In August 2014, fighters from the Islamic State (IS) organization captured Sinjar, a province in northern Iraq, the cradle of the Yazidi community, united around an ancient pre-Islamic religion. Deemed "apostate" by IS, the Yazidis were victims of genocide, according to the United Nations. More than 5,000 men and adolescents were killed, while several thousand women and girls were abducted and reduced to sexual slavery. From this community, Nagham Nawzat Hasan, is a 41-year-old Iraqi gynecologist. Since 2014, she has devoted her life to Yazidi survivors, from whom she has collected hundreds of testimonies.
For the first time, an Iraqi court has convicted an IS fighter for the abuse he inflicted on a Yazidi. It is also the first time that a survivor of this community has testified before the law, facing her executioner. Is it encouraging, or is it too little, too late?
This first trial in Iraq is important. As is the one, unpublished, which is held in Munich (Jennifer Wenisch, a 28-year-old German woman who joined the IS squad, is accused of having left a 5-year-old Yazidi girl dying of thirst, bought as a slave in Iraq in 2015. She is prosecuted for crimes of war, crimes against humanity, human trafficking and torture). Justice must be done, but it should have been done much sooner. Justice is essential so that victims of sexual violence can heal their wounds and rebuild themselves. It is also important for the Yazidi community, but it is not enough.
International organizations that came to the field (in Iraq) and met the victims were expected to take action more quickly. Only the international community can give us real support in the area of justice. We hope for an organized response, which builds on Yazidi organizations. We would particularly like France to follow the example of Germany and judge the French fighters (from IS) for their crimes against the Yazidis.
What are the obstacles to trying crimes against Yazidis in Iraq?
Since 2014 and the beginning of my work with survivors of Daesh (ISA Arabic acronym), I am in contact with international organizations. Together, we are lobbying the Iraqi state to advance justice on the ground. But there are delays and a lack of interest in the Yazidi question, long neglected. The Iraqi authorities have never tried to get in touch with the professionals who work with this community. They never denounced what happened. This is changing thanks to pressure from Yazidi activists. In the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, there is already a center for helping the families of the victims, the displaced and the survivors. Of course, this problem concerns people who all live in northern Iraq, but we expected the federal government to cooperate and help us. It was not the case.
