ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi President Barham Salih on Sunday stressed the importance of holding those who helped facilitate the rise of the Islamic State group (ISIS) to account, and called on the Iraqi government and the international community to help Yezidis who have returned to Shingal.
President Salih made the remarks during a conference on the genocide hosted by Yazda, a Yezidi human rights organisation,on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the genocide against the community.
“Today we remember the tragedy that the Yezidis faced six years ago today at the hands of the criminals of the terrorist organization ‘Daesh’ after they invaded Sinjar (Shingal) and committed the most brutal crimes,” Salih said during his opening speech, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
“We stress the importance of holding those accountable who caused the ISIS invasion of of Iraqi villages and cities,” he added.
Iraqi state-media announced on Saturday the release of Lieutenant Gen. Mahdi al-Gherawi, one of the military officials responsible for the fall of Mosul city to ISIS six years ago. The official was released after two years in jail after bail was paid for his release.
In the summer of 2014, ISIS extremists swept across swathes of Syria and Iraq. In August that year, they attacked the Yezidi homeland of Shingal in Nineveh province, committing genocide against the ethno-religious minority. Hundreds of thousands of Yezidis fled from the militants, but not everyone escaped. More than 1,000 were killed or and 6,417 were captured by the militants, with women and children sold into sexual slavery.
As of this month, 3,530 Yezidis have been rescued or escaped ISIS, and 2,887 are still missing, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s office documenting the genocide.
Six years later, the vast majority of Yezidis continue to live in a protracted state of displacement. Of the 400,000 Yezidis displaced by ISIS violence, 360,000 continue to live in IDP camps, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Yezidi Rescue Office statistics. Hundreds of families returned to the area last month, but face a difficult homecoming in destroyed villages with little to no public services.
“The main aim of the terrorists was to implement genocide against Yezidis and wipe them out from existence,” Salih said. “It is a real shame and is dangerous to neglect or fail to fulfill the needs of our people in Sinjar (Shingal),” he added.
Shingal is currently under the control of a host of forces, including the Iraqi Army, militias affiliated to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), PKK-affiliated Shingal Protection Units and Yezidi Peshmerga Units. Yezidis have expressed fear and uncertainty in returning home to this security context.
Salih also stressed the need of resolving the political and security issues in the area, and providing “stability and security” for the town in order to pave the way for further returnees.
The beginning of August also marks the Yezidi midsummer celebration, in which Yezidi people gather at their holy site of Lalish, near Sheikhan. Celebrations have been cancelled this year in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani released a statement on Sunday congratulating the Yezidi community on the midsummer celebrations and vowed to continue bringing back the abducted Yezidis.
“On this occasion, we remember and honor all of our Yezidi sisters and brothers who were targeted by the terrorist groups. We pay tribute to the memories of those who lost their lives and reassure the families of the abducted ones that we will continue to do our best to locate them and bring them back to their families and work to uncover the fate of the missing others,” Barzani said.
