Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

[Anthea]

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Germany recognizes Yazidi genocide

The German parliament on Thursday recognized the 2014 crimes committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) against the Yazidi community in Iraq as genocide, reported media outlets, in what was referred to as “an essential step in overcoming the trauma” of the ethnic minority group

The legislature unanimously approved a proposal made by the Petitions Committee to recognize the crimes as genocide, reported the German T-Online.

Germany joins the United Nations, the European parliament, and other nations including the United States, Belgium, Canada, and the Netherlands that have already recognized ISIS crimes against the Yazidis as genocide.

Members of the Greens parliamentary bloc welcomed the decision.

“A life in security and peace, internationally - that must be our goal for the Yazidi community," the outlet cited Greens MP Max Lucks as saying.

Germany houses dozens of Yazidi diaspora. It is among the few countries that have taken legal action against the militant group.

A German court in November sentenced an ISIS member to life imprisonment, after finding him guilty of genocide and war crimes against a Yazidi woman and her five-year-old daughter. The landmark ruling was the first ever conviction of an ISIS member for genocide.

ISIS swept across Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014. Minority groups especially suffered under the terror group's rule, including Yazidis, Shabaks, and Christians.

More than 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped when ISIS attacked their heartland of Shingal in Nineveh province, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis. Over 2,000 remain missing.

The United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh/ISIL in Iraq and the Levant (UNITAD) stated in May 2021 that they had established “clear and convincing evidence” that ISIS had committed genocide against the Yazidis.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/08072022

[Anthea]

Yezidis award Kurdish city

ZAKHO (Kurdistan 24) - Yezidis in the Cham Mishko internally displaced person camp in the Kurdistan Region's Zakho awarded representatives in the city for sheltering them for the past eight years

A festival dubbed "Zakho and Sinjar are one soul" was organized on July 6 by the non-governmental Hivi Group and Lalish cultural center inside Cham Mishko camp. The camp hosts over 20,000 displaced Yezidis from Sinjar.

The festival's main aim was to honor the people of Zakho through their representatives and officials for what the Yezidi displaced representatives called the warmest welcome, treatment, and help they have received and continue receiving from them.

Held in a humble field inside Cham Mishko camp, the festival started with some of the Yezidi MPs and officials praising people of Zakho from all backgrounds for receiving them with open arms in 2014 when they had to flee the ferocious attack on Sinjar that killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands.

Yezidi prince Hazem Tahseen Beg, political and religious Yezidi leaders each handed Zakho officials from different departments an award as a token of appreciation.

In August 2014, Zakho was one of the first places to receive the displaced, given its proximity to Sinjar. People in Zakho opened the doors of their homes, mosques, church, and schools to shelter the displaced from Sinjar.

Nechirvan Shekh Shamo, a Yezidi lawyer in the festival, expressed the gratitude of Yezidis by saying that Yezidis don't throw stones in the water spring they drink from and that it's part of Yezidi culture to deliver thanks when due.

Sinjar Art Group, founded in 1981, performed multiple traditional dances from Sinjar wearing traditional Yezidi clothes.

Khalaf Hali, a well-known Yezidi folklore singer, also sang at the festival. He told Kurdistan 24 that he hopes all displaced Yezidis can eventually return home and this festival can be held in Sinjar.

Mahma Khalil, a Yezidi member of Iraq's council of representatives, explained that Zakho region sent their sons to help liberate Sinjar from ISIS in addition to aiding and sheltering the Yezidis.

Elif Khalo, a Yezidi IDP, said it was an emotional moment when Dayi Shami Dero, known as the mother of Sinjar martyrs, gave an appreciation award to a mother from Zakho whose Peshmerga sons died fighting ISIS.

Link to Article - Photos:

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/28 ... or-8-years

[Anthea]

Yazidis in Afrin on brink of disappearance ​

On January 20, 2018, squadrons of Turkish warplanes appeared in the sky just before sunset, marking the start of Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch alongside members of the Syrian National Army. The military operation, however, brought something else to the people of Afrin

Though unacknowledged, there was a considerable Yazidi population in Afrin. The east and south of Afrin formed the largest contiguous settlement area of Yazidis in Syria.

Previously marginalized, Yazidis gained momentum under the egalitarian Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, thanks to the fundamental Article 33 of the Social Contract.

While their presence is engulfed by uncertainty, Yazidis are believed to have inhabited Afrin as far back as the 12th century. However, abundant religious shrines and archaeological sites attest to their long-standing presence in the area. Khirbet Lalesh in Raco and the village of Marata, among many others, all bear witness that Yazidis have their roots deep in Afrin history.

In 2012 Afrin fell to the full control of Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) after Syrian regime forces withdrew from northern areas. As Aleppo plunged into war, Afrin was gradually developing its administration.

In 2013, the Yazidi Union was founded. It served as a communal reference for the Yazidis of Afrin. Many associations came into being. However, the flourishing of the Yazidi culture in Afrin was curtailed in January 2018.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 58 Yazidi villages in Afrin, according to Sulaiman Cafer, Afrin Yazidi researcher and co-chair of the Afrin Judiciary Council, said. However, before the launch of Turkey’s operation, Yazidis lived in some 22 mixed villages and in Afrin's city center. Notably, of the 22 villages, Bafloun, Qibar, Qatmeh, Basoufan, and Shadeira were purely Yazidi.

Geographically, Yazidi villages are located in the east and south of Afrin extending from Qestel Jindo in the north, taking a southwest direction up to the village of Shadeira, close to Mount Leiloun (Mount Simeon) in the south.

This geographic isolation was important as it gave protection to Yazidis against atrocities similar to those committed against the ethnic group in Shingal.

Many were hopeful that the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) will ensure the Yazidi survival. However, things went a different way.

The Yazidi villages functioned as a shield and a de-facto border for Afrin. This weakened the sense of religion in the community as it opened the path for religious conversion, mostly to Islam, which was seen as a shield of protection.

Kurdish researcher Marwan Barakat argues that ''originally, the majority of Afrin Kurds were Yazidis. However, over time - due to Islamization, among others - they converted to Islam. "

With no official consensus made by successive Syrian governments, there were 50 thousand to 60 thousand Yazidis in Afrin before 2011.

In 2014, about 35 thousand Yazidis were living in Afrin. However, the violent takeover of Afrin and the ensued human rights abuses led to the mass forcible displacement of the Yazidis of that area.

''There are now roughly 2000 Yazidis remaining in Afrin.'' Suad Hiso, the current co-chair of the Afrin Yazidi Union, said via WhatsApp. Nearly 90 percent of the Yazidi community has left - either fleeing the area ahead of the arrival of armed forces or were forcibly evicted after the forces arrived.

Historically, Afrin was inhabited by a tolerant Muslim population. Muslims, Alawites, Turkmen, Armenians, Christians, Kurds, Arabs, and Yazidis lived in peaceful communal coexistence.

''All peoples of Afrin lived on peaceful terms. There had never been communal prejudice against Yazidis in Afrin which was an oasis of religious freedom,” Barakat maintained.

The Yazidi community of Afrin was not a strict or tightly closed one in the sense that marriages to non-Yazidis (Kurds) were allowed.

However, with all the 19 shrines falling under the control of radical Islamic armed factions, it is impossible for those remaining to practice their rituals openly and freely.

According to reports, almost 18 out of the 19 shrines and sanctuaries have been wholly or partially desecrated or destroyed.

Shreds of evidence of demographic engineering and forcible displacement and resettlement are overwhelming. With no aid received from abroad, the plight of the Afrin Yazidis continues to be largely ignored.

Turkey, however, has shown little interest to address such abuses or to protect the cultural and religious life of the people of Afrin.

Since Afrin was occupied, three Yazidi men - Omar Shamo Mamo, Nuri Jimo Omar Sheref, and Khaled Abdo Elo - and two women - Fatima Hamke and Nergis Daud - were killed on separate occasions. Three families lost their lives in a landmine explosion while seeking safety.

Sixty Yazidis were arbitrarily arrested, including 15 women. As some were released others are still held allegedly for ransom, according to Hiso.

In the current situation of unruliness, cases of abduction, extortion, arbitrary detention, torture, and forced religious conversions are very common occurrences. They are seen as methods of demographic change.

The center of the Yazidi Union was turned into a Muslim religious school

Mosques were built in Yazidi villages. Hiso claimed that Islam is being imposed on Yazidi children

‘‘Settlements are built in Yazidi villages with the mere object of engineering a demographic change in Afrin'', she added.

While Yazidis of Afrin remain shattered as one of the most affected groups their disappearance from Afrin will however lead to an end to the religious diversity there.

Lazghine Ya'qoube is a translator and researcher focusing on the modern history of Mesopotamia, with a special focus on Yazidi and Assyrian affairs in Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/opinion/26072022

[Anthea]

Eight Years Into Yazidi Genocide

Viyan still bleeds. She bravely escaped Da'esh, also known as ISIS, at the age of 16 after over five years of captivity. She was just about to start the sixth grade when she was thrown into a truck less than two weeks after Da'esh invaded and occupied the Sinjar mountains and nearby villages in Iraq

Viyan withstood a vicious cycle of genocidal enslavement—six times as a sex slave for the perverted pleasures of dehumanizing militants and seven times as a forced domestic slave with heavy household chores and labor, as well as the convoluted responsibility of taking care of Da'esh children. In total, she was traded, exchanged, and gifted to 13 Da'esh families while in captivity, surviving four pregnancies and four forced abortions, of which two were of her own doing, throwing herself down the stairs in desperation after learning two of her Da'esh traffickers wanted to keep the child.

One day in the life of a Da'esh slave, she managed to contact her family with vague details on where she believed she was being held. They spent three months borrowing and saving money to hire a smuggler who worked undercover to find Viyan. Agreeing on a dangerous, life-threatening escape plan, she fled Da'esh territory one week later.

Viyan is one of the 3,545 Yazidis, an ethno-religious minority Indigenous to northern Iraq, who escaped captivity or were rescued from Da'esh strongholds between 2014 and 2020 with statistics still not officially disclosed for 2021-2022. They call her lucky. Except, Viyan now lives in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp near Dohuk, Sinjar miles away from where was once home.

Lynn first met Viyan in 2019 when the Yazidi Survivors Network (YSN) was just established by Yazda, a Yazidi community-led grassroots institution. Today, Viyan is one of the most active survivors at a public speaking coaching course for the Yazidi Survivors Network at Yazda, which has helped a dozen Yazidi survivors take the global stage and share their stories with the world.

This year Viyan turns 18, legally entering adulthood although she never had the privilege of a childhood. Eight years out of school. Eight years of malnourishment of body, mind, and soul. Eight years of a series of episodes of enslavement from sexual trafficking as a weapon of genocide inflicted by perverted, power-starved terrorists to forced displacement in an unhygienic, unsafe, and unsustainable camp managed by international capital and global governance. Eight years of a life not worth living.

About 360,000 Yazidis have been displaced, and it is a growing reality that this might be permanent collateral damage. An estimated 200,000 still live in globally funded IDP camps in atrocious conditions. An update obtained from the Office of Kidnapped Yazidis in Iraq in July 2022 states 2,760 Yazidi women and children are still missing. No efforts are being made to find and rescue them.

Eight years into the Yazidi genocide since Aug. 3, 2014, this crime of crimes continues in new monstrous forms and institutional ways. Today, Sinjar remains a destroyed conflict zone that is unable to help itself since Da'esh fell as a non-state caliphate. Sinjaris from all minority communities continue to try their best to return home with no support. The majority have been re-displaced; many have returned to the IDP camps.

When Frank first visited the Sinjar Mountains and town of Sinjar in August 2017, three years into the genocide, he was struck by the full uprooting of people and complete devastation of land. When he returned to Iraq in 2019, five years into the genocide, what was more incomprehensible than how far-reaching this genocide has been was how little remorse the world has shown toward a people that continue to suffer, and very simply put, need all our help. As a grandfather and father, Frank cannot imagine what the families of the still-missing Yazidi women, girls and boys must be thinking of the world we live in.

As an Armenian Arab peacebuilder, Lynn cannot imagine what could be taking the world so long. We have more than disappointed the Yazidi people; we have proven to them that we do not know how to be their much-needed allies so that peace can win over evil.

The international friends of the Yazidi cause—the same countries that were so determined to defeat Da'esh militarily and culturally—must showcase the same commitment, rigor, and agility to the Yazidis, Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs, and all other communities whose lives were uprooted by terrorists.

First, the policy of global inaction must be acknowledged and rejected. Second, support and diplomatic mediation must be prioritized to re-think and re-activate the Sinjar Agreement, one that ensures a strategic and inclusive recovery and rebuilding of Sinjar. Third, the international community must step up to guarantee security, infrastructure, services, socio-economic assets, and housing are provided in Sinjar. Fourth, an integrated and coherent strategy to exit the permanence of the IDP camps in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region must be drafted and disclosed. Fifth, a task force to rescue the Yazidi women and children still held captive since the first days of genocide must be established and funded.

Humanitarian aid needs to transform into a long-term social investment strategy that is Sinjar first for all Sinjaris. But this can only happen if community-led governance committees are established and empowered, equipping the Yazidis, Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs, and other communities with far overdue decision-making power.

Global recognition of the Yazidi genocide was always meant to only be the beginning. Today, it is in the hands of national and international governments to make sure that Viyan and her entire community are safely and happily back home soon.

Frank Wolf is former congressman for the 10th congressional district of Virginia, he served 17 terms in office for 34 consecutive years.

Lynn Zovighian is the co-founder and managing director of The Zovighian Partnership (ZP). A philanthropist, she also manages the ZP Public Office.

Both co-authors began to serve the Yazidi people in 2015 at the onset of the genocide committed by Da'esh, and would like to extend special thanks to Natia Navrouzov and the Yazda Yazidi Survivors Network (YSN) team for their imperative contributions to this piece.

To honor survivors-centered protection protocols for personal security, Viyan is a combined pseudonym and persona of two Yazidi women who are members of the Yazidi Survivors Network (YSN) at Yazda.

Note on data: Given the dearth of official statistics, some of the above data points are directly collected from Yazidi community facing organizations and initiatives. This data represents the latest information made available to the co-authors at the time of writing this opinion piece.

https://www.newsweek.com/eight-years-ya ... on-1728528

[Anthea]

8th anniversary of Yazidi genocide

3 August marks the eighth anniversary of the start of the genocide by the Islamic State against the Yazidi population of Shengal

The attacks that began on that day in 2014 not only led to a humanitarian catastrophe, but also aimed to wipe out the Yazidi religious community through systematic massacre, rape, torture, expulsion, enslavement of girls and women and the forced recruitment of boys as child soldiers.

The Yazidi community suffered the 74th genocide in their history, which they call Ferman. More than 10,000 people fell victim to ISIS crimes and more than 400,000 people were driven from their homes. At least 7,000 women and children were abducted. More than a third of them are still missing today. Therefore, this genocide in its form also represents a femicide.

The Yazidi women's umbrella organization (SMJÊ), the Europe-wide network of Kurdish women's movement (TJK-E) and other organizations from the Yazidi-Kurdish spectrum are calling for a nationwide commemoration on the occasion of the anniversary of this genocide and femicide. In a joint statement, they point out that Shengal is now free from ISIS terror.

However, the struggle for self-determination and self-government of the Yazidi people is overshadowed by the interests of local and international powers. In addition, Shengal is repeatedly bombed by the Turkish air force and what remains of ISIS. "We demand peace in Shengal and a reappraisal of the genocide and femicide. On 3 August we want to share our sadness, anger and determination together.”

In many cities, demonstrations, rallies and different actions are planned for Wednesday, and a minute's silence is also being called for 11am

A first list of actions in Germany is as follows:

Achim: Rally | Marketplace | 5pm

Berlin: Rally | Brandenburg Gate | 6pm (from 4pm. information stand)

Bielefeld: Demonstration | Central Station | 5pm

Bremen: Rally | Bremen citizenship | 4pm

Celle: information stand | Poststrasse/corner Stechbahn | 12pm to 4pm

Darmstadt: Rally | Luisenplatz | 6pm

Dortmund: Rally | Battle Street | 6.30pm

Essen: Commemoration | Old Synagogue | 7.30pm

Frankfurt: commemoration and rally | Ni Una Menos Square (Liebfrauenberg) | 6pm

Hamburg: Rally | Jungfernstieg, 4pm

Hamelin: Demonstration | Central Station | 2.30pm

Hanover: rally/demonstration | Central Station/Ernst-August-Platz | 5pm

Kiel: Rally | Europe Square | 3pm

Cologne: Commemoration | Domplatte | 10am to 12.30pm

Mannheim: Rally | parade ground | 6pm

Saarbrücken: Rally | Europe Gallery | 630pm

Stuttgart: Rally | Palace Square | 6pm

Wesel: Demonstration | At the Berlin Gate | 4pm

https://anfenglishmobile.com/human-righ ... cide-61548

[Anthea]

Yazidi Post-Genocide Plight

Challenges 8 Years on

Aug. 3 marks the eight-year anniversary of the Yazidi genocide

The genocide, perpetrated by ISIS and formally recognized by the United Nations, United States, European Parliament, and other bodies, included mass executions, a codified system of enslavement, mass rape, and nearly every crime imaginable against the Yazidi people, an ethno-religious group Indigenous to northern Iraq.

Shockingly, Yazidis are worse off now than last year. In Sinjar, the ancestral Yazidi homeland, external and local forces have contributed to increased instability.

Militias and their allies hold divergent agendas for control of Sinjar, which bridges geopolitically important areas, including northeast Syria, federal Iraq, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and mountains where Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been fighting for decades

Provincial, regional, and national decision-makers in Iraq have demonstrated an inability to address governance and security issues, which the stalled Sinjar Agreement tried and failed to address. This has left Yazidis in limbo, losing hope of recovery, rebuilding, or returns for internally displaced persons (IDP).

Turkey

Turkey has played a highly destabilizing role in Syria and Iraq and continues to do so. In Afrin, Syria, Turkish-backed militias continue ethnic cleansing against Yazidis and others. Afrin is now a hotbed for extremist terror groups.

Turkey also threatens a military operation in northeast Syria, the U.S.-led coalition's allies in northeast Syria, which could result in the resurgence of ISIS and prison breaks. ISIS leaders Al-Baghdadi and Al-Qurayshi were both discovered and targeted hiding right on the Turkish border, where they apparently felt most comfortable.

In Iraq, Turkey has established over 100 military outposts and five major bases throughout the north, including one meters away from the Yazidi-majority town of Bashiqa. Turkey's air force regularly bombs Yazidi genocide survivors in Sinjar, ostensibly to fight against its PKK foes.

Last month Turkey bombed the Kurdish-majority town of Zakho, killing and wounding many civilians. This time Iraqi authorities reacted forcefully. As Yazidis, it is difficult to understand why the deaths of scores of Yazidis in Sinjar, including the murder of an 8-year-old child in June, never elicited an equal response—another example of unequal treatment of Yazidis in Iraq.

Iraq

Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) concluded the Sinjar Agreement, designed to resolve tensions in Sinjar. One might argue it has achieved the opposite effect. And with Iraqi domestic politics currently in disarray in Baghdad, with other issues in focus, a solution is not soon forthcoming. Meanwhile, on the ground in Sinjar, militias compete for control, including those backed by Iran. It is a complex situation.

Thousands of Yazidis fought against ISIS in Sinjar to defend their homeland, forming a variety of groups, including the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS). The Sinjar Agreement makes the logical argument that militias should not remain in Sinjar.

However, it appeared this was designed to target the YBS without any disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration plan or consideration of Yazidis after surviving genocide. No just solution can include assassination of Yazidi genocide survivors who are Sinjar's native inhabitants.

Yazidis who carried arms in 2014, including YBS, should be fully integrated into Iraq's security architecture and form a non-political force capable of defending the area. And many Yazidis have made clear that the PKK should not choose Sinjar as the location for its activities—the residents of Sinjar deserve peace and stability, not conflict.

Justice

Eight years after a widely publicized genocide, one might assume there have been hundreds of indictments and stiff sentences. Not so. While we commend the work of the U.N.'s investigative body, UNITAD, and war crimes prosecution offices, accountability is moving too slowly. If Turkey invades northeast Syria again, ISIS prison breaks are more likely, further reducing prospects of justice.

Foreign states have largely eschewed pursuit of meaningful accountability for their citizens held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). ISIS perpetrators in Europe rarely face accountability for human rights violations—more often receiving slap-on-the-wrist sentences for joining a proscribed terror organization.

The crime of genocide cannot go unpunished in the 21st century. The entire international community has failed in this regard. If a European joins ISIS, purchases a child on the slave market, rapes her, serves as a foreign fighter, and returns home to the West, terrorism is not his only crime. Charges for crimes against Yazidis must be brought in all appropriate jurisdictions.

Moving Forward

Crises in Ukraine and Afghanistan have rightly demanded the world's attention, resources, and support. But we must not forget other areas of concern. We ask the international community to support accountability and help Yazidis safely return to their homes, or if that is not possible, to accept them as refugees.

For Yazidis, the United States is the most important international actor. The U.S. was first to come to our rescue in 2014, and our community is forever grateful. American strategic, diplomatic and security leadership is essential and irreplaceable.

Iraq and Syria remain fragile and vulnerable to backsliding, which could lead to a long and costly engagement. We urge our American and European friends to be pro-active, continue the fight against ISIS, and ensure minority protection remains a top pillar of foreign policy.

Yazidis used to live in great numbers in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. We call our land Ezidkhan—the land of Yazidis. Our community was decimated in Turkey years ago. Yazidis are in their last days of existence in Syria. The future does not look promising in Iraq.

The ISIS campaign to eradicate Yazidis should not be allowed to succeed. To prevent that from happening, Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, and the international community, should pay serious attention to the plight of our people.

Pari Ibrahim is the founder and executive director of the Free Yezidi Foundation.

Murad Ismael is the president and co-founder of Sinjar Academy and co-founder of Yazda.

https://www.newsweek.com/yazidi-post-ge ... on-1728933

[Anthea]

Yazidi plight prevails eight years on

Thousands of Yazidis remain missing, mostly in captivity, eight years on from the genocide committed against the ethnoreligious group at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS) in their heartland of Shingal with their plight continuing to spark concern about whether enough has been done to rescue them

The majority of Yazidis continue to live harsh lives in camps, as poor services and security prevent them from returning home to Shingal. Their situation is worsened by the lack of cooperation between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), bringing further discomfort to already troubled lives seeking a safe path back to their heartland, Khayri Bozani, the former head of Yazidi affairs at the KRG's endowment ministry told Rudaw English on Monday.

Eight years after the tyrannical occupation of Shingal by ISIS, more than 2 thousand Yazidis are still held captives by the militant group and over 300,000 live in the Kurdistan Region, many of whom linger in camps and live well below the poverty line, according to statistics from Rescue Kidnapped Yazidis office sent to Rudaw English by Bozani.

"Most of the Yazidis are IDPs [internally displaced persons] and live in 21 camps across the Kurdistan Region, and their situation is honestly appalling and very bad," Bozani said, further stressing that the non-governmental organizations who originally pledged to support the community "have mostly ceased their operations."

Yazidis suffered particularly brutal treatment under ISIS

The terror group overran the Yazidi heartland of Shingal in August 2014, committing genocide against the ethnoreligious group. More than 6 thousand Yazidis were abducted and thousands remain missing with little done to bring solace to the rescued.

The majority of captives are held in northwest Syria's (Rojava) notorious al-Hol camp, Bozani said. The camp is infamously branded a breeding ground for terrorism, a "ticking time bomb," and is a facility where ISIS sleeper cells maintain very strong influence and carry out dozens of killings every month.

Bozani attributed the lack of Yazidi returnees from the camp to a thorny relationship between the KRG and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who control the camp, saying it is difficult to repatriate those at al-Hol due to the "bad cooperation" between both sides.

Although Shingal was liberated in 2015, much of the area still lies in ruins. Other parts of the district have scarce facilities, including hospitals and schools

The presence of armed groups vying for control of the strategic area has also been cited as a factor preventing Yazidis from returning home. Fierce clashes broke out between the Iraqi army and the all-Yazidi Shingal Resistance Units (YBS), a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in May, forcing thousands of the restless community to flee the heartland they fled in horror in 2014 once again.

In addition to the clashes, the constant threat of Turkish airstrikes also hampers any Yazidis from potentially returning to normalcy in Shingal. Ankara has repeatedly targeted the YBS in Shingal, killing many of the force's commanders and soldiers.

Despite the challenges facing the KRG in rescuing Yazidis from ISIS captivity, efforts to rescue members of the community continue, Bozani stressed, adding that a Yazidi child was returned from captivity one week ago.

The exhumation of mass graves of ISIS victims continues to take place in the vicinity of Shingal. Eighty-three mass graves have been found in Shingal since ISIS attacked the area, in addition to tens of single graves, according to Rescue Kidnapped Yazidis office.

The remains of 145 Yazidis were laid to rest in Shingal’s Kocho after being excavated from mass graves last year.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/03082022

[Anthea]

Implementation of Shingal agreement

Iraqi and Kurdish leaders on Wednesday 3 August, along with Yazidis, commemorated the eighth anniversary of the Yazidi genocide at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Shingal as over 2 thousand members of the ethnoreligious group remain in captivity of the terror group with their families holding out hope of their return

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Yazidi figures, and other Kurdish officials attended an event held in remembrance of the atrocities committed by ISIS against the Yazidis in Duhok’s Semel district.

“This was the greatest tragedy of the 21st century inflicted on Yazidis and the people of Kurdistan [Region],” President Barzani said in a speech delivered at the event.

The Yazidi genocide was another “episode of murderous crimes in the history of Kurdistan and another round of mass murders against the Yazidis,” he added.

On August 3, 2014, ISIS militants took over the Shingal district of northern Iraq, committing genocide against the Yazidi minority. Thousands fled their homes as the militants systematically killed men and older women, and enslaved younger women and children. In the first days of the genocide, 1,293 people were killed and 6,417 people were abducted.

Today, 3.000 Yazidis are still missing, according to statistics from the Rescue Kidnapped Yazidis office. Many are believed to be held by ISIS fighters and families who melted back into their former lives when their so-called caliphate fell or are detained in camps in Western Kurdistan (Rojava Kurdistani).

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in a statement said the heinous ISIS crime “shook the conscience of humanity and the Kurdistani [Kurdish] nation.”

Approximately 6,417 Yazidis were kidnapped by ISIS. Women and young girls were sold into sexual slavery, with young boys forced to fight for the terror group. According to the Office for Yazidi Abductees' Affairs, 3,554 have been rescued - including 1,207 women.

The premier also highlighted the security situation in Shingal, which remains fragile due to the presence of “armed groups” in the area, preventing Yazidis from returning home.

There is a myriad of armed forces in Shingal with various allegiances, including the Kurdistan Region Peshmerga, pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic), and groups affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). They gained footholds in Shingal after ousting ISIS.

Disputes over control of the area have prevented most of the Yazidi population from going back to Shingal.

Kurdistan Democratic Party Leader (KDP) Masoud Barzani also called for the expulsion of the armed groups from the area, saying it is the “first step” in healing the wounds of Yazidis

The Kurdish leaders also renewed their calls for the implementation of the Shingal agreement.

Diplomatic missions in Iraq and the Region also commemorated the Yazidi genocide.

United Nations Iraq said “peace, development, and accountability” is key for the Yazidi community to flourish as they have “still not achieved the peace and prosperity” they deserve.

US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski also called for the implementation of the Shingal agreement.

Baghdad reached a deal with the KRG in October of 2020 over the governance and security of Shingal to resolve a number of issues preventing its displaced people from returning to the area.

Under the Erbil-Baghdad agreement, security for the troubled region will be Baghdad's responsibility. The federal government will have to establish a new armed force recruited from the local population and expel fighters from the PKK and their affiliated groups.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/030820221

[Anthea]

5 August 2014

The date we first heard about the attack on the Yazidis

On the 6 August, we could not believe that nobody was doing anything to protect the Yazidis, we posted an appeal for support from Jawad Mella. He also contacted various agencies to gain support.

The massacre of Yazidis in Kocho started on 15 August

Over a week had passed and the world did NOTHING to save these gentle people

When a coalition was eventually formed to rid Sinjar pf ISIS, in so doing they - as in the coalition - destroyed many of the buildings

It turned out that the coalition was happy to drop expensive bombs BUT have failed to rebuild the Yazidi towns they helped to destroy

Now that the ISIS has been removed from Yazidi land, an assortment of armed groups have taken control, many wandering the streets wearing full combat gear including complete facial covering

Let us not forget Turkey dropping bombs on Sinjar

Many Yazidis have left Sinjar for good, thousands more are living in terror in camps shared with murderous ISIS supporters

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP THE YAZIDIS

RID SINJAR OF INTIMIDATING ARMED GROUPS

REBUILD YAZIDI TOWNS

ALLOW YAZIDIS TO RETURN HOME

AND LIVE IN PEACE AND SAFETY

[Anthea]

KRG will do whatever it can to

alleviate Yezidi suffering

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani vowed that his government would do whatever it can to alleviate the suffering of the Yezidi (Ezidi) community on Tuesday, the Yezidi Peak of Summer festival

The prime minister extended his “warm congratulations” to the Yezidis in the Kurdistan Region and around the globe, expressing his hope that the followers of the faith could celebrate the feast in a peaceful atmosphere.

Known in Kurdish as Çileya Havînê Feast, the festival marks the 40th day of summer. It is celebrated on Aug. 2 every year. Yezidis believe attending the event is a way to atone for one’s sins.

Thousands of followers participate in the festival each year, which is held at Lalish Temple in the Duhok Province’s Shekhan.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani also congratulated the Yezidis on Tuesday and reiterated pledges to bring back missing Yezidis.

The Yezidis of Sinjar were subjected to a campaign of genocide by ISIS beginning in August 2014. Thousands of Yezidi women were sexually enslaved by the militants. The fate of thousands more remains unknown.

The Yezidis have endured more than 70 genocides throughout their history.

Many Yezidis still reside in the displaced person camps in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province. Continued instability and lack of reconstruction in Sinjar have made it difficult for Yezidis to return.

Furthermore, recent clashes between Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-affiliated militias and the Iraqi Army once again displaced Yezidis who had attempted to return home.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/29 ... PM-Barzani

[Anthea]

Turkey targets Yazidis

But allow ISIS to roam free: Yazidi MP

The Turkish government insists on opposing Iraq’s Yazidi community working to build their self-defence in the Sinjar region and the Yazidi refugees in Turkey, said Feleknas Uca, the only Yazidi MP in Turkey.

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP spoke as she submitted a proposal to the Turkish parliament for Turkey to recognise the 2014 Yazidi massacre by the fundamentalist Islamic State (ISIS) as genocide.

Uca said Turkey’s military threats continue towards Sinjar of Iraqi Kurdistan, the primary homeland of the Yezidis where the genocide took place eight years ago. “However, the Yazidi people fortify their self defence and continue to uphold their will.”

Turkey blatantly overlooks the presence of high-ranking ISIS members within its borders, Uca said. “ISIS amirs can enter Turkey and travel up to Ankara with ease; they are even allowed to settle down here,” she added.

Out of the thousands of Yazidi women ISIS abducted from the region, the fate of some 2,700 is still unknown.

Most of the women and girls abducted by ISIS were sold into slavery in Middle Eastern countries, Uca said. Meanwhile, several young women were rescued from ISIS amirs living in the Turkish capital over the years, with their families picking up their trail on the dark web.

“Some of these long-lost Yazidi women and girls being discovered in Ankara, right in the capital, is just tragic,” Uca said.

https://medyanews.net/turkey-targets-ya ... yazidi-mp/

[Anthea]

Yazidis may lose their land

After the genocide by the so-called ISIS against the Yazidis, which began on 3 August 2014 in the Shengal (Sinjar) region, tens of thousands were forced to flee their homes

A large part of the Yazidis who did not want to leave the region were accommodated in the Çem Mişko, Keber 1, Keber 2, Bacid Kendale, Şariye, Xankê, Qadiya and Erbad camps. Although eight years have passed since the genocide and Shengal has been liberated, the Yazidis continue to struggle for survival in the camps in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

The majority of Yazidis still live in the same tent

The Yazidis in the camps have to live under very poor living conditions: "They face difficulties in all areas of life. For example, most of them are still living in the tents they bought in 2014. Many tents have burnt down to this day and there are serious security problems in the tents. In short, life in the camps is not life."

As to the reasons why these Yazidis nevertheless do not return, Shengalî said: "One of the reasons is that the budgetary funds [of the Iraqi state] allocated for the construction of the region are still not spent on Shengal. The autonomous administration of Shengal is able to meet the needs of the population to a certain extent within the means and possibilities at its disposal. However, our facilities are inadequate and if the Iraqi government does not provide support, people cannot return and the problems with infrastructure and services cannot be solved."

Double standard of the central government

Merwan pointed out that there are serious problems in the area of public services, especially water and electricity, and that the autonomous administration of Shengal cannot deal with these problems alone. The central government in Baghdad should support the people of Shengal as much as the return of Iraqis to their land:

"Unfortunately, the government has double standards and the people of Shengal are deprived of this support. We want the Iraqi government to provide all kinds of material and moral support to those who want to return to Shengal, especially the payment of compensation for the material damage caused." The politician explained that this is not an obstacle to return, while the appointed governors of Shengal are always connected to some political forces and only promote their clientele.

There is no security problem in Shengal
(sadly untrue)

Regarding the allegations that there is no security in the region. "There is no security problem in Shengal, not even the sound of bullets can be heard. We ask those who have made these claims to answer the following question: Is South Kurdistan safe? ISIS carries out attacks every day in all regions of Iraq. Moreover, how can one speak of security when the territory of South Kurdistan is occupied both on land and from the air?

Shengal is also part of this region, and this is the Middle East. It is altogether a region where attacks and deaths can happen every day. However, Shengal is safer than other regions of South Kurdistan, because Shengal trusts in its own strength. If this were not the case and there was another power in Shengal, people would have left Shengal if something had happened. But there is no such thing now, people are fighting back despite all kinds of attacks from the Turkish state."

The people who do not return could lose their country

The Yazidis should return of their own will and not under pressure from the UN or Iraq, and continued: "After all the previous genocides and expulsions that the Yazidis have experienced, those who left their land did not return and their property and land were left to others. The same danger exists now. Those who do not return to Shengal now may lose their land later."

Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Turkmen have returned to Til Afar in the neighbourhood: "If these ethnic groups return and the Yazidis do not, then there is danger there. Because the unclaimed areas could be confiscated."

Why are those rescued from the hands of ISIS not brought to Shengal

Yazidi women and children who have been liberated from the hands of ISIS are deliberately taken abroad instead of being able to return to Shengal: "The freed people are taken abroad for treatment. This is part of the policy of displacing people from Shengal. They don't want the events and the resulting memories to stay alive here."

[Anthea]

Yazidis, between:

constant violence
international neglect

More than 200,000 Yazidis live in internally displaced persons camps and around 3,000 are still missing

"It will take hundreds of years to feel that genocide will not happen again against us," says Dilo Haskany, a journalist for Ezidi 24, eight years after the great massacres committed by Daesh against the Yazidi people. Haskany is part of the only independent media outlet for this minority, created in 2018. Until then, the Yazidis did not have media platforms that allowed them to express themselves, so, according to Haskany, "it was easy to spread lies with ease".

"Devil worshippers". This has been the most severe lie and accusation levelled against this ethno-religious group. Supported by this claim, based on complete ignorance about this millenary faith, different radical groups have carried out dozens of campaigns against the Yazidi people.

The genocide perpetrated by Daesh was the latest, but not the only one. Throughout their history, the Yazidis have been subjected to 74 genocides because of their religious beliefs. "Sunni Arabs, Turks, Muslim Kurds, British and the Ottomans have perpetrated genocidal attacks against this religious/national group," says Manuel Férez, professor of Middle East and Caucasus at the Alberto Hurtado University in Chile.

"Their belief system has been misunderstood by their Muslim neighbours because of the secrecy of their religious rites, the little contact the Yazidis had with the outside world and because it is not a religion that seeks followers outside the group," adds Férez.

Eight years after their last genocide, survivors continue to call for visibility and support as they demand justice. Eight years later, the massacres, kidnappings, rapes and forced exoduses are still very much present within this community.

It was the summer of 2014 and Daesh was spreading panic in parts of Syria and Iraq. After taking Mosul, hordes of jihadists moved into other areas of Iraq with the aim of expanding the caliphate - announced by its leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, after taking the city - and subjugating through violence all those who did not comply with the Sharia.

The terrorist group stormed Sinjar on 3 August 2014. Thus began the brutal genocide against the Yazidi people.

According to UN data, approximately 5,000 Yazidis were killed by the terrorist group, although the number could be higher, as more than 80 mass graves were found after the liberation of Sinjar.

In addition to mass executions, Daesh fighters abducted more than 6,000 Yazidis, mostly women and children. While minors were brainwashed into child soldiers, women were sexually enslaved and trafficked. After the defeat of Daesh, many were able to return to their families - others managed to escape earlier - although today more than 2,700 are still unaccounted for.

They are likely to be in areas formerly under the control of the terrorist organisation or in the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, which houses thousands of family members of jihadist fighters. Also, as Wahhab Hassoo, survivor and co-founder of the Dutch organisation NL Helpt Yazidi, recalls, many of the abducted Yazidi women were sold to Gulf sheikhs, while others are being held by Daesh women and are afraid to escape.yazidi-genocidio-daesh

Abducted and sexually abused Yazidi women face another major problem. Although most have been accepted and welcomed by their people, those who have had a child as a result of rape have not been able to return to the Yazidi community as these minors are registered as Muslims under Iraqi law, explains Hassoo. "They are doubly victimised: by Daesh and by Islamic law," he adds.

Yazidis do not escape insecurity and violence

Today, more than 200,000 Yazidis live in IDP camps, many of them in unsanitary conditions with no access to electricity and problems obtaining clean water.

Moreover, the survivors do not feel safe in their own country, where they are still the target of attacks and crimes. During this month - and coinciding with the eighth anniversary of the genocide - a six-year-old girl and her father were abducted in Zakho, Iraqi Kurdistan. A few days later, their bodies were found lifeless, the girl's body bearing signs of sexual violence.

Farouq Mirza, a Yazidi IDP & his 6 years daughter Akheen were murdered few days ago. Zakho Security Forces captured the criminal & he is in custody. A lot of info are out there including this criminal kidnapped & killed other kids in the past. We demand proper justice for them. pic.twitter.com/cjyPzmwpmi
— Murad Ismael (@murad_ismael) August 12, 2022

"Yazidis face unimaginable discrimination and persecution in their daily lives, forcing them to hide their identity, work in certain jobs and avoid going to certain areas," says Khari Shabo, an activist with the NGO Yezidi Emergency Support.

Nor do they feel safe in their own home, Sinjar, a recurrent target of Turkish air strikes and the scene of clashes between armed groups. "Sinjar is still considered a disputed area between Iraq and Kurdistan on the one hand, and the PKK and Turkey on the other," Shabo adds. This is preventing the return of Yazidis to Sinjar, as well as the reconstruction of infrastructure.

NI is supporting Sinuni General Hospital with a new x-ray facility & laboratory, rehabilitated drug store & garden area, & new shaded outdoor spaces for staff & patients. The completion of this project will help promote quality #healthcare in the Sinjar region. @AustrianDev pic.twitter.com/gCJJBkUVy8
— Nadia's Initiative (@nadiainitiative) August 25, 2022

The genocide has meant that many Yazidis do not feel part of Iraq. "After the fall of Mosul and the surrender of Sinjar to Daesh, the Yazidis no longer trust anyone," says Hassoo. However, the activist is grateful for the treatment of the survivors by the Kurds. "I think they are doing their best to help the Yazidis. However, their capacities are limited due to interference from neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Iran, as well as dependence on the Baghdad government," he explains.

However, another survivor acknowledges that both the Iraqi and Kurdish governments have failed to deliver on their promises. "They pledged to do everything they could to bring the Yazidis back to their homes, to rebuild their villages and to work to find the disappeared, but these promises are not being fulfilled," says the Yazidi, who chooses to protect his identity.

The future for Yazidis in Iraq and the region is bleak. As a result, an estimated 160,000 people have left the Middle East, according to figures from Yazda, one of several organisations providing aid to survivors of the genocide.

Yet violence pursues them even in places where they should be safe. In Hanover, Germany - home to a large Yazidi refugee community - a Yazidi man was recently killed during a genocide commemoration event by a radical Islamist.

"Yazidis are hardly spoken about"

Likewise, Yazidi refugees in Europe admit that their cause does not receive the support it deserves from governments. In the Old Continent, the vast majority of countries do not recognise the genocide. "France, Portugal and Germany are the only ones that have taken it seriously," says Hassoo. These three countries have facilitated the arrival of Yazidis and supported their cause. However, he notes that this recognition and support has been achieved thanks to pressure from Yazidi organisations. In Germany, moreover, two genocide convictions have already been handed down.

By contrast, other European nations such as the Netherlands have not been sufficiently involved. "They only help their citizens in Syria and Turkey," he says. Hassoo also admits that UNHCR's settlement programme in the country has not helped any Yazidis: "We have asked them several times, but they have not given us any information", he explains.

This lack of support and visibility also extends to the country's media, since, according to Hassoo, "they always report about the Dutch Daesh fighters and their children, but they hardly talk about the Yazidis".

In this regard, the Yazidis regret that the media sometimes fail to report on their current situation. According to some survivors, the main reason for not talking about the massacres committed and still being committed today is the fear that certain media or journalists will be accused of Islamophobia. "Any media coverage of radical Muslims killing innocent people will cause loss of profits and, of course, will be labelled as discrimination and Islamophobia," says Hassoo.

This is not the first time that Yazidi voices have been silenced for this reason. In November 2021, the Toronto school board cancelled a lecture by Yazidi survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad. The Canadian institution considered that her book The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, in which she recounts her captivity as a sex slave for Daesh, could be "offensive" and "promote Islamophobia".

Although Férez considers that this lack of visibility is due to the way in which the Middle East is viewed. "Normally the region is approached from the paradigm of the nation state and minority communities, such as the Yazidis, are marginalised and even made invisible," he explains. "As long as we do not look at ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity, we will continue to ignore the structural problems of the region", Férez concludes.

"Turkey did nothing to prevent foreign fighters from travelling"

One of the main goals of the Yazidi survivors is to bring all those involved in the genocide to justice. Not only the fighters and their wives - who actively participated in the enslavement of many Yazidi women and girls - but also those citizens of other countries who were in some way involved in the genocide.yazidi-genocidio-daesh

In this regard, a group of lawyers known as the Yazidi Justice Committee (YJC) has accused Turkey of complicity in the massacres, claiming that it failed to control its borders to stop the transit of Daesh fighters, including a high number of Turkish nationals. Férez also adds that the fighters "even received medical treatment" from Turkey. Meanwhile, Shukri Hamk, a Yazidi survivor, also recalls that many Yazidis have become victims of the recent Turkish bombardment of Sinjar.yazidi-genocidio-daesh

The report, published by The Guardian, also points to certain Gulf countries such as Qatar as accomplices, although insufficient evidence was presented.

"Many countries have financially supported Daesh, this is not a secret, everyone knows it. The evidence is sufficient, but no one will dare to hold the perpetrators of crimes against innocents accountable," says Haskany.

In addition to countries, Hassoo claims that several big tech companies were also involved in the massacres and trafficking of Yazidis. "Facebook allowed Daesh to promote its propaganda, Telegram allowed fighters to use chat rooms to sell women and children," he says.

Europe must take responsibility

Every August since 2014, the Yazidis commemorate the anniversary of the genocide at the hands of Daesh and remember the centuries of discrimination and persecution. Year after year, the more than 200,000 Yazidis who survive in displacement camps in appalling conditions wonder when they will be able to return to their villages and rebuild their homes. The same is true for the families of the more than 2,700 missing persons, who yearn for the return of their loved ones.

The story of the Yazidis is one of violence, suffering and pain, but also of strength, resilience and courage. The Yazidis have realised that they are the only ones who can save themselves, and the only ones who are willing to do so. While the world looks the other way, Yazidi NGOs both in Iraq and in the diaspora are working hard to rebuild the lives of the survivors, as well as to gain more support, international visibility and justice.

"The support given to Yazidis is nothing compared to the support given to Ukrainians. I am not against helping those in need, but if you treat people on the basis of their nationality you are discriminating against them," Hassoo reflects.

Most survivors share this view and call for the international community, especially Europe, to become more involved in the cause. The states of the Old Continent must do so because, as Hassoo reminds us, "citizens of these countries have contributed to killing and enslaving the Yazidi people", alluding to the thousands of Europeans who travelled to the Middle East to join Daesh. "They have to take responsibility," he said.

Despite everything, the Yazidi community is carrying out projects that represent a ray of hope for this minority, such as the plans developed by Nadia Murad's organisation, Nadia's Iniciative. Through this organisation, the survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate advocates for the empowerment of women, education and Yazidi culture, among many other projects that aim to make Sinjar a safe place for Yazidis.

Link to Article - Photos:

https://atalayar.com/en/content/yazidis ... al-neglect

[Anthea]

Attacks against Yazidi land

The Shengal Democratic Autonomous Assembly (MXDŞ) warned of new attacks by the Turkish army. For the seventh day in a row, intensive reconnaissance flights are being recorded in the airspace of the main Yazidi settlement area in northwestern Iraq, the Assembly said in a statement on Sunday. "If our people or our defence forces become the target of air strikes by Turkey again, the Iraqi government will be responsible," the MXDŞ said

The Yazidi community survived the genocidal attacks of the terrorist organisation "Islamic State" (ISIS) in 2014, but has been repeatedly attacked by Turkey since 2017. "The international disregard for these human rights violations encourages Ankara in its aggressive actions against our society in Iraq. Seîd Hesen, Zerdeşt Shengalî and Merwan Bedel were just three of dozens of friends murdered by the Turkish state on Iraqi soil,” stated the MXDŞ.

The MXDŞ stressed that Turkey's airstrikes in its "war on terror" have repeatedly claimed civilian victims, including children, saying, "Yet there was and is no public debate about their deaths. Iraq's loud silence encourages the Turkish state to commit further crimes. We call on Baghdad to take concrete measures against Ankara and appeal to the United Nations Security Council to assume its responsibility and stand united for an end to the violence against Shengal.”

Turkey regularly bombs Shengal and other places in Iraq

Turkish airstrikes are routine in southern Kurdistan and Kurdish settlement areas of Iraq, but have been intensified since the summer of 2020. Especially regions where guerrillas are suspected, but also civilian settlement areas are bombed almost daily. The Turkish regime claims that it is only taking action against "PKK positions", invoking the right of self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Numerous organisations and bodies, however, point to violations by Turkey of the ban on the use of force, since there is no self-defence situation at all. Nevertheless, the airspace controlled by the USA and Iraq has been cleared for Turkish fighter jets.

Air attack on hospital in Shengal goes unpunished

The main Yazidi settlement area of Shengal is also repeatedly targeted by Turkish fighter jets and killer drones. Turkey feels threatened by the self-governing structures that the members of the ancient religious community have painstakingly built under the impression of the genocide committed by the jihadist militia ISIS in 2014, and does not even shy away from airstrikes on hospitals.

In June, three civilians were killed in a Turkish drone strike in Shengal, including a twelve-year-old. In July, five people were killed by a Turkish air strike in nearby Tel Afar. A few days later, the Turkish army bombed the summer resort in the village of Perex (Parakh) in the Zakho district with four artillery shells from a base in southern Kurdistan. Nine people, including several children, were killed and more than twenty others were injured.

Personally, I loathe the presence of intimating anonymous armed militia roaming the streets of Shengal. The Yazidis are a gentle people who deserve protection from the assorted armed groups

[Anthea]

Yazidis in Syria

Decades of Denial of Existence and Discrimination

Executive Summary

The presence of Yazidi (Ezidi) communities in Syria and the region dates back to ancient times.[1] As a result of multiple genocides, their once-large communities have diminished and they are now a religious minority at the risk of annihilation. The surviving communities continue to live in small enclaves in countries like Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Turkey..

In 2014, Yazidis suffered the latest genocide at the hands of the Islamic State (IS)—also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and by the Arabic acronym Daesh in local media. ISIS attacked the region of Sinjar (Şingal), in Iraq, then detained and transported thousands of male and female Yazidis to Syria, where they were subjected to “almost unimaginable horrors”, according to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (hereinafter Commission of Inquiry on Syria).[2]

Most of the extermination campaigns perpetrated against Yazidis were preceded by smear campaigns, which targeted the community’s beliefs, faith, customs, and origins and aimed to spread disinformation about the religion and its rituals, as well as dehumanize its practitioners. These smear campaigns contributed to the creation a hostile environment that would ultimately condone killing and displacement of Yazidis.

In addition to targeted smear campaigns, other factors have damaged the reputation of minority religions in Syria and differentiated them from the State’s “official religion”. Such factors include the lack of mutual understanding among existing religions, poor religious tolerance, and the refusal of both Syrian religious and government institutions to acknowledge the right of smaller religious communities to freely practice their rituals and traditions.

Though most of the Yazidis are Kurdish in ethnicity and speak the Kurdish language (Kurmanji), religiously they are distinct from the majority Sunni Kurdish population. As minorities, some Yazidis prefer to be recognized as an ethnic group, distinctly separate from the Kurds because of their cultural and religious differences.[3]

The central temple of Yazidis— the Lalish Temple— is located in Shikhan area, near the city of Mosul, in Nineveh province, Iraq. However, Yazidi populations are spread across Iraqi Kurdistan and parts of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran. Additionally, large numbers are based in Armenia and Georgia.

ISIS horrors were not the last perpetrated against Yazidis, who continue to suffer from atrocities committed by other military groups, including armed opposition groups affiliated with the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC). The opposition factions committed a wide array of violations against Yazidis during and after the Turkish-led Operations “Olive Branch” in 2018 and “Peace Spring” in 2019. For example, some factions arbitrarily detained Yazidi women in the Afrin region and coerced them to “convert into Islam”.[4]

Furthermore, in Afrin today, Yazidis are banned from celebrating religious events and providing religious education

These violations have been subject to international scrutiny. In its 2020 report on Syria, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom criticized the reported “persecution and marginalization” against “[r]eligious and ethnic minorities, especially displaced Kurds, Yezidis, and Christians, in areas under Turkish control, such as in the city of Afrin”.

Additionally, the Commission recommended that the U.S. government “[e]xert significant pressure on Turkey to provide a timeline for its withdrawal from Syria, while ensuring that neither its military nor FSA allies expand their area of control in northeast Syria, carry out religious and ethnic cleansing of that Area”.[5]

Methodology

This report lists genocides committed against Yazidi communities and addresses the smear campaigns that paved the way for those genocides. Smear campaigns have spread misinformation about Yazidi beliefs, customs, and origins, mischaracterizing the community and making them vulnerable to violence.

In response to defamation, the report will delve into the origins of Yazidism, its beliefs, rituals and the symbols hinging it as a religion. Additionally, the report will review the violations perpetrated against Yazidis in Syria in particular, also listing several Islamic fatwas (edicts) issued against Yazidism, and the Islamic narratives projected onto it.

Furthermore, the report will address the presence of the Yazidi community in contemporary Syria, and how successive Syrian governments dealt with this religious minority, also tackling the practices Yazidis are exposed to in the areas controlled by Turkey-backed armed groups in and around Afrin region, and Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê area.

Turkey’s two offensives into Syria in 2018 and 2019, known respectively as Operation Olive Branch and Operation Peace Spring. The operations led to the displacement of the overwhelming percentage of the Yazidi population in Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê area, and most of the population that inhabited Afrin.

To this end, the report primarily builds on 32 interviews, carried out with Yazidi victims who are in Syria and/or have immigrated aboard. Among the interviewees are 14 women.

In addition to victim accounts, the report draws on reports and studies issued by local and international human rights organizations.

When approaching the Yazidi issue legally, the report cites the Syrian constitution, notably texts related to religious freedoms, and Syrian Personal Status Law, which provides citizens with regulatory frames.

Historically, the report reviews several studies and research papers on Yazidism in Syria and the region, tackling its origins and doctrine, as well as the violations perpetrated against its followers.

The report is divided into three sections. In Section I, the report addresses conflict-related violations committed against Yazidis in Syria since 2011 up to 2022, with a focus on violations perpetrated in the areas controlled by the Turkish military, in the regions of Afrin and Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê.

Additionally, the report backs the documentation with the testimonies of victims, who suffered property appropriation, arrest, or even death because they embrace a religion which differs from that of the ruling factions in their areas.

In Section II, the report addresses the violations Yazidis suffered under the Syrian government (SG) with a focus on pre-2011 abuses, including deprivation of legal rights and lack of recognition as an independent religious group. In this context, the report reviews the SG’s legal and constitutional frames, in addition to the Personal Status Law, and the violations of the rights of Yazidis as a religious community. Additionally, the report presents international laws and legislations that protect the rights of religious minorities, in keeping with universal human rights principles.

In Section III, the report probes into the roots of Yazidism, exploring its origins, beliefs, and rites. Furthermore, the report examines the violations committed against Yazidis over the course of their history and their locations in Syria and set of recommendations to the stockholders.
Introduction

Yazidis are defined as a traditional non-missionary and tightly-knit religious community. They cling to their ancient social and religious rituals, governed by specific laws that were established thousands of years ago. Both as a human group and a religious community, they are seen to reflect the beliefs and practices of ancient Indo-Aryan societies.

The central temple of Yazidis— the Lalish Temple— is located in the Shikhan area, near the city of Mosul, in Nineveh province, Iraq. However, Yazidi populations spread across Iraqi Kurdistan and parts of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran. Additionally, large numbers are based in Armenia and Georgia.[6]

Several ethnic cleansing campaigns and massacres have been perpetrated against Yazidis, with smear campaigns mischaracterizing the community and its faith system. These campaigns have frequently attempted to alienate Yazidis from their own religion, at times categorizing them as Christians or Muslims, and labeling them “murtadeen” (apostates).

Attempts of forced religious categorization were met with resistance and rejection, and in some cases, refusal meant death. Many Yazidis, existentially threatened, were left with only three choices to survive: changing religion, converting to the religion of the area’s ruler or dominant group, or leaving their homes and escaping elsewhere.

In Syria, Yazidis have been historically subjected to oppression and persecution. They have been deprived of practicing their own religious rites, learning and teaching the origins of their religion, building new places of worship or restoring old ones like other religions and communities in Syria, and even of performing their religious ceremonies. On top of this, they were forced to attend al-Tarbiyah al-Islamiyah (Islamic education) classes in schools.

After 2011, Yazidis had a historical opportunity to bring to light their religious character in the areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration—led mainly by Kurds and officially established in 2014. However, this opportunity was brief. The areas where many Yazidis lived, such as Afrin and Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê, suffered two Turkish military incursions—Olive Branch in 2018, and Peace Spring in 2019.

In the aftermath of the two offensives, the targeted areas suffered systematic violations of human rights. The violations were perpetrated especially against Kurds and, naturally, did not spare Yazidis.[7]

In addition to targeted smear campaigns, other factors have damaged the reputation of minority religions in Syria and differentiated them from the State’s “official religion”. Such factors include the lack of mutual understanding among existing religions, poor religious tolerance, and the refusal of both Syrian religious and government institutions to acknowledge the right of smaller religious communities to freely practice their rituals and traditions.

Legal and scholarly material on Yazidi history and practices highlight recurring political and religious forces which have attempted to publicly mischaracterize Yazidism, demean its followers, and entice them to convert to the area’s dominant religion.

Even in scholarly texts, the Yazidi faith and faith community have been mislabeled and demeaned, with some researchers labeling Yazidism as a modern “situational religion” or a sect that has strayed “from under the cloak of revealed religions”, and even branded its rituals as “Sufi heresies”.

Other researchers established a link between Yazidism and ancient Iranian religions, such as Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, and also with Ancient Mesopotamian beliefs such as Sumerian, Babylonian and Mandaean. A different set of researchers viewed Yazidism as a depiction of the diverse Ancient religious beliefs of the peoples of Central Asia.

Except for a few, the majority of Yazidism-focused studies have neglected investigating the origins of the religion and the environment from which it emerged. As a result, misinformation about Yazidi social classes and religious structures is widespread.

These studies, founded upon pre-existing religious, national, and intellectual assumptions, relied on the sources of those hypotheses as if they were established ideas. Consequently, differing opinions emerged about the origin of this religion, its basic principles and rituals, and even its name.

However, the 2014 IS-led genocide against Yazidis in Sinjar (Şingal) prompted many recent studies that adopted new perspectives in their approach to the nature of this religious community and the realities surrounding it.

Recommendations

Yazidis consider Yazidism an independent religion, not an offshoot of any of the other religions in Syria or the Middle East, such as Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Yazidism has its own unique system of beliefs, teachings, and rituals. Therefore, Yazidism must be equalized with other religions in terms of treatment and not be subjected to existential and doctrinal marginalization by being forced under the mantel of other religions.

Historically, Yazidis have been marginalized by successive Syrian governments. These practices clearly contradict the duties that the Syrian State has committed to under various Syrian constitutions, including the operative 2012 constitution, which stipulates equality among Syrians without discrimination on any basis, including religion, while also ensuring the freedom of belief.

In addition to exclusionary patterns, large-scale violations have been perpetrated against Yazidis in Syrian territories occupied by Turkey and the armed Syrian position groups it backs.

Notably, the marginalization of Yazidis and the multiple attempts at denying their existence has generated tension and animosity among the different components of a country’s population, which has had chronic and catastrophic impacts on Yazidi communities. In Syria, Yazidis lack of official recognition as an independent religion has marginalized their communities and robbed them of a variety of rights, especially those related to establishing their personal status, such as the registration of marriages and births.

Taking this history into account in an attempt to avoid the adverse impacts of religious mismanagement in Syria by successive governments and protect Yazidi communities from religious-related violations, this report’s writers recommend the following:

The United Nations should reconsider the structure of the current Syrian Constitutional Committee and ensure the representation of members of the Yazidi community within the Committee and at all levels of the political negotiations on Syria, in line with the Geneva Communiqué, which stipulates that the rights of “smaller communities” must be assured

The Syrian Constitutional Committee (SCC)— meeting in Geneva under Security Council Resolution No. 2254 of 2015, must pay attention to diversity in Syria, including religious diversity, and make the up-coming constitution a text that respects diversity and all forms of difference, including religious diversity, and recognizes Yazidism as an independent religion. Additionally, the SCC must abolish texts that perpetuate discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of religion and belief, such as the article that prescribes that Islam is the religion of the president of the State

The Syrian legislative authority must enact a special law for Yazidis with regard to personal status issues, as is the case for other religions, in consultation and coordination with the clergy and actors of the Yazidi community.

The Syrian legislative authority should enact laws that criminalize discrimination against the members of any of the religions present in Syria, and fulfill the obligations established in international covenants and charters regarding the rights of religious minorities, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966

The Syrian government must take the necessary measures to prevent the policies of marginalization and exclusion against the members of any of the religions existing in Syria, especially Yazidis. Such measures include enforcing laws that criminalize discrimination, amending school curricula to serve religious diversity through spreading the culture of freedom of religion and belief, as well as tolerance of others, optimizing the use of the media and carrying out awareness campaigns, holding meetings, and training workshops to this end.

The Syrian government must cooperate with international bodies with expertise in the field of religious minorities, especially the Special Rapporteur on Minorities Issues, to implement the commitments and measures recommended above

To read the report in full (61 pages) as a PDF, follow this link

[1] Notably, there is no consensus as to the Arabic spelling of the name attributed to followers of Yazidism. Among the various spellings are الأزيديين (al-Ayzidiyeen) or الإيزديين (al-Ezdiyeen). Throughout the Arabic version of the report, the spelling الايزيديين— without the glottal stop Hamza (ء)— is used, which is the standard spelling adopted by the Supreme Religious Authority in Lalish. The origins of the name will be explored in detail further below in the report.

In English, two variations exist, Yazidis and Yezidis. This report will use the common spelling Yazidis, unless used otherwise by quoted texts.

[2] ‘They came to destroy’: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, 15 June 2016, document coded: A/HRC/32/CRP.2

[3] Sannes, Ely. The Status of the Yazidis: Eight Years on from the ISIS Genocide. Washington Kurdish Institute, 27 May 2022. (Last visited: 14 July 2022). https://dckurd.org/2022/05/27/the-statu ... ght-years/

[4] No Clean Hands – Behind the Frontlines and the Headlines, Armed Actors Continue to Subject Civilians to Horrific and Increasingly Targeted Abuse, UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, 15 September 2020 (last visited: 31 July 2022) https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases ... wsID=26237. The press release addresses the document coded: A/HRC/45/31.

[5] 2020 Annual Report, the USCIRF, April 2020, https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/fi ... _42920.pdf.

[6] Maisel, Sebastian. “Syria’s Yezidis in the Kūrd Dāgh and the Jazīra: Building Identities in a Heterodox Community”. The Muslim World, vol. 103, no. 1, 2013, pp. 24-40. P. 24.

[7] Several local and international reports addressed the violations committed by Syrian armed opposition factions in those areas. Key reports include those issued by the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, and international rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. For instance, see:

“Syria: Damning evidence of war crimes and other violations by Turkish forces and their allies”, Amnesty International, 18 October 2019 (last visited: 1 August 2022). https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press ... ir-allies/

“Syria: Turkey must stop serious violations by allied groups and its own forces in Afrin”, Amnesty International, 2 August 2018 (last visited: 1 August 2022). https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/ ... -in-afrin/

https://stj-sy.org/en/yazidis-in-syria- ... imination/