspecific investigations and led to new arrest warrants, indictments and convictions, which are presented in detail in the case profiles below. Current status Under investigation; arrest warrant against a high-ranking commander of ISIS in force Facts The investigation concerns crimes committed by non-state armed groups in Syria and Iraq, including extrajudicial killings, torture, inhuman treatment, abduction for the purpose of blackmail, and other war crimes. A part of the investigation is focused on the attack by the Islamic State (IS) against the region around the town of Sinjar in northwestern Iraq in August 2014. The Yazidi minority was reportedly subjected to genocide, mass execution, widespread kidnappings, and sexual enslavement in Syria and Iraq. Procedure A second structural investigation concerning crimes committed in Syria was opened by the German prosecutorial authorities in August 2014 for the purposes of gathering evidence of international crimes committed by the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) and other nonstate armed groups operating in Syria and Iraq. The structural investigation has resulted thus far in investigations against 30 specific individuals involved in crimes committed by the nonstate armed groups, which has led to indictment and further prosecution on several occasions. In December 2016, the Supreme Court of Germany issued an arrest warrant against a high-ranking IS commander allegedly responsible for genocide and war crimes, including abduction and sexual enslavement of Yazidi women in Syria and Iraq. 44