Amal Clooney wants to take ISIS to trial, seeks justice for Yazidi sex slaves

International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and her client Nadia Murad are joining forces to take ISIS to trial.

Murad, a Yazidi woman who described praying for death while being raped by her Islamic State captors, called on world leaders Monday to step up efforts to bring the militant group to justice for genocide and other crimes.

Both women said no Islamic State militants have been tried for atrocities but British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson suggested that could change soon.

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Johnson, whose country helped organize a meeting for foreign ministers to address efforts to prosecute Islamic State militants, said he and Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari would urge the U.N. to take the lead on “the vital gathering and the preserving of evidence” of crimes committed by the group.

Murad, who was captured by the militants in 2014, said she was repeatedly raped and prayed for death until she escaped. The 23-year-old, who was named U.N. special ambassador last week, appealed to the world to “stop the extermination of my people.”

“Why is a survivor like me knocking on the door of the International Court of Justice to get justice?” she said at the meeting, held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly summit.

Murad said that ISIS members killed six of her brothers and her mother when they stormed her town in northern Iraq two years ago during the Yazidi genocide.

Murad, her two sisters and some of her teenage female cousins and nieces were transported to the ISIS stronghold of Mosul after the 2014 attack; along with more than 150 other girls, they were subjected to horrific sexual abuse.

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Clooney, Murad’s legal representative, said Yazidi victims “want to appear before a judge.” She urged the U.N. Security Council to focus on “genocide against Yazidis.”

“ISIS has vowed to wipe them out simply because they are Yasidis,” she said and noted that “there has not been a single member of ISIS held accountable anywhere in the world for its genocide.”

Clooney said she discussed her effort to legally fight the group with her husband, George Clooney. “You know, this is something I discussed with my husband before I took on something like this,” she told NBC News’ Cynthia McFadden. “We did discuss it, and we are aware of some of the risks involved, of course.”

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She says that the A-list actor understands why she wanted to take on such a high-powered case.

“He met Nadia too, and I think he was moved for the same reasons,” the lawyer shared. “And he understood. I mean, this is my work.”

The 38-year-old feels passionate about representing Murad, who she says represents hope and a voice for other survivors.

“I can’t imagine anything worse being done from one human to another,” she said about her client’s experience of abuse. “I just met her and I thought, ‘I can’t walk away from this’… I think what she’s doing is amazing.”

Her husband’s support comes as no surprise, given his involvement in politics. In March, the couple shed light on the refugee crisis in Syria when they sat down with three refugee families to hear their stories in Berlin.

The Academy Award-winning actor spoke about his wife during a sit-down with ET last May.

“I’m always very proud of her when I see her speaking at the International Court of Appeals in Strasbourg, you know, with her robe on,” he said. “It’s very impressive.”

With files from The Associated Press