Udenrigsudvalget 2020-21
URU Alm.del Bilag 252
Offentligt
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www.womenforjustice.net
@WomenforJustic3
[email protected]
To
Foreign Affairs Committee
Parliament of Denmark
Accountability for Genocide against Yazidis from Sinjar/ Iraq
Support for Yazidis to overcome Genocide
Who we are
Women for Justice is an association of, by and for women. We found our association after the
beginning of the genocide against Yazidis in Sinjar (Iraq), starting with the attacks of the so-
called Islamic State on 3 August 2014. Women for Justice has working teams in Sinjar (Iraq),
Northern Syria (Rojava), Southeast of Turkey and Germany. Our female professionals care of
esp. female Yazidi survivors who were enslaved by the so-called Islamic State as they suffered
most.
An ongoing Genocide
With the beginning of Yazidi Genocide, almost 400.000 people became within a few hours
IDPs and many of them later refugees. 6.000 women and children were enslaved, raped and
sold on slave markets in Raqqa (Syria) and Mosul (Iraq). It is an ongoing genocide: Still 3.000
women are in IS captivity, there is a big trauma within the community, no certain rebuilding
in Sinjar area because of political reasons, and children born as a result of rape are not
accepted in Iraq and Syria.
Situation today in Sinjar & needs of Yazidis to survive
In the meanwhile, 100.000 people moved back to Sinjar, but most are still afraid. There are
several reasons. The Islamic State is active again in the region in Iraq and Syria, like by sleeper
cells. These attacks are documented by different NGOs and institutions in the field. Also,
people in Sinjar say that the Turkish air strikes are the biggest security problem today. Due to
these attacks many people don´t move back to Sinjar. By IS destroyed infrastructure is a big
problem. There is almost no health care in the region; people have to drive hours to get to a
 URU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 252: Henvendelse af 7/6-21 fra Women for Justice om "Accountability for Genocide against Yazidis from Sinjar/Iraq - Support for Yazidis to overcome Genocide"
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proper hospital. There is no women`s care hospital, no birth center and no mobile hospital
ward for women. A women`s shelter is urgently needed to create a save place for women who
experience violence today in their family; which is also an trauma outcome of genocide. The
people in Sinjar struggle for self-determination, by demanding e.g. to elect the governor or at
least the mayor of Sinjar, but Bagdad and Erbil don`t listen to them and signed an own
agreement on Sinjar without involving Yazidis. This agreement is a big item of protests in the
field. Until today, there was only one legal case in Iraq and a few in Europe dealing with
suspected IS members who were accused of committed crimes against Yazidis. Efforts to
create an international tribunal in Kobane (Rojava) against IS had to be stopped because of
the beginning of Turkish attack on Rojava Region. Yazidis trust international approaches, and
do not really trust regional and national levels because of their experience. After having been
evidently defeated in Iraq and Syria, thousands of IS members are ducked and expected to
stay today in Turkey and the Middle East. For instance, again a few weeks ago a new case of
trying to sell an enslaved Yazidi girl who was only 7 years old became public in Turkey.
How Denmark could support Yazidis and Sinjar area
Denmark could take steps to prevent ongoing genocide and to support Yazidis.
a) Denmark could support efforts to track down and return abducted Yazidis.
b) Denmark could support services directed at the rehabilitation and treatment of Yazidis
– a high percentage is suffering post-trauma stress disorder.
c) Denmark could support the training of and capacity building of Iraqi, including Yazidi
security forces that may serve to protect Yazidis from future attacks.
d) Denmark could support initiatives directed at the care, education and rehabilitation of
Yazidis children born in captivity and rejected by the communities and/or orphaned as
a result of genocide.
e) Denmark could remind on 3 August Yazidi Genocide.
Need of legal Justice and what Denmark could do
IS, its ideology and the committed crimes, named crimes against humanity, war crimes and
genocide crime are a threat not only for Yazidis but also for the world as a whole. The Yazidi
case is the first genocide in the 21
st
century and the brute violence, esp. enslavement of
women and mass killings, committed by means of violence.
Many states, parliamentary bodies and international institutions have recognized the attacks
and ongoing violence by IS against Yazidis as Genocide. These include UNITAD, the US House
of Representatives, the Scottish Parliament, the European Parliament and both houses of the
French legislature.
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Yazda
Global
Yazidi
Organization,
(undated),
‘Genocide
Recognition’,
Lincoln,
NE:
Yazda,
available
at
https://www.yazda.org/genocide-recognition
, (last accessed 22 October 2020).
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In all the circumstances, given the broad acknowledgement within the international
community that the Yazidis have been victims of genocide, the relevant countries in the region
have clearly failed to discharge their duty to punish. Member states of the EU could take
urgent steps to recognize the Genocide and achieve the trials against the perpetrators and
their supporters.
Denmark can play an important role in preventing the ongoing genocide against the Yazidis.
Denmark authorities could:
-
-
-
-
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Officially recognize that the attacks against Yazidis consitute genocide and that the
genocide is ongoing.
Call upon all states to comply with obligations to prevent genocide.
Ensure and support steps are taken to ensure accountability for genocide committed
against the Yazidis.
Could ensure to collect the evidences in the region including mass graves.
Could bring up the urgent necessity of transitional justice for survivors and trials
against the perpetrators.
Could we please kindly ask you to forward the relevant questions you may have.
Yours Faithfully,
Dr. Leyla Ferman
Chair
June 2021