Statement by Martyrs' Affairs Committee on 7-year commemoration of Yazidi Genocide

Today, seven years have passed since the genocide against the Yazidis, a unique tragic crime that was committed by the enemies of our people.

On 3rd August 2014, the ISIS terrorist organization before the eyes of the world attacked Yazidi civilians in Shengal (Sinjar) and all the areas, towns and villages to the north and south of Mount Shengal.

By all international, moral, religious and human standards, ISIS committed a unique crime which, according to all international conventions on human rights, is a crime of genocide. International organizations and several countries around the world have recognized that this was genocide, most recently the parliaments of Belgium and the Netherlands.

ISIS wanted to annihilate the religion, culture and language of this native community of Kurdistan and Iraq, and to demographically change an important area of Kurdistan, but with the help of Kurdistan’s allies, the Yazidis remain in Shengal and have maintained their religion, culture and language.

On this sad commemoration, we call for the problems that Yazidi IDPs are facing to be solved as soon as possible, the situation in Shengal to be normalized so that people can return home, the search for the missing and the abducted must continue and their release be secured, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice at the International Criminal Court, so that neither Yazidis nor any other community face such crimes again. Reparations must be made to the survivors and their areas rebuilt.

We call on the KRG and the Iraqi Federal Government to work together to end the suffering of the Yazidi community.

We pay our respects to the victims of the genocide and all the victims of the Kurdistan Region.

Committee on Martyrs’ Affairs, Genocide and Political Prisoners

3 August 2021