Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, this is a profound time of remembrance for the Yazidi community. Seven years ago, a genocide was committed by Daesh against the Yazidi people through murder, rape, and sexual slavery amongst other heinous atrocities. This genocide spared no one in the Yazidi community regardless of age or gender. Nor did Daesh target Yazidis alone – they sought to destroy other components of Iraqi society and to destroy the rich historical fabric of Iraq and the Kurdistan region. These crimes shocked the conscience of the world at the time and to this day.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Yazda and the Zovighian Partnership for giving me this opportunity to highlight the importance of a sustainable future for Yazidis and other religious and ethnic components in Iraq. I would also like to express my gratitude to Yazda and other civil society organizations for their steadfast support to survivors and commitment to ensuring these crimes never happen again.
I have often mentioned that when I took office as the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, the first survivors of conflict-related sexual violence that I met were from the Yazidi community. These women who suffered unfathomable trauma while enslaved by Daesh reiterated to me that there can be no sustainable future for Yazidis and other religious components, and no equitable reconstruction of Iraq, without justice and reparations. These survivors of Daesh’s sexual violence, despite having faced unspeakable horror, have also demonstrated time and again incredible resilience, and we all should salute their bravery and courage.
Today as we remember the crimes of the past, we also reflect on what the term “justice” means in the context of a genocide where sexual violence was perpetrated on a widespread and systematic basis.
The UN Security Council in resolution 2467 stated that conflict-related sexual violence is a threat to international peace and security, but that the restoration of peace in the aftermath of these crimes requires survivor-centered justice.
It is my firm conviction that Iraq and the Kurdistan Region must have a truly comprehensive transitional justice strategy that responds to the needs of the Yazidi community and those of other minority components, including survivors of sexual violence, their children born of rape and their families.
Such a transitional justice strategy in Iraq requires:
- The safe and dignified return of the Yazidi community members to their homeland within Iraq and the Kurdistan region. These returns must ensure the ability of survivors of sexual violence and other crimes to be able to live in their homes without fear and have access to economic livelihoods and essential services.
- A renewed search for the thousands of individuals who remain missing from Yazidi and other components in Iraq by the Government as a domestic and foreign policy priority so that individuals can know the truth of what happened to their families and be reunified where possible.
Criminal accountability for those who perpetrated crimes against the Yazidi community for the substantive crimes Daesh committed, including sexual violence, and not simply as terrorism against the State. This includes a broad programme of legal reforms not only to try perpetrators for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes; but also, to ensure that the ordinary Iraqi legal and procedural codes on rape and other forms of sexual violence are in line with international norms and standards as guarantees of non-repetition. - Political inclusion of the Yazidi community, including survivors of sexual violence and women more broadly, in decisions regarding the overall reconstruction of Iraq and especially those decisions that impact survivors’ safety and future.
- And renewed efforts to reduce stigma against all survivors of sexual violence committed by Daesh, including stigma against children conceived as a result of sexual violence. We must ensure that these children and their mothers have full civil, political, economic, and legal rights.
We all recognize that the priorities I have listed for a sustainable future for the Yazidi people and other religious and ethnic components requires profound work. As one example, we have yet to see in seven years one conviction for sexual violence of any Daesh perpetrator against any Yazidi whether as a domestic crime under Iraqi law or as an international crime. Although Daesh undoubtedly inflicted terror on civilians, charges of terrorism do not recognize the full harm of the crimes Daesh committed – recognition that is necessary for a sustainable and equitable future and to counter Daesh’s ideology with evidence in a court of law that history cannot deny.
As a measure of progress, however, the Iraqi Council of Representatives enacted the Yazidi Survivors Law whose bylaws are now being drafted. I call once again on the Government to ensure these bylaws are survivor and victim-centered and respect the object and purpose of the law, which is to ensure access to benefits for the greatest number of individuals impacted by Daesh’s crimes. The needs of the Yazidi and other communities are great, and we must understand that when there has been a genocide that included sexual violence of this scale, the bylaws of any victims’ fund must be flexible enough to support the communities impacted.
I also call on international donors to support the Iraqi government in implementing the commitments under this important law to ensure its success. The Yazidi Survivors Law is a critical part of the reconstruction of Iraq.
Although the challenges are great and have only been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, my mandate and the entire United Nations system remain committed to supporting survivors of sexual violence committed by Daesh, as well as the Iraqi federal and Kurdish regional governments pursuant to the Joint Communiqué on the Prevention and Response to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence signed in September 2016 by the United Nations and the Government. My mandate continues to support projects within Iraq to promote the rights of survivors and respond to their needs. I look forward to returning to Iraq and sending technical teams as soon as is practicable in support of our shared efforts for a sustainable future for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Iraq and to ensure these crimes never happen again.