ÊZIDÎS IN IRAQ

2020

In August 2014 ISIS conducted a coordinated attack on the Yazidi population of the Mount Sinjar area. As a result, the entirety of this Yazidi population was displaced[1], and an estimated total of 3,100[2] Yazidis were killed (approximately half were executed, and the rest died whilst fleeing[3]) and 6,800[4] were kidnapped and subjected to numerous abuses, including torture and forced religious conversion. The “genocide” is ongoing[5] and as of August 2014, there are an estimated 3,200[6] women and girls still in ISIS captivity. This article will explore these events in the context of the elements of genocide and with references to the findings of the Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic and the Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Iraq in the light of abuses committed by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and associated group. This article...

Genocide Studies International, 2017

This paper critically examines the Islamic State's annihilatory violence committed against the Êzîdîs in Iraq since 2014. It argues that the violence is a product of both Êzîdî marginality and the ideology of the Islamic State, which is grounded in its particular neo-historical iteration of Islam. Annihilatory violence is fundamental for the IS to actualize its iteration of the holy Qur'ān, the words and actions of the Islamic prophet, and historical events, dividing the world into binaries of the Abode of Islam and the Abode of War, or good and evil. It draws from anthropological research and interviews conducted by the authors with survivors and perpetrators in 2014 and 2016 to argue that the Islamic State's campaign against the Êzîdîs constitutes the subjective and objective elements of the crime of genocide.

PRIF Spotlight, 2020

As the international memory of ISIS' genocide against the Yezidi population of Şengal in Northern Iraq recedes, its victims have been left to languish increasingly hopelessly, in refugee camps with little realistic prospect of returning to their homes. Tens of thousands of displaced Yezidis remain dispersed across Northern Iraq, hundreds of kidnapped Yezidi girls and women are unaccounted for and the fates of many of their male relatives unknown. In the short term, there is an urgent need for international protection from further attacks, the recognition of a political status for Şengal and immediate aid for refugee camps to create the conditions for Yezidi genocide survivors to return, resettle and gain a sense of political stability and empowerment.

2017

The Yazidi religious minority was a subject to extreme violence perpetrated by the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq in 2014. This thesis argues that the violence was genocidal in nature and aim ...

This interdisciplinary research dissertation is based on the legal analysis about the characteristics of crimes of ISIS, possible recognition of Yezidi genocide according to the provisions of international criminal law and perspectives of initiating a special tribunal for the crimes of ISIS against Yezidi minority. The thesis compares evidence of the incidences and atrocities of ISIS with provisions of the UN Genocide Convention and other international treaties to find out whether Yezidis belong to a protected group under international law and whether these crimes could be legally named as genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. Secondly, the study highlights the international reactions and symbolic political recognition of Yezidi genocide worldwide and explains the obligations of those states who recognized the genocide by taking three examples of the USA, UK and European Union to examine what they did post-recognition and whether their measures promoted punish the crimes of ISIS. the initiation of a legal entity to Finally, this thesis analysis the perspectives and challenges of establishing a national or international tribunal for the crimes of ISIS, by highlighting the obstacles and possibilities for three roads towards bringing justice: referring the case to ICC; establishment of an Ad hoc/Hybrid tribunal; or the activation of an Iraqi national jurisdiction for international crimes. On the basis that facts are given about the current legal situation and appropriate ideas are recommended to reform Iraqi law in order to fulfil the contemporary standards of ICL and comply with the principles of international human rights. . 2

Three years after IS’s genocidal attacks, as the military campaign against IS progresses, this report intends to evaluate the current situation of Yazidis living in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), highlighting the main challenges and areas of concern. This report will focus in particular on the current situation and needs of the Yazidi survivors, as well as those Yazidis who are still in captivity. It outlines the achievements to date of the advocacy campaign for genocide accountability and justice, as well as future priorities, and highlights work to secure the civil and political rights of Yazidis in Iraq. Political and military complications in the Yazidi homeland in Iraq are covered, as are the humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs), the status in Yazidi liberated areas, and key factors that are preventing Yazidis from returning to their homes. These current geopolitical issues are serving to further disempower Yazidi survivors ​and to continue the genocide that IS began. This report contains recommendations to improve the situation of Yazidis and promotes some key solutions for the future of Yazidis in Iraq

Christian Scherrer (Ed), Iraq: Genocide by Sanctions (Pulau Pinang: Penerbit, USM, 2011), pp. 330-390. , 2007

The illegal US invasion of Iraq was and is a humanitarian catastrophe. Some try to explain this catastrophe as a byproduct. They justify their concept on the absence of intent. Reviewing applicable principles of international law and US policy towards Iraq, this paper aims to prove that the humanitarian catastrophe present in Iraq is an essential component of US policy, constituting premeditated genocide against the people of Iraq. The intent that some propose is absent is flagrantly evident. Consequently, this paper constitutes a call to jurists, law associations, and individuals from all walks of life to act on ending genocide in Iraq. This study was made not only because of the horrid consequences of the illegal US invasion of Iraq, but to lay a basis for stopping imperial adventures and to enrich the political thinking of instruments that can save our civilisation.

2024

Ten years on, displaced Ezidi survivors have little prospect of safely returning to their homes in Iraq – and those who do face ongoing threats, deprivation, and marginalization. Meanwhile, they lack safe pathways to Europe, where they have relatives. Further, many in Europe live in an untenable limbo, lacking secure legal status or integration support.

Genocide Studies and Prevention, 2018