Reflecting on the Yezidi Genocide: A Decade Later
The Commission for International Justice and Accountability joins with its partners, former Iraqi team members and affected communities to commemorate the horrific attack unleashed by Da’esh against the Yezidi minority and their ancestral homeland of Sinjar, in Northern Iraq, which began ten years ago today.
On 03 August 2014, Da’esh forces launched a systematic military operation, resulting in the mass killing of Yezidi men, the enslavement of women and children, and the forced conversion of countless individuals. Captured female Yezidi’s were forcibly transferred to several detention centres and ultimately to individual slaveowners where they became the victims of sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced pregnancies, abortions, and contraception, forced labour, arbitrary detention and other forms of inhuman and cruel treatment. Many Yezidi children were separated from their mothers and indoctrinated into becoming child soldiers, while Yezidi girls as young as seven were reportedly taken as sex slaves. Many did not survive. This coordinated assault also effected the displacement of over 830,000 people and the destruction of cultural and religious sites.
The Commission of International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) has been instrumental in documenting these atrocities. Between 2015 and 2021, CIJA's team, composed of nearly 30 Iraqi investigators and international mentors, meticulously gathered over 59,000 Da’esh documents and more than 5,300 electronic files. They conducted 1,544 witness interviews as well as 1,065 interviews with suspected Da’esh members, building a comprehensive body of evidence on the command structures and operations of the group, including their organised slave trade.
This evidence has been crucial in bringing perpetrators to justice. Of the nine Da’esh arrests, trials, convictions and acquittals that CIJA has supported, three have involved crimes against members of the Yezidi community. Notable cases include the convictions of Sarah O., who received a 6.5-year sentence in Germany for her involvement in the enslavement of Yezidi women, and Taha al-J., who was sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and other crimes. Additionally, CIJA supported the rescue of a thirteen-year-old Yezidi girl, facilitating her safe return from Syria after nearly four years of captivity.
Since 2018, CIJA has responded to at least 16 Requests for Assistance from law enforcement agencies working on cases directly related to Yezidis and the Da’esh slave trade. In these, CIJA has been able to assist investigations relating to 44 suspects and 11 victims with analytical reports, documents and interviews.
Under strict measures of confidentiality and future-use policies, CIJA also transferred relevant materials to UNITAD and KRG, to assist in their own investigations, analysis, case-building and RFA programmes:
As we honour the resilience of the Yezidi community, we are reminded of the importance of justice and accountability. CIJA's ongoing work with international partners continues to shed light on the atrocities committed by Da'esh, ensuring that the voices of the victims are heard, and that justice prevails.
For more information about CIJA’s Da’esh investigations, please visit:
https://cijaonline.org/daesh-islamicstate
Image credits: Mother and Justice, mobile memorial by Rebecca Hawkins, unveiled by Nadia’s Initiative, July 2024. See: https://www.nadiasinitiative.org/mother-and-justice