Yazidi UPDATES genocide has occurred and is ongoing

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Yazidis lament militia unease in Sinjar

Yazidis still long to return to their homeland since being forced to leave due to Daesh attacks in 2014 in Sinjar, according to Yazidi community leader Mir Hazım Tahsin Beg. Yet, assorted armed militia group’s presence remains a major threat

Groups like Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces – PMF), and others pose a threat," Mir Beg told Anadolu Agency (AA) during his first official visit to Türkiye on Wednesday.

“They’re disturbing the peace there,” Mir Beg said, noting that the political and social situation in Sinjar was “not good” and that the Irbil and Baghdad administrations were “failing to push the armed groups out of Sinjar” as was promised to the Yazidi community.

Yazidis are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group indigenous to Western Asia, with most of the population living in Mosul and Duhok in northern Iraq, with diaspora communities in Germany, Syria, Türkiye, Georgia and Armenia.

The group has faced persecution throughout history, most recently from Daesh in 2014, which killed and kidnapped more than 6,500 Yazidi women and children, as well as displaced more than 500,000 people

The Yazidis are also present in Türkiye, which Mir Beg argued, as a secular country would “never discriminate between languages, religions or races.”

As part of his visit, Mir Beg met with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, along with various other officials. “I made a request for the facilitation of a formal residence for Yazidis in Türkiye as well,” Mir Beg informed. “Türkiye is strong in both political and military terms. We want Türkiye’s relations with Iraq to be good and also want the Iraqi-Syrian border to be secured,” he added.

Sinjar is wedged between Türkiye to the north and Syria to the west, making it a highly strategic zone long coveted by both the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north.

Despite being administered by the Iraqi city of Mosul, it is considered a disputed enclave with the KRG. It fell under the control of the PKK and pro-Iran Iraqi militias following Daesh’s invasion in 2014.

According to Mir Beg, however, the central Iraqi government has so far failed to extend a helping hand to the Yazidis, to an extent that “not even a single minister” accepted the community’s invitation to “come and see the state of Yazidi refugees in camps,” while the KRG provided support for the camps.

He repeated his call to the Iraqi government to take note of the situation in the camps. “Yazidis are an economically disadvantaged group,” Mir Beg noted, claiming that in 2014, the KRG rescued 3,500 people from Daesh by paying nearly $20,000 for each woman and child. “These people were very well-received and integrated into our community,” Mir Beg said.

The return of Yazidis to their regions, except for Sinjar, has been facilitated, he argued, saying he believes if the Iraqi government wishes “they could improve the situation” in Sinjar.

In an Aug. 3, 2014 attack on the district, Daesh kidnapped and killed thousands of Yazidis, besides detaining many in areas they held. Some 300,000 people lived in Sinjar before the attacks, two-thirds of them Yazidis, and the rest Sunni Kurds and Arabs. Daesh had been active in the Iraqi provinces of Salahuddin, Anbar, Kirkuk and Diyala, at a time when the federal government was struggling to contain attacks by the terrorist group, launching security and military operations in the country's northern, western and eastern regions. In 2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh after reclaiming all territories the terrorist group controlled since the summer of 2014, estimated to be about one-third of the country.

Armed groups managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar in mid-2014 under the pretext of protecting the local Yazidi community from Daesh. Some groups have reportedly established bases in Sinjar for its logistical and command-and-control activities.

The Sinjar agreement signed under the auspices of the United Nations between the central government in Baghdad and the KRG on Oct. 9, 2020, envisaged clearing the region of the assorted terrorist groups. However, it never took effect, allowing assorted armed groups to roam free in the territory to this day.

Mir Beg once again called on international powers for the implementation of the U.N.-mediated deal, saying, “We want Yazidis to return to their homes.”

On the political side, the Yazidi community currently has a quota for members in the Iraqi parliament, but not in the KRG, according to Mir Beg.

The community made a formal request to be granted seats at the KRG about three years ago, yet, Kurdish political parties “failed to reach a consensus” about the Yazidi quota, Mir Beg explained.

The displaced Yazidis still await the opportunity to return to their homes that still require reconstruction.

The Turkish military regularly conducts cross-border operations in northern Iraq. Türkiye has long been stressing that it will not tolerate terrorist threats posed against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take necessary steps to eliminate terrorist groups. Ankara previously noted that if the expected steps were not taken, it would not shy away from targeting terrorist threats.

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Yezidis own houses in Sinjar
Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi government has decided to grant ownership of residential lands and houses to the occupants of the 11 residential collective townships in Sinjar, the UN said in a joint press statement with Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani

On 27 December, the Council of Ministers approved a decree that contributes to a comprehensive solution for Yazidis with regards to land ownership. 

"The Iraqi government's decision to grant Yazidi Iraqis ownership of their houses in Sinjar, which they have been deprived of for more than 47 years due to the unjust exclusionary policies by the former dictatorial regime,” Iraqi PM Al Sudani said.

He also said this “comes in the context of the Iraqi government's clear and explicit endeavour, to protect the rights of the Iraqi components, especially the beloved Yazidi community in Sinjar and the Ninewa."

He stressed that "the decree, along with other decisions that will be taken later within the Prime Minister's agenda, all aim at protecting the rights of the sons of these honorable Iraqi components, embracing them, and ensuring their rights within the principle of full citizenship, justice and equality."

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert welcomed “the critical step taken by the Council of Ministers, which finally brings the security of tenure to thousands of Yazidis in relation to their housing, land, and property rights”.

Since 2018, UN-Habitat has been addressing the land and property rights of Yezidi minorities in Sinjar by registering more than 14,500 claims and issuing land occupancy certificates to prove the occupancy rights of displaced persons.

In August 2014, ISIS began its genocide against the Yezidi community in Sinjar. Several foreign parliaments have recognized the Yezidi genocide.

Moreover, in early October 2020, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and its Iraqi counterpart signed the UN-sponsored Sinjar agreement to stabilize the security and administration situation in Sinjar so Yezidis could resettle there.

So far, this agreement has not been implemented despite promises by Baghdad.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/30 ... -in-Sinjar

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Iraq return confiscated Yazidi lands

The Iraqi government decided on 27 December to return the properties of Yazidis in Sinjar (Şengal) 47 years after they was confiscated and the Yazidis forcibly deported from their home region, reported Asharq Al-Awsat

Almost half a century after the previous Iraqi regime deported Yazidis from their home region and confiscated their lands, the Iraqi Council of Ministers has made a decision in the matter of those lands.

The Ba’ath regime under Saddam Hussain regime in 1975 confiscated the property of Yazidis in 146 villages located in the Sinjar Mountain area, demolishing houses and blocking wells and springs with cement. “You can live according to the Yazidi faith, but you are not Kurds, you are Arabs,” said Saddam Hussain at the time

“The decision includes the ownership of lands belonging to Yazidis in the Sinjar district of Nineveh Governorate, which has not been used as a settlement since 1975,” the Council of Ministers said in a statement.

A source close to the Council of Ministers told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decision sums up the suffering of an important segment of Iraqi society, namely the Yazidi component, because of the injustice and exclusion it suffered during the era of the previous regime.

“the fields and orchards of these villages were razed. Later the displaced population were forcibly gathered into 11 compounds established to the north and south of Mount Sinjar, and prevented from approaching their demolished villages again,” said the official.

During the war against ISIS, around 7,000 Yazidi women and girls were abducted and held in sexual slavery. Survivors reported being repeatedly sold, gifted, and passed around among ISIS fighters.

Since the end of the war, most of the women and children traumatised by the abductions and rape by ISIS members in 2014 have received psychological help and therapy.

Around 550,000 Yazidis have been living in Iraq’s rugged northwest, concentrated around the enclave of Sinjar.

https://medyanews.net/iraqi-government- ... idi-lands/

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German woman on trial

Berlin, Germany (AFP) – A German woman went on trial Wednesday accused of aiding and abetting war crimes and genocide with the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria by "enslaving" a Yazidi woman

The 37-year-old defendant, identified only as Nadine K., is also facing charges of crimes against humanity and membership of a foreign terrorist organisation before a court in the southwestern city of Koblenz.

Federal prosecutors say Nadine K. travelled with her husband in December 2014 from Germany to the IS-controlled part of Syria where they joined the jihadist group.

Months later the couple and their daughter settled in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the former "capital" proclaimed by IS, where they allegedly hoarded weapons and established a hostel providing room and board for "single female members" of IS.

"From early 2016, Nadine K. and her husband kept a Yazidi woman as a slave," prosecutors said when she was charged in September. "The man raped and beat the woman regularly, which Nadine K. knew."

They said Nadine K. kept watch to prevent the woman, who was 22 at the time, from fleeing and forced her to do housework and care for children while observing Islamic rituals.

"All of this served the declared purpose of IS, to wipe out the Yazidi faith," prosecutors said.

Nadine K. and her family are believed to have moved to Syria in autumn 2016 with their "slave" and lived in IS-controlled territory until March 2019, when they were believed to have been arrested by Kurdish fighters and the Yazidi woman released.

The defendant was arrested last March upon her return to Germany in one of several repatriation operations.

A German court in November 2021 issued the first ruling worldwide to recognise crimes against the Yazidi community as genocide, in a verdict hailed by activists as a "historic" win for the minority.

The Kurdish-speaking Yazidis hailing from northern Iraq have for years been persecuted by IS militants who have killed hundreds of men, raped women and forcibly recruited children as fighters.

Last May, a German woman who joined IS in Syria as a teenager was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence but cleared by a court in Naumburg, central Germany, of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/30 ... zidi-woman

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Germany recognize Yazidi genocide

Germany’s lower house of parliament is set next week to recognize as “genocide” the 2014 massacre of Kurdish-speaking Yazidis by the ISIS terrorist group in Iraq, lawmakers told AFP Friday

The three parliamentary groups of Germany’s ruling center-left-led coalition were joined by conservative MPs in agreeing on a motion they plan to present in the Bundestag next Thursday, Social Democratic (SPD) deputy Derya Turk-Nachbaur said.

The chamber “recognizes the crimes against the Yazidi community as genocide, following the legal evaluations of investigators from the United Nations,” the draft declaration seen by AFP said, after similar moves by Australia and Belgium.

ISIS fighters in August 2014 massacred over 1,200 Yazidis, members of a Kurdish-speaking community in northwest Iraq that follows an ancient religion rooted in Zoroastrianism and whom ISIS viewed as “devil worshippers.”

The Yazidi minority has been particularly persecuted by the group, which has also forced its women and girls into sexual slavery.

A special UN investigation team said in May 2021 that it had collected “clear and convincing evidence” that ISIS had committed genocide against the Yazidis.

“There is no statute of limitations on genocide,” Turk-Nachbaur, one of the motion’s sponsors, said in a statement to AFP.

“Our declaration gives the survivors a voice,” she said, adding that the German parliament wanted to “strengthen the identity of the Yazidis after all their suffering.”

The Bundestag last July approved a petition asking for the recognition, but still needs to hold a final vote in a plenary session in order to complete the process of recognition.

Germany, home to what is believed to be the world’s largest Yazidi diaspora of about 150,000 people, is one of the few countries to have taken legal action against ISIS.

In November 2021, a German court convicted an Iraqi extremist of genocide against the Yazidi, a first in the world that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad hailed as a “victory” in the fight for recognition of the abuses committed by ISIS.

And this week, a German woman went on trial in the southwestern city of Koblenz accused of aiding and abetting war crimes and genocide with ISIS in Syria by “enslaving” a Yazidi woman.

The motion calls for the German judicial system to pursue further criminal cases against suspects in Germany, increase financial support to collect evidence of crimes in Iraq and boost funding to help rebuild shattered Yazidi communities.

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/worl ... e-in-Iraq-

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Yazidis celebrate traditional holiday

The Yazidi community in North and East Syria kicked off their traditional Batzmi Festival on Thursday by lighting candles before sunrise and praying to God to protect them

Batzmi is a seven-day long Yazidi holiday that is celebrated by the Yazidi community in North and East Syria among other places in the second week of January, which corresponds to the first day of the Yazidi new year in the Eastern calendar. Different Yazidi communities across the world celebrate on slightly different dates.

Batzmi which is a Kurdish word meaning “frozen”. In the religious sense the Batzmi is celebrated for the creation of angels, the universe and light, and also the Eastern New Year. The seven days of the holiday represent the seven angels.

This festival is celebrated at this time by the Chelkiya (Çêlkan) tribe, which is the oldest tribe of the Yazidi community in the region, and mostly in Turkey’s Kurdish majority southeast cities, North and East Syria and Sinjar (Şengal) region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

After the community’s long history of denial and oppression by the governments of the region, the Yazidis of North and East Syria (NES) are celebrating their Batzmi holiday this year without fear or the need for secrecy.

Yazidi festivals are related to nature, and every day of the Batzmi festival has its own rituals including sharing among the community, sacrifice, baking special bread for the holiday, making lanterns from pure white cloth, praying and coming together. Sun and fire play a large role in Yazidi rituals, festivals, and holidays.

https://medyanews.net/yazidis-in-north- ... l-holiday/

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Batzmi-Yezidi Holiday

Eida Batzmia or Eida Piralli is one of the Yezidis many holidays. Yezidis are known as the worshipers of Sun (Roj Pars). Sun along with fire plays a large role in their rituals, festivals, and holidays. In addition number 7 plays a role representing the 7 angels

A small group of Yezidis, Yezidi a Chelkiy, celebrate Batzmi. They can be pirs or murids. Although it’s Chelkiya’ holiday, other Yezidis visit them and participate in the 7 day holiday in different ways.

The largest group of Yezidis who observe this holiday were originally from Turkey. They became scattered all over the world due to forced conversions and persecution throughout 1800s and early 1900s.

Historically, just like Sinjar, Turkey was an ancestral land to many Yezidis. Today, there are less than 423 Yezidi residents there. Yezidism was the official religion of Jazra, a principality of Turkey during Ottoman Empire.

There is a large number of Yezidi a Chelkiy in Syria and there are some in Iraq who also observe this holiday.

It is believed that Tawsi Melek, the Peacock Angel, appeared to this group of Yezidis in form of Piralli. Thus, Piralli is manifestation of Tawsi Melek. When Piralli came to this group, he spent 7 days among them and in turn they became people of Tawsi Melek (Bona Melet a Tawsi Melek). Batzmi festival is about celebration of being people of Tawsi Melek

Batzmi Festival

Batzmi is a 7 day holiday and the actual celebration falls on the last Wednesday of December; thus making the holiday fall between the old and the new year. However, Yezidis in diaspora sometimes choose to celebrate it a week earlier due to work and school.

Monday: Day one of Roji (fasting)

Tuesday: Day two of fasting. cleaning and Nan a mrya (giving of food in honor of the deceased) takes place today.

Wednesday: one of the most important days of this holiday. There is a half day fast which is followed by lighting 7 chera (wick). Later in the day, a sheep or more is sacrificed and 7 Pare or pieces of meat are put away in the name of the 7 angels (mlyakat). The 7 pare include the 7 joints of the spin, the neck, 7 ribs on the right, the upper part of chest, and one of the legs on the right is cut into 3 parts making it a total of 7 pare or pieces

The Batzmi’s special food is also prepared for the first time in the week. This meal would continue being prepared throughout the rest of the holiday in large amounts. However, on Wednesday the meal includes 7 Sawgs (a special bread made round with shape of Sun on it). Simata Piralli a special soup made only at this time and has stayed the same for centuries. Basmbar is made today. This is red and white which is prayed upon as it is being spanned.Batzmi thread Basmbar

Thursday Night: is the night of Shav Baratk . Yezidi community gathers at the house of those observing Batzmi till sunrise. Since Yezidism is an oral tradition, times like Shav Baratk use to play a large role in affirmation of identity and learning about ones faith and history while being entertained. Shav Baratk is a night full of fun, passing of knowledge, and eating.

In modern day and in diaspora, celebrating Batzmi is a bit more difficult. In there ancestral land, there would be communal gathering of common people, Yezidi Qewals or bards, and religious leaders. Part of the night would be spent reciting Yezidi qewals, hymns, and epics.

To keep the followers awake, there were many opportunities of entertainment. This would be a time of service, so bands would offer play music to entertain the crowds who would gather for outdoor dancing. This would be followed by Karaoke and playing old games of Gostelgyy.

In addition, Galeg would be made. This is where an older man dresses in a scary way sometimes toward middle of night around one o’clock. A bulky man dresses in a scary outfit. He covers his face with black makeup and wanders around with a stick in his hand frightening the followers. Another one dresses as the bride. The sight of Galeg wandering and pretending to strike the fire in the fire pit and playfully strike people around, would scare many of the observers awake. He would continue to proceed and becomes especially frightening when his bride would be stolen from him.

Games, communal dancing and festivity goes on until sunrise. From there people wish the host happy holiday and depart.

Friday: this is a day of resting after a full night of entertaining; however, people come to visit the house of those who make Batzmi for prayer, to get Basmbar thread, and to kiss the Barats. Barats are small balls made of earth from the sanctuary of Sheikh Adi and the water of the Zemzem spring. They are regarded as sacred and are distributed to the pilgrims at the time of the festivals. They get served Sawgs and Simat

Saturday: prepare for Ser Sal or the new year, continue serving the visitors Batzmi meal. The Chera continue being lit. Those who visit leave some money as a token of the service the host had performed and take some of the sacred Basmbar that is worn on their wrist or neck.

Sunday: this is the last day and it is only in the morning. Sunday morning is considered Ser Sal and the beginning of the new year. Tashtya Sheshms (Breakfast of Sheshms is prepared and those who visit eat. It is in honor of Sheykh Shems, one of the reincarnations of 7 angels who is associated with Sun/

Common way to wish the observer of this holiday a happy holiday is: Ser Sal a wa o Batzmiye wa Piroze be/Happy New Year and Batzmi

https://www.yezidisinternational.org/ba ... -holidays/

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German parliament recognizes genocide

Germany’s parliament on Thursday voted to recognize the 2014 crimes against the Yazidis in their hometown of Shingal by the Islamic State (ISIS) as “genocide,” calling on the government to take measures to support the ethnoreligious group

ISIS attacked the disputed town of Shingal in the summer of 2014, killing and kidnapping thousands of Yazidis, with the fate of a large number of them remaining unclear.

The German parliament, Bundestag, convened on Thursday and the majority of its members voted to recognize the ISIS crimes against Yazidis as “genocide.”

Germany’s lower house of parliament said in the resolution that the move came “following the legal evaluations of investigators from the United Nations,” reported DW.

The resolution urges German courts to take more action against suspects involved in the crimes and to increase financial support for Yazidis

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock tweeted in the Kurmanji and Sorani dialects of the Kurdish language, saying that no parliamentary decision can undo the sufferings of Yazidis but “I am deeply convinced that this decision makes a difference: a crucial step towards acknowledging suffering and towards justice for the survivors.”

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani welcomed the decision, thanking Germany for its support. “We hope that other European countries and others in the world follow suit, and justice is served for the victims.”

A German court in 2021 convicted an Iraqi man for his alleged role in the crime against Yazidis.

The United Nations, the European Parliament, and other nations including the United States, Belgium, Canada, and the Netherlands have also recognized ISIS crimes against the Yazidis as “genocide.”

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. Nearly 3,000 remain missing

Germany has been an essential member of the global coalition against ISIS.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/190120231

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Germany can bring justice

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told Rudaw on Thursday that her country cannot undo the 2014 massacre of Yazidis by the Islamic State (ISIS) but it can at least bring justice

The German parliament, Bundestag, convened on Thursday and the majority of its members voted to recognize the ISIS crimes against Yazidis as “genocide.”

“We cannot undo this mass killing but we can bring justice. Today, the German parliament decided to recognize the mass killing as genocide. This is not a symbolic thing. We have to identify the murderers to bring justice. We should not just remember and condemn it because more than 3,000 women are still missing,” Baerbock told Rudaw on Thursday after the resolution.

“We have to endeavour to return them all to the Yazidi community. Thousands of Yazidis still live in camps. We have to work on renovating their areas so that they can return home. We know that this is very difficult because the security of the region plays a key role in this regard,” she added.

ISIS attacked the disputed town of Shingal in the summer of 2014, killing and kidnapping thousands of Yazidis, with the fate of a large number of them remaining unclear.

Germany’s lower house of parliament said in the resolution that the move came “following the legal evaluations of investigators from the United Nations,” reported DW. The resolution urges German courts to take more action against suspects involved in the crimes and to increase financial support for Yazidis.

“Another important point for me is that I personally went there [Shingal] and saw many women. I also saw children who had been raped. We have to work on those women and children. Some of them do not have ID cards and do not want to return. We have to bring them to Germany and put them with the children and families whom they want to be with. We should also support those who want to stay in northern Iraq. It is also very important to provide psychological support,” noted the German minister during the interview with Rudaw.

Asked how Germany can help the Kurdistan Region in order for Germany’s decisions to be implemented, the minister replied that they can provide support in terms of renovation “because Shingal is important for them [Yazidis] and they want to return to their homes. We are working from different sides in this regard. We as Germany will do whatever is required.”

Baerbock tweeted in the Kurmanji and Sorani dialects of the Kurdish language earlier in the day, she was “deeply convinced that this decision makes a difference: a crucial step towards acknowledging suffering and towards justice for the survivors.”

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani welcomed the decision, thanking Germany for its support. “We hope that other European countries and others in the world follow suit, and justice is served for the victims.”

The United Nations, the European Parliament, and other nations including the United States, Belgium, Canada, and the Netherlands have also recognized ISIS crimes against the Yazidis as “genocide.”

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. About 3,000 remain missing.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/190120232

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PKK planning bomb attacks

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In a video statement on Tuesday evening, the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) announced the arrest of a ‘terrorist group’ of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Jan. 6, in the Duhok province

“The group planned to conduct terrorist attacks through improvised explosive devices,” the Kurdistan Region Security Council said.

The security forces arrested two persons named Hemin Yousif Khzr, aka Heval Andoq and Ahmad Shamo Samir with three improvised explosive devices (IEDs). A taxi driver was also arrested for transporting the IEDs.

“The results of the interrogation of the arrested terrorists showed that Naji Haji Badal (aka Rojhat), a chief PKK intelligence officer, directed the suspects to conduct surveillance of military convoys and collect intelligence of political, social and religious figures, in order to conduct terrorist attacks and plant explosives in Sharya, Bersive, Kabartw, and Sheikan camps,” the Kurdistan Region Security Council said.

The camps host thousands of Yezidi’s that fled their homes after ISIS attacked Shingal (Sinjar) in August 2014. They are unable to return to their homes due to the ‘instability and the aggression of outlawed groups, including the PKK in Shingal,’ the Security Council said.

Interrogation videos, published by the KRSC, show the confessions of the three suspects, including Hemin Yousif Khzr, who said he joined the PKK in 2016 and received instructions from Rojhilat to take pictures and plant an IED in a displacement camp. Fortunately, security forces arrested him before carrying out his mission.

Also, Ahmad Shamo Samir confessed to receiving instructions from the same PKK official to take pictures and spy on political and social figures. He was arrested while trying to retrieve an IED in the Khanke camp.

A security officer in the video also shows three homemade lethal bombs that security forces confiscated.

This is not the first time the KRSC prevented a plot by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). In April, the Kurdish security force seized explosives and military equipment the PKK planned to use.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/30 ... zidi-camps

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Barzani welcomes genocide recognition

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), on Saturday welcomed Bundestag’s decree to recognize the Yezidi genocide

“The decision by Bundestag to recognize the genocide against the Yezidi Kurds is a highly treasured decree,” Barzani wrote.

“We reiterate our gratitude to Germany and call upon our other Western allies to engage in similar actions in recognizing such atrocities as acts of genocide,” he added.

The decision by @Bundestag to recognize the genocide against the Yezidi Kurds is a highly treasured decree. We reiterate our gratitude to Germany and call upon our other Western allies to engage in similar actions insofar as recognizing such atrocities as acts of genocide.
— Masoud Barzani (@masoud_barzani) January 21, 2023

The German Parliament on Thursday approved a motion to formally recognize the genocide committed against the Yezidi (Ezidi) community in 2014 by ISIS.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday also welcomed the decision by the German Parliament to recognize the Yezidi genocide, and hoped practical steps will be taken to compensate for the suffering of the religious community.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/30 ... i-genocide

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Yazidi women appeal to UN

Five Yazidi women held as slaves by an Islamic State fighter are appealing to the UN to intervene in their case for compensation in a move lawyers hope will help fix a “lawless” global system that is failing torture survivors

The women, captured in Iraq in 2014, were taken to Syria as slaves by IS fighters, including the Australian citizen Khaled Sharrouf, who was pictured standing next to his young son holding a severed human head.

The women, in a case due to be filed next week, want the UN’s Committee Against Torture to remind Australia of its obligation to provide survivors of violence with redress under the UN’s torture convention, which the country has ratified. The Australian authorities have so far denied all requests for compensation.

Lawyers had argued that the women were entitled to compensation under New South Wales law because Sharrouf was born in Sydney and NSW was his last known place of residence. The NSW Victims Rights and Supports Act entitles survivors to $10,000 and other means of support. However, the Australian courts, including the high court, ruled against the women.

Philippe Sands KC, one of the lawyers leading the case, said the purpose of taking the complaint to the UN committee is to end the impunity of western governments who have pledged to support Yazidis in their quest for justice.

“You’ve got a situation of utter lawlessness in which western governments who have committed to rooting it out seem unwilling to take responsibility to provide the institutional and financial mechanisms to deliver on that commitment. If there’s a gap, and unless that gap is filled, you have impunity and more lawlessness,” said Sands.

“The legal framework as it stands seems incapable of delivering, so this application is intended to fill that gap and seek to recognise the responsibility of a state like Australia to ensure that justice is done for the victims.”

In their complaint to the UN, the women argue that Sharrouf’s crimes were of universal jurisdiction, and Australia’s obligation to act under the torture convention is not limited by territory. They also state that Australia had failed to prevent Sharrouf from leaving the country, despite previous arrests for terror offences.

Yasmin Waljee, the international pro bono partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells, which is representing the women, said the women cannot be compensated by IS or the perpetrator, as Sharrouf is presumed to have been killed in a 2017 US airstrike. Waljee said the case highlighted how difficult it is for survivors to access compensation, even when their abuse had been widely condemned.

“We’ve got women who experienced sexual violence and violence generally as part of this horrific movement which the world condemned, and yet they’ve left the victims on their own without any remedy,” said Waljee. “It’s shocking – you’re dealing with post-traumatic stress, suicides, all sorts of horrendous long-term impacts.”

Waljee said survivors have short and long-term needs – like healthcare, mental health support and accommodation – that require money. While a positive ruling from the UN committee cannot compel Australia to provide compensation, she said, a finding that the government had breached the convention against torture would be “a move forward” in international law.

“It is important that the experience of these courageous women is widely recognised, documented and remembered. If we don’t draw these issues into the light, there’s no hope that improvements will ever be made,” said Waljee. “The world condemned this movement [IS] and continues to condemn it, but then doesn’t try to support the victims in any way.”

Lawyers believe the outcome of this case can have implications for survivors of violence in other conflicts, especially those by non-state militias.

Erin Rosenberg, senior legal adviser to the DRC-based Mukwege Foundation, said: “Right now in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, one of the most vicious and brutal is a non-state actor, M23. It’s crucial that victims could be provided with redress even when the perpetrator is a terrorist or militia.”

Rosenberg, who previously worked at the international criminal court, said that international justice is too focused on prosecuting individuals for crimes against humanity and does not offer enough support for victims. The need for compensation is recognised by most countries but, in reality, few are willing to pay.

“We see a lot of rhetoric from a lot of states about the idea of a victim-centred approach, ensuring victims are provided with redress and able to rebuild their lives, but these talking points are often deprioritised when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of paying,” she said.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... mpensation

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German delegation visits Lalish

A delegation from Germany’s foreign ministry on Friday visited the Lalish Temple of Yazidis to study ways to implement German parliament’s recent resolution to recognize the Islamic State’s (ISIS) crimes against the ethnoreligious group as “genocide.”

German parliament last week recognized the ISIS crimes against Yazidis as “genocide.” The resolution by the Bundestag urges German courts to take more action against suspects involved in the crimes and to increase financial support for Yazidis.

Saud Msto, head of Yazidi affairs at Kurdistan Regional Government’s ministry of endowment, told Rudaw’s Naif Ramazan on Friday that the delegation visited Lalish Temple to implement 20 points in relation to its recognition of the “genocide.”

He added that the delegation is studying ways to implement the decisions given by Germany to support Yazidis in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

“Germany has done what it could to support the Kurdistan Region and IDPs from all ethnic and religious groups, especially the Yazidis,” said Msto.

Thousands of Yazidis fled their hometown of Shingal when ISIS attacked the district, mostly residing in the Kurdistan Region. Most of them have not returned due to insecurity and lack of basic services.

“Our main issue is how to return Yazidis to Shingal. We talked about this with them,” said the Yazidi representative. He called on Germany to pressure Baghdad to help the Yazidis return to their homes.

ISIS attacked Shingal in the summer of 2014, killing and kidnapping thousands of Yazidis. around 3,000 remain missing, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Office for Rescuing Kidnapped Yazidis.

Germany has been an essential member of the global coalition against ISIS.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/270120231

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Yezidis return homes

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – At least 150,000 Yezidis, who had fled their homes from the Islamic State’s genocidal campaign, have returned to Sinjar, the ethno-religious community’s place of origin, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) revealed

While 550,000 Yezidis are currently residing in Sinjar, another 360,000 are still living in camps in the Kurdistan region, according to the figures released by the KRG.

Another 100,000 Yezidis are living outside Iraq, according to the government. It did not elaborate on how many followers of the faith fled the country after the atrocities.

Thousands of Yezidi women were sexually enslaved by the group, which was defeated in 2017 by Kurdish and Iraqi forces, with the support of the US-led coalition.

The Kurdish-Kurmanji-speaking community has faced at least 72 genocides.

European countries, including Germany, have hosted a significant number of Yezidis fleeing the violence, in which nearly 10,000 Yezidis were killed or kidnapped by ISIS.

The United Nations later recognized the atrocities against the Yazidi people as a genocide.

The Region’s officials have pledged to continue working to rescue the remaining Yezidi women that had been relocated to other countries.

More than 3,500 Yezidis have been rescued so far, according to KRG data.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/30 ... eveals-KRG

Let us NOT forget the 3,000 Yezidis still missing

Nor let us NOT forget the vast amount of damage done to the Yazidi homes, infrastructure, businesses and lands as the coalition tried bombing ISIS into oblivion with their bomb everything and let god sort it out attitude

The coalition spent vast amounts of money on bombs but have failed to spend any money rebuilding that which they helped to destroy, leaving thousands of Yazidis near starving and homeless

Let us also remember the THOUSANDS of Yazidis who died due to the lack of international help in the early days of the ISIS attack

Many Yazidis are too afraid to return home due to armed militant groups on their lands and attacks by Turkey among others

[Anthea]

German recognition of genocide
Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Head of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Office for International Advocacy, Dr. Dindar Zebari, announced that the KRG is working with Germany and other countries to share information on the crimes committed against the Yezidi’s through UNITAD

“The recognition by the German Parliament of the crimes committed by ISIS against the Yezidi and Kurds in Iraq as a genocide is a significant move,” Dr. Zebari said in an interview on the KRG website.

In 2017, the United Nations Security Council created UNITAD (Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL) to focus on the war crimes committed by the terrorist organization in Iraq.

“We, as the Kurdistan Regional Government, have an important role in these efforts,” he added.

“The German Parliament’s recognition of this crime, committed against our Ezidi (Yezidi) sisters and brothers, is a significant step, both politically and emotionally. We are now collaborating with Germany and other countries to share data, information, and research,” he said.

“We shared detailed data with Germany and others through UNITAD. Therefore, this is an important collaborative process.”

To date, more than 10 countries have recognized the Yezidi genocide. “The UN Security Council’s international team, which have offices in Erbil and Duhok, will play a critical role in the future trials of ISIS militants for all three international (war) crimes,” he said.

“In the Kurdistan Region, we have created a High Committee for the recognition of crimes committed by ISIS, and in our meeting last Wednesday, KRG reiterated its support for the decision by the German Parliament, as well as the German and Dutch people.”

He said the investigation of the crimes against the Yezidi’s begins with conducting research, collecting data, and gathering information, before moving onto a trial process.

"The KRG, with the full support of Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, will cooperate and assist the United Nation’s team and the international organizations in their work."

“Trials must continue, and compensation must be given to the victims through an international fund. This step requires a lot of work."

On Mar. 1, 2021, Iraq's parliament ratified the Yezidi Survivors Law, to financially support survivors. However, so far this law has not been implemented, like the Sinjar agreement signed by Erbil and Baghdad in Oct. 2020 that proposes to set up a new administration in Sinjar and a new police force.

The KRG coordinator Dr. Dindar Zebari said “providing financial compensation to those entitled to it will require time, and we in the KRG support this process.”

On the Sinjar agreement, Dr. Zebari said that returning 135,000 Yezidi displaced civilians, who are now settled throughout 25 refugee camps in the Kurdistan Region, is strongly dependent on the political decision of implementing the Shingal (Sinjar) agreement.

He added, “so far, it has has not been implemented. Rebuilding authorization, mutual safety, and social security as well as the process of trials are significant parts of the compensation process.”

He also said that Peshmerga forces bravely rescued Shingal and surrounding areas from ISIS terrorists. During the fight against ISIS, however, 1,700 Peshmergas were killed and 11,000 were injured.

He said KRG’s efforts are enduring in the process of rescuing Yezidis and documentation of ISIS crimes against them. Thousands of Yezidi’s are still missing.

“The government has done great work in collecting information and providing detailed data to the international team. The trials of 1,600 terrorists have began in Kurdistan, based on the 2006 Anti-Terrorism law. In 2021 and 2022 alone, nearly 300 ISIS members have been tried in Kurdistan. Trials are still ongoing,” he concluded

Dr. Zebari said that the KRG’s collaboration with the international team started in 2014. “On the global level, hundred attempts have been made and dozens of gatherings were held from within the International Criminal Court and the UN Security Council to the Human Rights Council and Geneva.”

Moreover, he said, they “will discuss ways to increase our visits and field work to help the process of recognizing these crimes. In collaboration with the international team, we need to find more funding for our research projects and compensation for the victims.”

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/30 ... oordinator