Australia charges two women linked to ISIS with slavery after return from Syria

May 8, 2026 2:16 PM

Australia charges two women linked to ISIS with slavery after return from Syria

Australian police on Friday charged two women linked to the Islamic State extremist group with slavery offences after they returned from Syria, where they had been detained in a refugee camp for more than seven years. The women, Kawsar Ahmad, 54, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmad, 31, face crimes against humanity charges including owning and using a slave in Syria, which carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, police said. The pair, among a group of four women and nine children who returned...

California, Nevada among U.S. states moving to ban ‘slavery’ in prisons

August 8, 2024 2:40 PM

California, Nevada among U.S. states moving to ban ‘slavery’ in prisons

A growing number of U.S. states are seeking to close what critics call a loophole in the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery but still effectively legalizes involuntary servitude as punishment for convicts. The constitutional amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery except as punishment for crimes. Voters in California and Nevada will have a chance to weigh in during November's elections on whether to extend the ban to prisoners - following more than half a dozen other states that are p...