Iraq marks ninth anniversary of the Yazidi genocide by Islamic state group

On Thursday, 3 August, the Iraqi prime minister accused "some countries and deviant parties" of being involved in the Yazidi genocide by the Islamic State militants as the country marked the ninth anniversary of the atrocities. 

 The Yazidis, who live primarily in areas around Nineveh province in the northwest of Iraq, were massacred and enslaved on 3 August 2014 by IS militants after they seized the town of Sinjar.

IS extremists launched a genocidal campaign against the minority, involving killings, abductions, rape and enslavement.

Iraqi and Kurdish officials held two separate ceremonies commemorating the genocide. Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani addressed a memorial ceremony of the genocide and highlighted his government's efforts to support the Yazidi citizens, including enacting the Yazidi Survivors Law.

Over 2,000 #Yazidi women and girls continue to be held in captivity nine years after the ISIS perpetrated genocide. We must #bringthemhome.#august3rd #yazidigenocide #istandwithyazidis #neverforget #nadiamurad #nadiasinitiative pic.twitter.com/JKJhaKbv72

— Nadia's Initiative (@nadiainitiative) August 3, 2023

"Some countries and deviant parties were involved in this treacherous crime, seeking harm for Iraq, but their efforts ended in disappointment," Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani was quoted as saying by Iraq's News Agency (INA), without mentioning the alleged states or the parties that might be involved in the crimes.  

 In Erbil, the capital city of the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, senior Kurdish officials and several diplomatic envoys in the region commemorated the genocide.

"As long as there is one missing Yazidi left, this genocide is not over," Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region, was quoted as saying by Rudaw.

The Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces were widely criticised for failing to defend the town and leaving Yazidis at the mercy of the extremists. Nine years on, many issues remain unresolved.

The Iraqi parliament had launched an inquiry into the reasons behind the fall of Mosul. Still, no military commanders, governmental officials, or political leaders were blamed for the rapid deafest of the Iraqi and Kurdish forces. 

"Now, nine years later, and six years following the defeat of ISIS, thousands of women and children remain missing or in captivity, and many more live in protracted displacement, often in deteriorating conditions in under-resourced camps, with critical needs," SEED Foundation, a local NGO in the Kurdistan region to protect survivors of violence said in an emailed statement, to The New Arab.

"Today, we grieve for all those we have lost and mourn the life we once knew. I will continue to fight for survivors, advocate for justice and work to heal our homeland," Nadia Murad, a former captive of IS, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and UNODC Goodwill Ambassador, said in a tweet on Thursday.  

The Iraqi parliament passed the Yazidi Survivors Law on 1 March 2021, which compensates survivors of IS crimes, including women and girls subjected to sexual violence.

Britain's government on Tuesday formally declared that atrocities committed by the Islamic State group against the Yazidi people in Iraq were acts of genocide.

The UK Foreign Office said the government's official acknowledgement came after a recent landmark ruling by the German Federal Court of Justice, which found a former member of IS, also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh, guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.