Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

[Anthea]

Turkish drone kills three in Sinjar

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The headquarters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-affiliated group on Tuesday was allegedly attacked by Turkish drones, killing three fighters, a statement from the Kurdistan Region’s counter-terrorism unit announced

The Turkish drone targeted the headquarters of Sinjar Resistance Unit (YBS), a Sinjar-based PKK offshoot, in the Khana Sor community, in the the western part of the Yezidi-majority town, according to a statement from the Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) of the Security Council.

As a result of the strike, three YBS fighters have been killed and another militant was wounded, the Directorate added.

Although Turkey has not claimed responsibility for the attack, PKK-affiliated media blamed the attack on Turkey.

A team of Iraqi security forces have begun an investigation into the incident.

Sinjar and its surrounding areas, part of disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad, are under the security control of Iraqi forces. Heavy militia forces, including PKK fighters, are present in the area.

Similar strikes in the past have also been blamed on Turkey, which resulted in casualties, including senior PKK militants.

Bolstered by its advanced drone industry, Turkey has ramped up its drone strikes in recent years, particularly in the urban centers of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, to target suspected PKK positions.

In 2020, Erbil and Baghdad struck an agreement on Sinjar to normalize the security and administrative affairs in the town. However, the deal has not yet been implemented.

Kurdistan Region officials regularly call on Baghdad, officially in charge of the security affairs, to implement the deal. officials have voiced concerns about increased militia forces presence in the area.

Engaged in an armed struggle since the mid-1980s, the PKK-Turkey conflict has resulted in the casualties of tens of thousands of people from both sides.

Much of the conflict has been fought in the border areas of the Kurdistan Region, which had endangered the civilian population.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... ism-agency

Poor Yazidis have suffered enough

All armed militia forces should be removed from Yazidi lands and the Yazidis should be protected by the UN security council

[Anthea]

Fears of violence against Yazidis

On April 27, the Iraqi government returned several Arab families to the Sinjar district of northern Iraq, the traditional homeland of the Yazidi people. A Yazidi woman claimed to recognize one of the returnees as a member of the Islamic State, an organization that had previously enslaved her and that committed, in 2014, a genocide against the Yazidi people, according to a United Nations investigation

Yazidis gathered to demonstrate against the return of the refugees. Videos quickly circulated online claiming to show Yazidis throwing stones at a mosque, and the rumors soon turned into explosive accusations that Yazidis were burning the mosque.

The Sunni Endowment Office, the body that administers Sunni mosques in Iraq, confirmed that the reports were false and that no damage was inflicted on the mosque. It was too late. Muslim religious leaders in Iraq released dozens of videos referring to Yazidis as devil worshippers — a historical trope frequently leveled against Yazidis — and called for them to be murdered. Fear spread among the thousands of Yazidis still residing in refugee camps in Iraq that another wave of violence is on the horizon.

Much of the fomenting of violence against Yazidis occurred on Facebook, but hate speech also spread in WhatsApp groups. A member of one WhatsApp group, for example, said they would bring a machine gun to a refugee camp in Kurdistan and kill as many Yazidis as they could. The French Embassy in Iraq released a statement condemning the proliferation of hate speech.

In August 2014, the Islamic State attacked Sinjar, killing over a thousand Yazidis during the first day alone and enslaving thousands of Yazidi women. A coalition of state and non-state actors supported by the United States pushed the Islamic State out of the region, but some 3,000 Yazidi women and children are still missing.

Sinjar is officially under the control of the Iraqi government, but it is a disputed territory claimed by the authority in charge of the autonomous Kurdistan region. In 2020, the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi government signed an agreement to jointly manage Sinjar.

Sadly the area is effectively under the control of different militia groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (better known as the PKK), a Kurdish militant group, and an umbrella organization called the Popular Mobilization Forces, which has dozens of mainly Shia Muslim armed factions connected to both the Iraqi and the Iranian states.

Between June and December 2020, it was reported that 38,000 Yazidis returned to Sinjar. Around 200,000 Yazidis still reside in refugee camps in the Kurdistan region, unable to return to Sinjar because of a lack of security and financial resources.

Human Rights Watch has documented how the Iraqi government failed to provide thousands of Yazidis from Sinjar compensation for the destruction to property caused by the Islamic State, which they are entitled to under Iraqi law.

Sinjar — which is about the size of Rhode Island in the U.S. — is rife with competing interests, said Bayar Mustafa, the dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Kurdistan Hewler in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, putting Yazidis and other minority groups in Sinjar at heightened risk. The Iraqi government and its army are unable to guarantee security in Sinjar, and there is potential for a re-emergence of a movement similar to the Islamic State.

Islamic State was not just a military organization, but a social, religious and ideological movement, and there has been little effort to defeat the lingering influence of the terrorist organization, according to Mustafa.

Within the Kurdistan Region, Yazidis are under the protection of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which has largely welcomed Yazidis and shielded them from mass killings. But the government has not done enough to tackle hate speech, said Hadi Pir, the co-founder of Yazda, an organization that advocates for Yazidis and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria.

The fear that Yazidis may once again become the target of mass killings is compounded by the specter of chaos. “If a big political issue happens, for example the Iraqi government failed, or the Kurdistan Regional Government had some problems between the different groups in power, then again, there is a possibility Yazidis will be the target,” said Pir.

Yazidi activists say that efforts to educate the Iraqi public about Yazidis and past mass killings committed against them have largely failed. Meanwhile, international efforts to hold the perpetrators of the crimes accountable have been slow. Islamic State members have been prosecuted for terrorism.

The Iraqi justice system and international courts have been unwilling or unable to prosecute them for the crimes they committed against Yazidis. German courts have taken matters into their own hands, prosecuting one Islamic State member for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity. He killed a five-year-old Yazidi girl, Reda, by tying her up in the sun as punishment for wetting her bed.

Attempts at transitional justice, the process whereby a society tries to come to terms with past acts of repression, are largely nonexistent in Iraq, and the current political system is failing to address these issues, said Zeynep Kaya, a lecturer in international relations at the University of Sheffield. “I think people really underestimate the long-term consequences of sexual violence, of conflict, of displacement. These things continue to simmer in societies, and then they just don’t disappear easily,” said Kaya.

Many Yazidis face a choice of staying in camps in the Kurdistan region, where the Iraqi government has reportedly stopped providing aid, or returning to Sinjar where they face an insecure environment. Many now are considering leaving Iraq altogether.

https://www.codastory.com/disinformatio ... eech-iraq/

[Anthea]

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Movie about Kurdish Yezidi girl

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Sibel's Silence, a movie that depicts the release of a Kurdish Yezidi girl, kidnapped by ISIS, will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday

The 1-hour, 38-minute film is directed by Aly Yeganeh, a Kurdish director from East Kurdistan (Rojhilat Kurdistani).

The film begins with the kidnapping of a 13-year-old Sibel, along with thousands of other Yazidi girls and women. She is trafficked as a "sex slave" in Syria and Iraq after her entire family is killed by ISIS.

Hannah, a Kurdish doctor living in France, was deeply moved by the story of the Yezidi girl and decided to rescue her from ISIS militants.

After her release, Hannah and Sibel return to France. The doctor tries to provide her with a decent life, but the psychological impact of the horrors she suffered leaves Sibel unable to speak and have a normal life.

"Sibel's silence is the story of the cleansing of a religious minority with different beliefs," the director said.

Previously, Sibel's Silence won the Best Cast Ensemble at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival in the United States.

The 2023 Cannes Film Festival kicked off in Cannes, France, on Tuesday and continues until May 27. Every year, hundreds of renowned actors and producers showcase their latest films.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... m-Festival

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Turkey kills PKK in Sinjar

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) killed three fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Sinjar on Tuesday morning, the Kurdistan Region’s anti-terrorism group (CTD) stated

The statement from the Region's Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) did not provide additional details regarding the identities of those who were killed.

A security source in Khanesor, who did not wish to be named, told Kurdistan 24 that a Turkish plane targeted a PKK base in the Khanasor district, in northwestern Shingal.

Also on May 16, the headquarters of a PKK-affiliated group was allegedly attacked by Turkish drones, killing three fighters.

Previous incidents of airstrikes in Sinjar have been attributed to Turkey, leading to casualties that included senior members of the PKK or the PKK-affiliated Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ).

In 2020, Erbil and Baghdad reached an agreement, backed by the UN, to normalize the security and administrative affairs in Sinjar.

The agreement, however, has yet to be implemented. The Kurdistan Region officials have repeatedly called on Baghdad to take actions to implement the agreement.

According to the recent US State Department annual report on International Religious Freedom (IRF), the Yezidi people fear returning back to their homes in Sinjar because of continuing Turkish airstrikes against the PKK in the town.

Moreover, the report highlighted the hundreds of Yezidi children from Sinjar and the al-Hol camp in Syria who have been kidnapped by PKK and subjected to ideological “brainwashing.”

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... injar:-CTD

ALL armed militia groups, including the PKK, should be removed from Yazidi lands

It is time the Yazidis were allowed to live in peace

[Anthea]

Turkish drone targets Sinjar

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) issued a statement on Thursday citing a Turkish drone attack on a YBŞ Resistance Unit base in the Sinjar district

A Turkish drone targeted the headquarters of YBŞ in the center of Sinjar at 15:20 PM, wounding two fighters, according to a statement.

Turkish drones have carried out several strikes on the Yezidi-majority region, often targeting YBŞ fighters.

Moreover, the CTD announced on Tuesday that a Turkish drone targeted the headquarters of YBŞ fighters in the village of Chumu-Khalaf in the Sinjar district, killing three fighters.

Also on May 16, the headquarters of a PKK-affiliated group was allegedly attacked by Turkish drones, killing three fighters.

Previous airstrikes in Sinjar have been attributed to Turkey, leading to casualties including senior members of the PKK or the PKK-affiliated YBŞ.

In 2020, Erbil and Baghdad reached an agreement, backed by the UN, to normalize security and administrative affairs in Sinjar.

The agreement, however, has yet to be implemented. The Kurdistan Region officials have repeatedly called on Baghdad to enforce the agreement.

According to the recent US State Department annual report on International Religious Freedom (IRF), the Yezidi people fear returning back to their homes in Sinjar because of continuing Turkish airstrikes against the PKK in the town.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... E-fighters

The Yazidis have suffered more than enough, they deserve to have their homelands free from Arabs (many of whom supported ISIS) and armed militia groups

Yazidis should be protected by a UN security force and coalition countries who helped in the destruction of Yazidi homes, lands and businesses while attempting to rid the land of ISIS, should pay for the reconstruction of the area

Yazidis must be able to return home and live in peace and security

[Anthea]

6 rescued after 8 years

Six Yazidi women were rescued and returned to the Kurdistan Region on Saturday more than eight years after they were taken captive by Islamic State (ISIS) militants, raising hopes that more of the estimated 2,700 Yazidis still missing may still be found, Nadia Murad announced on Twitter

“The women were still children and teenagers when they were first taken captive in 2014. Trafficked out of Iraq and into Syria, they were rescued on Saturday morning,” Murad tweeted. “They have been flown back to Erbil where they will be reunited with their families, and offered all the psychosocial support they need.”

In August 2014, ISIS militants seized the Yazidi heartland of Shingal in northern Iraq and committed genocide against the minority community. More than 400,000 Yazidis fled. The men and older women who were not able to flee were killed. More than 5,000 were buried in mass graves. An estimated 6,417 women and children were enslaved.

Murad also thanked Turkish authorities who "played an important role" in bringing the captive women back to safety. She did not elaborate on the role Turkey played.

Murad, who lived with her family in the Shingal area, was one of the women taken captive. After she escaped, she publicly told her story and brought the horrors of the genocide to the world’s attention. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 and is a United Nations goodwill ambassador, campaigning for the survivors of human trafficking.

Around 2,700 of the women and children seized by ISIS are still missing. Many of them were brought by their captives when they went to Syria after ISIS’ defeat in Iraq. Some women have been found in northeast Syria’s al-Hol camp, among the families of ISIS fighters and supporters.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani established an office to rescue the missing women and children. Murad credited Barzani with assisting with Saturday’s rescue that was the result of weeks of investigation.

The rescue, after so many long years in captivity, “gives us hope that more can be found,” Murad said, appealing for international assistance to help in the search.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/030620231

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Nadia Murad on women rescued

The US Consulate in Erbil on Sunday congratulated the Kurdistan Region’s Nechirvan Barzani and Yazidi genocide survivor and activist Nadia Murad for their efforts to rescue six Yazidi women and return them to the Region

The women were rescued and returned to the Kurdistan Region on Saturday, over eight years since they were taken captive by the Islamic State (ISIS).

In her tweet announcing the rescue, Murad said it would not have been possible without the help of President Barzani. “By setting up an office dedicated to rescuing kidnapped Yazidi women and girls, he has helped many of them escape ISIS captivity,” she said.

Speaking to Rudaw’s Shahyan Tahseen on Sunday, Khairy Bouzani, the head of the Kurdistan Region’s kidnapped Yazidis rescue office, said that a total of 3,568 Yazidis had been rescued by the office so far.

He claimed that after the Iraqi army liberated ISIS-controlled areas, it did not thoroughly search for the missing Yazidi women from those areas, adding that the office does not have the authority to conduct rescue missions in federal Iraq.

Around 2,700 of the women and children seized by ISIS are still missing. Many of them were brought by their captives when they went to Syria after ISIS’ defeat in Iraq. Some women have been found in northeast Syria’s al-Hol camp, among the families of ISIS fighters and supporters.

Bouzani called on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are effectively in charge of the camp, to provide assistance with the rescue operations.

During the interview with Rudaw, Bouzani called on the SDF, as well as the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to lend a hand to in the rescue missions, through cooperation with the Iraqi government and Western Kurdistan administration in northeast Syria (Rojava Kurdistani).

In August 2014, ISIS militants seized the Yazidi heartland of Shingal in northern Iraq and committed genocide against the minority community. More than 400,000 Yazidis fled. The men and older women who were not able to flee were killed. More than 5,000 were buried in mass graves. An estimated 6,417 women and children were enslaved.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/04062023

[Anthea]

Support Yezidi survivors
Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – As the Iraqi Council of Representatives prepares to convene for tomorrow’s vote on the budget bill, the Social, Educational, and Economic Development (SEED) Foundation urges legislators to honor the promises made to Yezidi survivors of the ISIS conflict

The SEED Foundation, a women-led, local non-governmental organization in the Kurdistan Region, said that Iraqi parliament should ensure that funding for the reparations program envisaged under the Yezidi Survivors’ Law (YSL) is included in the 2023-2025 federal budget.

“In the two years since the YSL was passed, the financial resources required to establish the General Directorate of Survivors’ Affairs and deliver benefits to survivors have been allocated on an emergency basis,” the foundation said.

“Funds provided to date have also fallen short of estimates, and are not sufficient to sustain long-term reparation measures like monthly salaries for survivors, which have no definitive time horizon.”

Iraq's parliament ratified the YSL on March 1, 2021, with the goal of giving support to minority survivors and victims of the Yezidi genocide perpetrated by ISIS in 2014. Despite being ratified two years ago, the law has yet to be fully implemented.

“This calls into question the viability of the reparations program and highlights the need to establish a dedicated, sustainable source of long-term funding to support this effort,” the SEED Foundation said.

“The 2023-2025 budget law presents a critical opportunity for the Government of Iraq to demonstrate its commitment to meeting the needs of those who suffered conflict-related sexual violence and other gross human rights violations at the hands of ISIS,” Kristin Perry, Policy and Advocacy Manager at the SEED Foundation, told Kurdistan 24.

She underlined that the reparations program under the YSL includes a number of material and symbolic measures that could transform the lives of survivors from across Iraq's minority communities.

“However, no concrete funding modality to support the administration and implementation of the YSL was identified within the law or its regulations, and no clear and thorough assessment of how much the reparations program is likely to cost over the long-term has been conducted,” she added.

Moreover, she said a sufficient and sustainable source of funding is key to ensuring the success of the reparations program and delivering comprehensive, long-awaited relief to survivors.

“When the budget bill goes for a vote this week, the Council of Representatives should capitalize on this opportunity to ensure that adequate funding for the YSL is included in the bill and that this provision remains in the law when passed,” she concluded.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... -survivors

[Anthea]

Sinjar needs reconstruction
Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The reconstruction of the Yezidi-majority Sinjar district, which was heavily damaged in the fight against ISIS, is being held up by a political dispute over its administration, hindering the return of displaced Yezidi’s to the district, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday

In April 2023, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reportedly ordered the government to open a reconstruction campaign for Sinjar and announced the allocation of 50 billion Iraqi Dinars (IQD) ($34.2 million) to do so. But HRW said political disputes are preventing allocated funds from being used.

Damaged infrastructure and poor essential services have hindered the return of over 200,000 people who have been displaced from the district since 2014, including 85 percent of Iraq’s minority Yezidi population

The majority of Yezidis have been living in displacement camps in the Kurdistan Region since the ISIS genocide of Yezidis in August 2014.

“The allocation of funds is a positive development, but only if those funds are actually invested in services and infrastructure to improve access to health care, electricity, water, and housing for Sinjar’s residents,” said Sarah Sanbar, an Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Political infighting is preventing the use of available funds while Sinjaris remain in limbo.”

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations migration agency, 80 percent of public infrastructure and 70 percent of homes in Sinjar town, the largest city in the district, were destroyed during the conflict against ISIS between 2014 and 2017

Moreover, locals say that electricity and water are not consistently available, and many education and health facilities remain damaged or destroyed, with gaps in staffing where they do exist.

Under the UN-backed 2020 Sinjar agreement, Iraq committed 28 billion IQD ($18 million) to the Sinjar Reconstruction Fund. Senior Kurdish officials have repeatedly complained that Baghdad has not implemented the Sinjar agreement.

The Sinjar Agreement also calls for the creation of a joint committee with representatives from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and federal Iraqi government to distribute these funds, but the committee has not yet been formed, Najim al-Juboury, governor of Nineveh, told HRW.

Locals told HRW that the lack of adequate public services is a barrier to return in addition to the unstable security situation and the government’s failure to provide compensation for destroyed homes and businesses. Moreover, public education is not readily available.

“In Sinjar, there are 206 schools, but only 96 of them are currently operational due to a variety of factors, such as a lack of academic staff, the continued displacement of families, and destroyed school buildings,” Hassan Salih Murad, head of the Sinjar Education Department, told HRW.

“To enable displaced people to return home and respect all Sinjaris’ economic rights, the government needs to take an integrated approach to Sinjar, which includes reconstruction, rehabilitation, reparations, administration, and security,” Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch said. “Returnees will continue to struggle in the absence of government services as displaced people remain stuck in limbo.”

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/31 ... tment:-HRW

All armed militant groups should be removed from Yazidi lands

All the countries who destroyed the Yazidi's lands, homes, farms, infrastructure and businesses in their attempt to rid the land of ISIS, should pay towards the rebuilding

[Anthea]

Infighting Blocking Reconstruction

The reconstruction of the Sinjar district in northern Iraq, which was heavily damaged in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), is being held up by a political dispute over its administration, Human Rights Watch said today.

In April 2023, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the government to open a reconstruction campaign for Sinjar and announced the allocation of 50 billion Iraqi Dinars (IQD) (US$34.2 million) to do so.

But a political dispute between the federal government Baghdad and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has prevented other previously allocated funds from being used, while damaged infrastructure and poor essential services have hindered the return of over 200,000 people who have been displaced from the district since 2014, including 85 percent of Iraq’s minority Yazidi population.

“The allocation of funds is a positive development, but only if those funds are actually invested in services and infrastructure to improve access to health care, electricity, water, and housing for Sinjar’s residents,” said Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Political infighting is preventing the use of available funds while Sinjaris remain in limbo.”

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations migration agency, 80 percent of public infrastructure and 70 percent of homes in Sinjar Town, the largest city in the district, were destroyed during the conflict against ISIS between 2014 and 2017. Residents said that electricity and water are not consistently available, and many education and health facilities remain damaged or destroyed, with gaps in staffing where they do exist.

Human Rights Watch interviewed dozens of Sinjaris living in displacement camps in Duhok governorate; three Sinjaris who had returned to Sinjar; officials of the Kurdistan and Baghdad governments; the former mayor of the Sinjar’s “self-administration”; the head of the Sinjar general hospital; representatives of six civil society organizations; and two Western diplomats.

Sinjar is a disputed territory between the KRG and federal Iraq. The mayor of Sinuni, in northern Sinjar, is temporarily serving as acting mayor of Sinjar, based out of Dohuk, where Sinjaris currently must travel for administrative and civil documentation services. The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a Yazidi-led militia with perceived links to the Kurdistan Workers Party, established a self-governing local administration in Sinjar in 2017 and elected a mayor, who is not officially recognized by the KRG or federal Iraq.

Under the 2020 Sinjar Agreement, Iraq committed 28 billion IQD ($18 million) to the Sinjar Reconstruction Fund. The governor of Ninewa, Najim al-Juboury, said that Erbil and Baghdad are unwilling to spend the funds without first agreeing on who will be responsible for the local administration of Sinjar, but discussions have stalled. They have been unable to agree upon a suitable candidate for mayor, and proposed candidates are frequently rejected by local Sinjaris who feel marginalized and excluded from the process.

The Sinjar Agreement also calls for the creation of a joint committee with representatives from the KRG and federal Iraqi government to distribute these funds, but the committee has not yet been formed, al-Juboury said. There are no provisions to ensure local participation in decision-making processes, which Sinjaris said exacerbated their feelings of exclusion.

Everyone interviewed cited the lack of adequate public services as a barrier to return in addition to the unstable security situation and the government’s failure to provide compensation for destroyed homes and businesses.

They said that public education is not readily available, in part due to damage or destruction of schools. Even where it is accessible, the quality of education is undermined by overcrowding, with some schools accommodating students from multiple villages, and staffing shortages as thousands of teachers remain displaced. An IOM survey found that 58 percent of residents lack access to a functional secondary school within five kilometers of their residence.

“In Sinjar, there are 206 schools, but only 96 of them are currently operational due to a variety of factors, such as a lack of academic staff, the continued displacement of families, and destroyed school buildings,” said Hassan Salih Murad, head of the Sinjar Education Department. “Due to a shortage of teachers and school facilities, one school has between 600 and 1,000 pupils enrolled in it, although it can only accommodate a maximum of 400 students.”

Three schools are being used by armed groups as military bases, Murad said, undermining access to education and putting school infrastructure at risk of attack. Twelve armed groups are competing for control of Sinjar, and government attempts to regain administrative control of the area have resulted in violent clashes and further displacement, most recently in May 2022.

The presence of the YBS has exposed the area to Turkish airstrikes, including one that struck a hospital in August 2021. Human Rights Watch documented military use of schools in Sinjar and recruitment of children by armed groups, including at schools, in 2016.

Waad Abdo, who was displaced from Gormuz village in 2014, said that the school in his village was destroyed by fighting, “and anyway there are no teachers. Kids from my village and three villages around it all must travel to the same school, and it is very crowded.”

The Sinjar Health Department also faces overcrowding, a lack of qualified professionals, and damage to physical infrastructure. Two general hospitals serve the district, one in Sinjar town and one in Sinuni, a town north of Mount Sinjar.

“The general hospital in Sinjar was damaged during military operations,” said Dr. Dilshad Ali, head of the Sinjar general hospital “We are operating in a tiny alternative location now, and we only have 53 hospital beds instead of the 130 we once had. The original location of Sinuni Hospital is still operational. Out of 26 primary health centers, all are operating except for two in Sinuni sub-district, which need to be rebuilt.”

Both hospitals have limited capacity to treat complex cases, given shortages in specialists, so people with medical emergencies or complex diseases must travel two to three hours to Dohuk or Mosul for care. People interviewed said that a lack of access to health care is a major barrier to return, particularly with pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses.

“I have many chronic illnesses and there is no hospital there to help me,” said Eidi Chichi, a displaced person in Khanke informal settlement. “Why would I return to Sinjar if I needed to come back to Dohuk every week for health care? There are no men in my household. It is difficult for me to make that journey alone.”

People also said that neither electricity nor water are consistently available, with returnees reporting that electricity is available from between 2 and 10 hours per day. According to IOM, 90 percent of Sinjar residents report relying on water trucking sometimes or always, and 76 percent reported issues related to the taste, appearance, or smell of drinking water.

Mohammed Majeed, director of the Sinjar Electricity Department, said that Station 132, Sinjar’s primary power plant, and Station 133, a backup station, were damaged during military operations and have not yet been rebuilt. “We are currently able to serve 18 hours of electricity per day because it is spring and the weather is not too hot, but once summer arrives, we will only be able to do so for 12 hours each day,” he said.

Majeed said that some repairs to the electricity network have begun, using the Emergency Food Security Fund. The Emergency Food Security Fund was passed in June 2022 to allow the government to meet urgent needs like food, energy, and paying salaries of public sector employees as months of political deadlock left the country without a budget.

Souad, a returnee from Khanasour village said, “only those who can afford it have generators, and they have to pay 20,000 IQD ($15) per ampere of electricity. We pay 15,000 IQD ($11) per day for drinking water, and we had to dig a borehole to have enough water for washing.”

International human rights law and the Iraqi Constitution guarantee citizens’ rights to health, education, housing, and an adequate standard of living. The right to an adequate standard of living includes everyone’s right to water and electricity, among others as Human Rights Watch has concluded. Iraq has ratified numerous human rights treaties that contain obligations related to these rights.

“To enable displaced people to return home and respect all Sinjaris’ economic rights, the government needs to take an integrated approach to Sinjar, which includes reconstruction, rehabilitation, reparations, administration, and security,” Sanbar said. “Returnees will continue to struggle in the absence of government services as displaced people remain stuck in limbo.”

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/06/ira ... ion-sinjar

[Anthea]

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Couple Remarry

Years in the brutal captivity of the Islamic State (ISIS) did not dim the love between a Yazidi couple who renewed their wedding vows in Duhok on Friday after nearly nine long years of separation

Samia Smo and Dakhil Hassan had been married for just one month when ISIS seized Shingal in August 2014 and committed genocide against the minority community. The militants enslaved Smo, taking her first to Mosul and then to Syria.

Earlier this month, Smo and five other Yazidi women who were also held captive by ISIS militants, were reunited with their families. The news was announced by Nobel peace laureate Nadia Murad who credited Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani with assisting in the rescue that gives hope to the families of thousands of Yazidi women and children who are still missing.

The couple’s families decided to celebrate their reunion with a wedding.

“This is just like a dream,” Smo told Rudaw’s Haidar Doski, wearing a white dress, gold jewellery around her neck and a tiara on her head. “I can’t believe it. I feel like I’m in a dream. I’m very happy.”

Smo and Hassan tattooed each other's names on their hands as a sign of their eternal love.

“I have always waited for the day my wife comes back,” Hassan said, trying to contain his jubilation. “I’m very happy.”

Hundreds of guests attended the wedding, including the families of the five other women who were rescued with Smo.

Around 3,000 women and children seized by ISIS are still missing. Many of them were brought by their captives when they went to Syria after ISIS’ defeat in Iraq.

Some women have been found in northeast Syria’s al-Hol camp, among the families of ISIS fighters and supporters.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/160620231

Wonderful story, so sad, so heartbreaking, such love

We wish them long lives, happiness and good health

[Anthea]

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Sinjar Needs Money For Reconstruction

The federal government of Iraq has allocated 50 billion dinars to reconstruct the Yezidi hometown of Sinjar, which local authorities say it is too little compared to the extent of its destruction

"A box has been set up in Iraq to raise money for the reconstruction of Sinjar. As far as we know, they have allocated 50 billion dinars for reconstruction projects. This amount is not sufficient. Even a hospital cannot be built with this amount. Sinjar is in ruins. We want strategic projects to be implemented in Sinjar," Sinjar Mayor Naif Saydo stated.

Nearly 900 Yezidi families have registered to return to Sinjar. Some have returned, and they live in tents, he said.

The Yezidi town of Sinjar remains heavily militarized, drawing frequent air strikes targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) outposts. The presence of paramilitary groups including the Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi forces continues to hinder the implementation of the Sinjar Accord, discouraging IDPs from returning to their places of origin.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/812142

All armed paramilitary groups MUST leave Yazidi lands

[Anthea]

Remains handed to families

The bodies of 39 Yazidis who were killed and buried in mass graves during the genocidal attacks of ISIS in 2014 have been handed over to their families after identification

At least 85 mass graves have been discovered in Shengal (Sinjar) after the genocidal attacks launched by ISIS on the Yazidi town in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) in August 2014.

The Baghdad Forensic Medicine Institute announced on June 19 that the identification of 39 more victims in mass graves had been completed.

The remains of the identified victims were taken from Baghdad to Shengal and handed over to families in a ceremony attended by hundreds of people at the Em Shibabîk checkpoint between Tal Afar and Shengal.

The remains of the victims were buried in family cemeteries in Shengal after a ceremony according to the culture and belief of the Yazidi community.

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German guilty of enslaving Yazidi woman

The Higher Regional Court of Koblenz convicted 37-year-old German citizen and former Islamic State (ISIS) member Nadine K. on Wednesday of unlawfully possessing weapons of war and keeping a 22-year-old Yazidi woman as a “household slave.” Nadine K was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment

The defendant is a German citizen who met her husband, who was a Syrian doctor, in 2013 and converted to his religion, Islam. The couple then moved to Syria in 2014 and willingly joined the IS, after which they moved again to Iraq, where the husband worked as a doctor for the IS.

The court found that in April 2016, the husband took the then-21-year-old Yazidi woman, who had been abducted from her homeland and taken by the ISIS after several transfers, as a slave. The ISIS gave her to him as a “gift.”

The victim was with Nadine K. and her husband for a period of three years, during which she was forced to cook, clean, and care for their animals and daughters. She was not allowed to leave the house unaccompanied or contact her family. The husband also regularly raped the victim, with the knowledge of Nadine K.

In late 2016, the couple moved back to Syria, bringing the victim, and remained there until March 2019, when the Kurdish forces arrested them and imprisoned the husband. In March 2021, Nadine K. went back to Germany and was arrested by German authorities at the Frankfurt International Airport.

The court concluded that while staying in Iraq and Syria, the defendant and her husband clearly viewed the witness as their “property.” She was convicted of offenses including crimes against humanity through enslavement, deprivation of liberty and persecution, aiding and abetting in genocide through extermination, and aiding and abetting in crimes against humanity through extermination, expulsion, and sexual violence. The defendant was also acquitted of a looting charge.

According to the German International Criminal Code, genocide includes the killing of a group member by force, with the intent to destroy the whole group. The case is not the first one in Germany involving accusations of genocide against the Yazidi community. In November 2021, an Iraqi national was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Frankfurt court for killing a five-year-old Yazidi girl.

In addition to genocide, the court was also convinced that during their stay in Iraq, Nadine K. and her husband had been keeping Kalashnikov assault rifles and other weapons without the necessary licenses or permits in violation of the German War Weapons Control Act.

The decision is not final and is appealable to the Federal Court of Justice of Germany.

https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/06/ger ... idi-woman/

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Woman wants to a witness

Yazidi woman Sûrî Xelef, who lost two sons in the ISIS genocide in Shengal, wants to appear as a witness at the trials in north-eastern Syria. Currently, however, there is still a lack of capacity to manage these trials without international support

Western Kurdistan (Autonomous Administration) announced on 10 June that it would try foreign ISIS members in its own people's courts. This follows years of unsuccessful appeals to the states of origin to set up an international court to punish the crimes committed by ISIS.

More than ten thousand ISIS members from over sixty countries are held in Western Kurdistan prisons, and some 60,000 ISIS family members are in camps such as Camp al-Hol.

"In its decision to judge crimes on its own soil, an essential factor for Western Kurdistan was the availability of reliable evidence and, above all, witnesses, such as survivors of ISIS crimes," writes Ibrahim Murad in a guest commentary for Taz. And indeed, more and more people are coming forward to testify at the trials.

One of them is Sûrî Xelef, who lost two sons in the ISIS attack on 3 August 2014 in Shengal (Sinjar) in northern Iraq. She says that the brutality she experienced haunts her and that it is difficult to describe the pain of losing her two children.

The ISIS massacre in Shengal, which was recognised as genocide against the Yazidi community by the German Parliament (Bundestag) in January, is described by the Yazidis as the 73rd genocide (or ferman as Yazidis call it) in their history of persecution.

It is estimated that about 10,000 people fell victim to the genocide. Over 7,000 women and children were abducted by ISIS, more than 400,000 people were driven from their homes and thousands more are still missing.

Sûrî Xelef experienced the massacre in the village of Siba Şêx Xidir. She tells how the Islamists invaded the village with black flags and swords in their hands. The people fled and her family decided to split up and take three different routes to the mountains of Shengal to meet there. She never saw her sons again. "I don't know if my two sons were killed or kidnapped. Maybe they died of thirst in the desert."

The families of the victims are ready to attend any court to demand the rights of their children, says Sûrî Xelef. To this day, the fate of thousands of missing persons remains unresolved, and ISIS continues to pose a great danger: "I will go to court as a victim and tell them what happened to me.

I will tell them the number of victims and the number of injured. The fate of our women and children is still unclear. The night the ISIS kidnapped the women, they gave them the flesh of the children to eat. What religion allows this? All religions condemn this cruel act."

However, the processes will require large financial, logistical and legal resources. According to Murad Ibrahim, EU member states should provide the necessary support and to cooperate with it in accordance with applicable international law.

"It seems that there is a lack of awareness of the danger posed by the camps and prisons in northern and eastern Syria. If the international community continues to ignore the problem, there is a threat of more terrorist attacks, especially in Europe," said Ibrahim Murad.