The National Kurdish Women’s Union Platform issued a statement on the 11th anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide on August 3, 2014, demanding that the massacre be officially recognized as genocide and that the perpetrators be tried in international courts.
The statement recalled that more than 10,000 women, children and civilians were killed, and over 3,000 women were kidnapped, raped, and sold in markets during the course of the ISIS onslaught against the Yazidi people, which is remembered as the “74th genocide” in Yazidi history.
The statement said that the acts committed against Yazidi women and children did not only constitute war crimes, but were also part of a systematic campaign of genocide aimed at eliminating a sacred faith and a people.
The Platform pointed out that Shengal was a strategic crossing point between Rojava and Bashur (South Kurdistan), and ISIS wanted to turn the region into a crossing point between Iraq and Syria. It recalled that after the ISIS occupation, the Yazidis were left abandoned and fought hard to survive starvation and thirst on Mount Shengal for 10 days. Some of those rescued were relocated to camps in the Kurdistan Region via Rojava, while others were settled in the Newroz Camp in Rojava.
The statement stressed that the Yazidi people were still living under oppression 11 years after the genocidal onslaught and criticized the Iraqi and South Kurdistan governments for not making serious efforts to rebuild Shengal.
The platform listed the following demands for the Yazidi women and people:
– Official recognition of the Yazidi genocide by all governments and international courts,
– Protection of the sacred lands of Shengal,
– Establishment of special and official courts to prosecute the perpetrators and document the crimes,
– Prosecution of the perpetrators not only under terrorism charges but also under genocide and crimes against humanity charges,
– Implementation of the demands of the “My Name is My Mother’s Name” campaign,
– Search and rescue of women who are still captive in the hands of ISIS or missing,
– Provision of financial, health, and psychological support to rescued women,
– Ensuring that women have a direct say in the administration of Shengal,
– Provision of support for the return of Yazidis from camps to their homeland,
– Protection of the natural environment and surroundings of Shengal.
The National Kurdish Women’s Union Platform emphasized that the resistance of the Yazidi people and the dignity of women are a source of inspiration for women around the world, stressing that Yazidi women are not alone.