Latest news with #Sinjar
Forbes
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
The Pursuit Of Justice For The Yazidi Genocide Must Continue
August 3, 2025, marks the 11th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide - genocide perpetrated by Daesh (also known as ISIS, ISIL, or IS), a non-state actors, against an ethno-religious community in Sinjar, Iraq. Eleven years later, the Yazidi genocide is ongoing, with over 2,600 Yazidi women and children still missing. The Yazidi genocide is still ongoing with the promise of justice being unfulfilled. The Yazidi genocide is still ongoing with no steps being taken to prevent further atrocities against the community in the future. On August 3, 2014, Daesh launched a devastating attack on Sinjar, inflicting widespread atrocities on the Yazidi community. The terror group killed thousands, predominantly targeting men and elderly women, while abducting boys to forcibly conscript them as child soldiers. Thousands of women and girls were kidnapped and subjected to sexual slavery and violence. To this day, over 2,600 Yazidi women and children remain unaccounted for. Daesh's crimes included murder, enslavement, deportation, and forced displacement. The group systematically imprisoned, tortured, abducted, exploited, abused, raped, and coerced women into marriages across the region. In the days following the Sinjar assault, Daesh expanded its campaign of terror to other communities in the Nineveh Plains, causing 120,000 people to flee in the dead of night in a desperate bid to save their lives. The atrocities perpetrated by Daesh against the Yazidis, Christians, and other religious and ethnic minority communities have been recognized as meeting the legal definition of genocide by the United Nations and several countries (both governments and parliaments). However, the determination was not followed by any comprehensive responses ignoring the very duties the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) bestowed upon States - the duty to prevent and the duty to punish genocide. In terms of justice, very little was done to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to account, including in Europe. Some 5,000 Daesh fighters came from European countries. Some half of them are now back. However, prosecutions continue to be rare. This was made very clear in a report from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Special Rapporteur on Bringing Daesh to Justice Pieter Omtzigt, adopted by the Assembly in 2022. This was also made very clear in a recent report from the U.K.'s Joint Committee on Human Rights, a committee consisting of members of the upper and lower houses of the UK Parliament. The recent report looking into the UK's responses to Daesh atrocities, and in particular, to the Daesh fighters who returned to the UK, stressed that there have been zero successful prosecutions in UK courts for international crimes committed in Syria and Iraq by Daesh. The report further found that investigation and prosecution require better coordination, and for this, changes are needed. Other countries have been more successful, including Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. Among most recent developments on the justice front, on July 8, 2025, the Investigating Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that French national Sonia Mejri will stand trial before the specially composed Assize Court for her alleged involvement in crimes committed against the Yezidi community, including the crime of genocide. Sonia Mejri is accused of having joined Daesh and participating in its operations in Syria. However, prosecutions continue to be an exception rather than a norm. Marking the 11th anniversary of the Yazidi genocide, Pari Ibrahim, Executive Director of the Free Yezidi Foundation, commented: 'Once again, the top demand from our community is to identify and rescue the missing - nearly 2,600 Yezidi civilians, many of whom are still held in parts of Syria, Turkey, and elsewhere. Beyond this, Sinjar remains in disrepair, and serious efforts must be made to facilitate the return of Sinjar's residents and a secure, dignified life where the well-being and interests of Yezidis are taken into account. (…) perpetrators should be facing justice, one by one. Instead, justice has eluded the Yezidi community, and impunity reigns. When people learn they can get away with atrocities, they will keep on doing the same thing. Justice must be seen to be strong and stand above the shoulders of everyone, especially those who committed genocide against our people.' The sort of atrocities as those committed by Daesh - genocide that aimed at the annihilation of the community in whole or in part - require comprehensive responses which fully reflect the nature and scale of the crimes. The responses to these crimes now will ultimately define the future of the community. We must do more now to ensure that the ever-raging impunity for the crimes does not manifest in another wave of atrocities against the community. Our failure to prosecute the alleged perpetrators cannot be justified. This will be a stain on our conscience for decades to come.
Forbes
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Daesh Fighters Must Not Escape Justice In The UK
[August 9, 2014] Thousands of Yezidis were trapped in the Sinjar mountains as they tried to escape ... More from Daesh. (Photo credit: Emrah Yorulmaz/) On May 13, 2025, the Joint Committee on Human Rights in the UK Parliament, a committee consisting of members of the upper and lower houses of the UK Parliament, published a report looking into the UK's responses to Daesh atrocities, and in particular, to the Daesh fighters who returned to the UK. The report, which summarizes the findings of two years of inquiries spread across two Parliamentary sessions, stressed that despite hundreds of British Daesh fighters having returned to the UK, there have been zero successful prosecutions in UK courts for international crimes committed in Syria and Iraq by Daesh. The report further found that investigation and prosecution require better coordination, and for this, changes are needed. Daesh is a non-state terror organization that emerged in Iraq in the early 2000s. Its campaigns included horrific atrocities targeting religious and ethnic groups, including the Yazidis, with the aim of destroying their identities. On August 3, 2014, Daesh launched a devastating attack on Sinjar, inflicting widespread atrocities on the Yazidi community. The terror group killed thousands, predominantly targeting men and elderly women, while abducting boys to forcibly conscript them as child soldiers. Thousands of women and girls were kidnapped and subjected to sexual slavery and violence. To this day, over 2,600 Yazidi women and children remain unaccounted for. Daesh's crimes included murder, enslavement, deportation, and forced displacement. The group systematically imprisoned, tortured, abducted, exploited, abused, raped, and coerced women into marriages across the region. In the days following the Sinjar assault, Daesh expanded its campaign of terror to other communities in the Nineveh Plains, causing 120,000 people to flee in the dead of night in a desperate bid to save their lives. The terror group flourished in their recruitment and use of foreign fighters, including those from the UK. It is estimated that approximately 850 British citizens and residents left the UK to join Daesh in Syria and Iraq. As the report confirms, an estimated 425 Daesh fighters have returned to the UK, but none have been successfully prosecuted for the international crimes they committed in Syria and Iraq. This is even though in August 2023, the UK Government finally recognized the Daesh atrocities against the Yazidis as genocide. The Joint Committee on Human Rights called for a change in the UK's approach to ensure that the perpetrators of genocide are brought to justice. The Joint Committee further called on the Government to develop a coherent framework to ensure that the UK's investigating and prosecuting bodies, including the Crown Prosecution Service and the police, are better coordinated in evidence gathering and carrying out investigations. Last, but not least, the new report called upon the UK Government to step up efforts to identify British nationals currently held in camps in Syria, and where there is sufficient evidence that international crimes were committed, to ensure their effective prosecution. Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Lord David Alton, commented on the report, stating: 'This is not something the UK can simply wash its hands of because it happened overseas. We know that British nationals committed the most horrendous crimes in Iraq and Syria under the Daesh regime, and we have a duty to see them brought to justice. To date, no Daesh fighters have been successfully prosecuted for international crimes in the UK, and we find this unacceptable.' The UK Government will now have to respond to the report and recommendations, and address how the laws, policies and practices are to change to provide better responses to the atrocities committed against the Yazidis and any similar crimes in the future. The report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights stresses the importance of ensuring justice and accountability for mass atrocities as those perpetrated by Daesh against the Yazidis - not only to punish those responsible, but also to establish the truth about gross human rights violations, and to use justice and accountability to prevent future atrocities.
Rudaw Net
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
Kurdish military judge warns against 'desertion' of Yazidi Peshmerga fighters
Also in Iraq Iran cuts Diyala province electricity: Local official Iraq introduces electronic entry visas for select nations Disarming PKK could ease implementation of Shingal Agreement: Yazidi commander Baghdad builds Shingal irrigation project to revive farmland, create jobs A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Some members of an all-Yazidi brigade of Peshmerga forces announced on Saturday that they had "resigned" from their brigade and announced their plan to join the Iraqi army. However, a Kurdish military judge warned on Sunday that the move is illegal, adding that it could harm Erbil-Baghdad relations. A representative of the deserted Peshmerga fighters, who were part of the Shingal (Sinjar) brigade - an affiliate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) - on Saturday told journalists in Baghdad that they 'resigned' from their military duties 'within the borders of the Kurdistan Region' and from 'all military and partisan ties binding us' to Erbil. They claimed the move was in rejection of the Kurdistan Region's policies against the Yazidis and the 'exploitation of their suffering for political gains.' Kurdawan Naqshbandi, a Kurdish military court judge, told Rudaw on Sunday that if these Peshmerga fighters answer to Iraq, it would be considered 'defection,' adding that it will also be a 'violation of military discipline.' 'If the Iraqi army accepts their defection, it will create a new point of contention with the Kurdistan Region,' Naqshbandi warned, urging relevant authorities in Baghdad to handle the situation responsibly. The Kurdish and Iraqi governments have yet to comment on the matter. Naqshbandi further clarified that Peshmerga forces joining the Iraqi army without the official approval of Erbil is illegal and that such a move is illegal. According to the military laws in the Kurdistan Region, those who defect will face trial in the military court under Article 48 of the Military Penal Code. The brigade claimed that they consist of over a thousand fighters, including high-ranking officers, but their commander told Rudaw that their number is less than 200 fighters and do not include senior officers. 'The number they announced, claiming it to be 1,200 people, has no basis and they are not even 200,' Qasim Shasho said. He noted that the brigade consists of around 8,000 members and will continue to fulfill their duty. Shasho said a number of the deserted fighters have returned to the brigade. Shasho's brigade was formed after the Islamic State (ISIS) attacked the Yazidi heartland of Shingal (Sinjar) in 2014, killing and kidnapping a large number of its residents. The presence of a variety of armed groups in Shingal has hindered the return of its people who fled the town during the ISIS attack.
Shafaq News
25-02-2025
- Health
- Shafaq News
Fire engulfs IDPs tents in Duhok's Khanke camp, injuring several
Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, a fire tore through a makeshift tent in Khanke Camp, south of Duhok, resulting in injuries and extensive material losses. Dakhil Sinjar, a camp resident, said the blaze erupted around 3:00 a.m., injuring his wife and four of his children. 'They suffered varying degrees of burns,' he told Shafaq News, adding that he managed to rescue three other children before flames consumed their shelter. 'The injured were taken to the Burn and Plastic Surgery Hospital in Duhok for treatment.' Sinjar explained that the fire, triggered by an electrical short circuit, destroyed all their belongings, including furniture, household items, and official documents. He urged authorities and humanitarian organizations to provide urgent aid, stressing the harsh living conditions faced by displaced families in the camp. Khanke Camp, home to thousands of internally displaced persons, including Yazidis, has long struggled with inadequate infrastructure and safety concerns. In 2022, a similar blaze erupted in the camp, destroying several tents.
