Allies Unsure Whether To Classify Sheep Seized From ISIS As Looted Property Or Freed Sex Slaves

The specifications of the law are unclear.

Raqqa, Syria, March 20 – The coalition of nations and armed groups working to eliminate the last stronghold of the Islamic State in the Middle East face a dilemma in determining whether to treat livestock in liberated areas as possessions to be restored where possible to previous owners or as victims of the jihadi movement’s forced marriage policy.

Kurdish, Shiite, Syrian, and other forces have all but destroyed the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate as a geographical political entity, freeing large swaths of Syria and northwestern Iraq from the clutches of the brutal regime – in the process repossessing goods and animals, as well as winning the release of thousands of women and girls the Islamist group had forced to become concubines or wives. Among the many administrative challenges facing the coalition is whether ISIS’s treatment of the sheep, goats, donkeys, and other domesticated species means the latter fall into the same classification as the goods or as the concubines.

Legal experts explained that the classification will dictate who decides on the disposition of the assets in question, and what the relevant authority may do with the animals. “There are much tighter restrictions on how to treat freed sex slaves than on livestock,” observed Bilam al-Shagg, an Iraqi scholar of International Humanitarian Law. “Unfortunately the specifications of the law are unclear in this case. In my assessment, which of course is not the only interpretation, the authorities must tread lightly, given the sensitivity of the sex trafficking issue.”

Al-Shagg conceded the difficulty of either option. “Most people would automatically assume sheep are property,” he admitted, “but then you get into the whole thorny issue of who gets to define them, and how offensive it might be in some circles to relegate entire species to such a status. But treating them as one treats other freed sex slaves will stretch already-limited resources that were allocated with only humans in mind, and expose them to further misfortune.”

Improvised rape-crisis centers established in areas liberated from ISIS have seen few, if any, sheep, goats, or other farm animals enter for counseling or treatment. “I’m kind of ambivalent about that,” disclosed one center’s director, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It’s not good because who knows how many of these poor livestock have been raped by jihadis, but on the other hand I’m kind of relived, because none of our staff has the training necessary to address the needs of a sheep that’s been made into an Islamist’s sex slave. I don’t know what we could do for such a victim anyway.”

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