Nadia Murad Testifies at Belgium Parliament in Support of Recognition of Yazidi Genocide
On June 16, 2021, Nadia testified at the Belgian Parliament in support of national legislation introduced to recognize the Yazidi Genocide. She urged members of the parliament to pass this bill and reassure the Yazidi community they have not been forgotten.
Read Nadia’s remarks below:
Madame Chairwoman, members of parliament, good afternoon.
I am grateful to join you today on the occasion of this very important piece of legislation, introduced by Mr. Dallemagne.
In August of 2014, the world witnessed yet another genocide. Over the course of two weeks, my village Kocho and many others in the region of Sinjar, Iraq came under attack by the so-called Islamic State. ISIS militants undertook a strategized campaign to ethnically cleanse Yazidis from existence.
In mere hours, friends and family members perished before my eyes. I lost my mother and six of my brothers. Today, I have 19 nieces and nephews that will grow up without fathers. ISIS killed them simply because they were Yazidis. The events of 2014 marked the rest of our lives while the world watched in horror, but did nothing until it was too late.
Approximately 400,000 Yazidis fled to the neighboring Kurdistan Region and tens of thousands took refuge on the top of Mount Sinjar, where they would face near starvation. The rest of us, unable to flee, were killed or taken captive to endure horrific acts of violence – enslavement, forced labor, torture, rape.
Christians and other groups were given the option to flee or pay taxes to ISIS. But ISIS considered Yazidis “infidels” and ordered men to either convert or die. Women, on the other hand, were given no choice at all. We were taken captive, married off to the highest bidder, and forced to convert.
More than 6,000 women and children were taken captive by ISIS and over 2,800 are still missing today. Sexual violence was intentionally employed as a tactic of war. Their goal was not only to eradicate our community in Iraq but to enslave and violate Yazidi women in order to destroy the fabric of our community from within.
There is no question that ISIS committed genocide. They did not attempt to hide it. Rather, they published videos titled, “Kill them wherever you find them,” and wrote manuals on how to traffic and enslave Yazidi women. The United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’eash (UNITAD) has collected incriminating ISIS records, along with survivor accounts, and forensic evidence from mass graves.
Under the United Nations Convention and the Belgian Criminal Code, five acts are classified as genocide when perpetrated against an ethnic or religious community. These include:
1. Killing members of the group
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm
3. Inflicting conditions calculated to bring about its physical destruction
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
5. Forcibly transferring children
ISIS’ persecution of Yazidis was so comprehensive, it is as if they used this definition as a guideline for exactly how to destroy my community, fulfilling each and every one of these criteria. They:
1. Murdered men and older women en masse, filling over 80 mass graves throughout Sinjar.
2. Physically and psychologically tortured captives and cause irreversible trauma.
3. Disabled infrastructure, burned farms, and destroyed electrical networks, water sources, schools, and homes so that Yazidis would not be able to survive in Iraq.
4. Forcibly converted women and raped them to ensure that children born to Yazidi women would be considered Muslim, not Yazidi, under Iraq’s patrilineal nationality law.
5. Took children captive. Girls were sexually enslaved. Boys were conscripted into the ranks of the terrorist group and brainwashed into their violent ideology.
The United Nations, European Parliament, Council of Europe, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Scotland, Portugal, Australia, Armenia, Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region have all recognized ISIS’ genocide against Yazidis. Recognition is crucial for the accounts of history but also for the lived reality of my community. As a survivor, I know the profound power of acknowledging that what we experienced was one of the worst atrocities known to humankind.
Healing begins with recognition and is continued through justice. Belgium has an important role to play in accountability. The uncomfortable truth is that Belgian nationals joined ISIS and participated in these crimes. Belgium has a responsibility to Yazidis and your own rule of law, to prosecute perpetrators for genocide and sexual violence, not only terrorism. UNITAD has built a foundation for successful court cases by documenting evidence according to the highest standards. But it is up to you to act on it.
Prosecuting ISIS is a priority for the Yazidi community even as they struggle to survive every day. 200,000 live in displacement camps without basic opportunities. Over 150,000 have returned to Sinjar but struggle to access basic services. The situation is even worse for those still in captivity.
The fact that justice is prioritized alongside Sinjar’s reconstruction and the rescue of captives speaks to a truth Yazidis know all too well from a long history of persecution. Without accountability, violence will be repeated. Legal action is needed to show that persecution will not be tolerated – no matter geography, race, or religion.
At the same time, justice means more than punishing ISIS. We must defeat not only ISIS’ military but also their ideology by helping Yazidis survive and thrive in Iraq. Tangible support is needed for rebuilding homes, hospitals, schools, and water and electricity networks to make Sinjar livable once again. Empowering the community to restore their homeland and heritage will send a strong message that ethnic cleansing will not be tolerated. The destruction of communities must not be allowed to succeed. ISIS tried to erase the future of the Yazidi community; we defeat them by building a brighter future than ever before.
Efforts to rebuild Sinjar are constrained by political disputes between the Iraqi and Kurdish Regional governments. In the vacuum of good governance and security, foreign-backed militias take root and further destabilize the region. The Sinjar Agreement was reached in order to resolve these issues. Negotiations found unlikely success, only to fall short in the stage of actual implementation.
International pressure would push this solution over the finish line. For this reason, international monitoring of the agreement is a crucial piece of the proposed resolution. Political stability will open the gates for holistic action on accountability and survivor support.
As we approach the 7th anniversary of ISIS’ attacks in Sinjar, it may seem too late to address the genocide. But I assure you, recognition and action are more crucial than ever. The Yazidi community is desperate to see that international support has not faded with headlines about ISIS. To see that our rights, safety, and dignity matter.
As Belgians say, “unity makes strength.” In unity, we can find the strength to end genocide and sexual violence - the strength to support survivors and build a more peaceful world.
The Yazidi Genocide has been documented, as you will see in the following video, but it is up to you to decide Belgium’s role in this history. Will you be bystanders or will you act in the name of justice and human rights?
Thank you.