English video | Arabic video

GENEVA, June 24, 2016 — Iraqi MP Vian Dakhil, whose impassioned plea in the Iraqi Parliament brought the plight of the Yazidi people to the world’s attention, addressed the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday on behalf of Geneva-based human rights organization UN Watch, in response to the new UN report recognizing that ISIS is committing a genocide against the Yazidis. See speech text and video below.
Ms. Dakhil, invited by UN Watch to come for the session from Iraqi Kurdistan, addressed the council plenary after its 4-member commission of inquiry presented a new report recognizing the Yazidi genocide.
Dakhil also spoke at a press conference organized by UN Watch and the association of UN correspondents in Geneva.
“ISIS gives the Yazidi people two options: convert or be killed,” she said. Dakhil urged the international community to “support the report and work with the Security Council.”
Dakhil’s remarks were reported by Reuters, Agence France Presse and Swiss news agency ATS, and she appeared in a live interview with Al Jazeera.

Text of Vian Dakhil’s UN speech

English video | Arabic video
Translated from original Arabic

My name is Vian Dakhil. I am a member of the Iraqi People’s Assembly, and I am a Yazidi woman. I have the honor to speak on behalf of UN Watch.

I came here from my country to pose this question to the world: Now what?

For two years now we have witnessed the displacement of people: we all live as Internally Displaced Persons. More than 2,500 men and children have been murdered – mass graves bear witness to these crimes.

The world has seen that our women have been raped then sold in markets as slaves, that 5,800 women and girls have been abducted by ISIS.

In this respect I would like to thank the UN commission in charge of investigating the crimes committed in Syria and Iraq, and their conclusion that what is taking place in our community should be considered as genocide.

This report, unfortunately, is late. For two years we have been subjected to unprecedented levels of torture. Is it not time for the human conscience to wake up?

We know that ISIS is a terrorist group that does not belong to any religion or nationality, and that it is fighting the world at large. But we are the ones who pay the biggest price.

The international community has to support us, to call upon the UN Security Council to recognize what is happening to us as genocide, and to refer our case to the International Criminal Court.

It has to help more than 3,200 women and girls who remain in ISIS captivity, to rehabilitate the survivors, and to rescue 1,000 children still in ISIS’s hands.

Thank you.

The whole world have to stand up to save the 3200 #Yazidi girls still in #ISIS captivity,, #Geneva pic.twitter.com/w6AbNbJxRE

— Vian Dakhil (@VianDakhil) June 23, 2016

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Vian Dakhil receives Women’s Rights Award from UN Watch’s

GENEVA, June 20, 2016 – Vian Dakhil, whose impassioned plea in the Iraqi Parliament brought the plight of the Yazidi people to the world’s attention, will tomorrow address the United Nations Human Rights Council in response to the new UN report recognizing that ISIS is committing a genocide against the Yazidis.
Ms. Dakhil (see bio below) will take the floor tomorrow in the plenary of the UNHRC after its 4-member commission of inquiry presents its new report on the Yazidi genocide. She will also appear at a press conference organized by the association of UN correspondents in Geneva.
Ms. Dakhil was invited to Switzerland by UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental human rights group, and will speak tomorrow on their behalf.
UN Watch has been a leading voice at the United Nations demanding action to stop the Yazidi genocide:

• UN Watch hosts UN testimony of Yazidi Member of Iraqi Parliament
• UN Watch gives Geneva Summit Courage Award to Yazidi MP Vian Dakhil
• UN Watch urges UNHRC action to stop Yazidi genocide
• UN Watch leads UN rally and campaign to stop Yazidi killings in 2014
• UN Watch publishes Urgent Appeal from Yazidi leadership, August 2014

The post Yazidi MP Vian Dakhil to Respond in UNHRC to Report Finding Genocide appeared first on UN Watch.

• UN Watch hosts UN testimony of Yazidi Member of Iraqi Parliament
• UN Watch gives Geneva Summit Courage Award to Yazidi MP Vian Dakhil
• UN Watch urges UNHRC action to stop Yazidi genocide
• UN Watch leads UN rally and campaign to stop Yazidi killings in 2014
• UN Watch publishes Urgent Appeal from Yazidi leadership, August 2014

__________

Source: United Nations Office of the High Commission of Human Rights

UN COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYRIA: ISIS IS COMMITTING GENOCIDE AGAINST THE YAZIDIS

GENEVA  (Issued as received)– The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) is committing genocide against Yazidis, according to a report, “They Came to Destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis”, issued today by the independent international Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. The report by the Commission of Inquiry also determined that ISIS’s abuse of Yazidis amounts to crimes against humanity and war crimes.
“Genocide has occurred and is ongoing”, emphasised Paulo Pinheiro, Chair of the Commission. “ISIS has subjected every Yazidi woman, child or man that it has captured to the most horrific of atrocities.”
As per the Commission’s mandate, the report focuses on violations committed against Yazidis inside Syria, where thousands of women and girls are still being held captive and abused, often as slaves. The Commission also examines how the terrorist group forcibly transferred Yazidis into Syria after launching its attacks on northern Iraq’s Sinjar region on 3 August 2014. Collected information documents evidence of intent and criminal liability of ISIS’s military commanders, fighters, religious and ideological leaders, wherever they are located.
The Commission’s findings are based on interviews with survivors, religious leaders, smugglers, activists, lawyers, medical personnel, and journalists, as well as extensive documentary material, which corroborate information gathered by the Commission.
ISIS sought – and continues to seek – to destroy the Yazidis in multiple ways, as envisaged by the 1948 Genocide Convention. “ISIS has sought to erase the Yazidis through killings; sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment and forcible transfer causing serious bodily and mental harm; the infliction of conditions of life that bring about a slow death; the imposition of measures to prevent Yazidi children from being born, including forced conversion of adults, the separation of Yazidi men and women, and mental trauma; and the transfer of Yazidi children from their own families and placing them with ISIS fighters, thereby cutting them off from beliefs and practices of their own religious community”, the report says.
ISIS separated Yazidi men and boys over 12 from the rest of their families, and killed those who refused to convert, in order to destroy their identity as Yazidis. Women and children often witnessed these killings before being forcibly transferred to locations in Iraq, and thereafter to Syria, where the majority of captives remain.
Thousands of women and girls, some as young as nine, have been sold in slave markets, or souk sabaya, in the Syrian governorates of Raqqah, Aleppo, Homs, Hasakah and Dayr Az-Zawr. ISIS and its fighters hold them both in sexual slavery and in slavery, the report says, with Yazidi women and girls being constantly sold, gifted and willed between fighters. One woman, who estimated she had been sold 15 times, told the Commission, “It is hard to remember all those who bought me”.
“Survivors who escaped from ISIS captivity in Syria describe how they endured brutal rapes, often on a daily basis, and were punished if they tried to escape with severe beatings, and sometimes gang rapes,”, said Commissioner Vitit Muntarbhorn.
Treated as chattel, many Yazidi women and girls are forced to perform household tasks, and are denied adequate food and water by their fighter-owners. The Commission also heard accounts of how some Yazidi women and girls committed suicide to escape the cruel torment.
Young children bought and held with their mothers are beaten by their ISIS-owners, and subjected to the same poor living conditions as their mothers, the report states. They are often aware of the abuse that their mothers are suffering. Yazidi boys older than seven are forcibly removed from their mothers’ care and transferred into ISIS camps in Syria where they are indoctrinated and receive military training. One boy, taken for training in Syria, was told by his ISIS commander, “even if you see your father, if he is still Yazidi, you must kill him”.
“ISIS has made no secret of its intent to destroy the Yazidis of Sinjar, and that is one of the elements that allowed us to conclude their actions amount to genocide”, said Commissioner Carla Del Ponte.
The report noted that ISIS, which considers the Yazidis to be infidels, has publicly cited the Yazidis’ faith as the basis for the attack of 3 August 2014 and its subsequent abuse of them. ISIS has referred to the Yazidi as a “pagan minority [whose] existence […] Muslims should question”, adding that “their women could be enslaved […] as spoils of war”.
Mr. Pinheiro stressed that there must be no impunity for crimes of this nature, recalling States’ obligations under the Genocide Convention to prevent and to punish genocide. The Commission repeated its call for the Security Council to refer urgently the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, or to establish an ad hoc tribunal to prosecute the myriad of violations of international law committed during the non-international armed conflict.
The Commission further noted that, with no path to international criminal justice available, it is likely that the first such prosecution of ISIS crimes against the Yazidis will take place in a domestic jurisdiction. It is essential, the Commission stated, that States enact laws against genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Commission urged international recognition of the genocide, and stated that more must be done to assure the protection of this religious minority in the Middle East, and the funding of care, including psycho-social and financial support, for victims of this genocide.

Background
The Commission, which comprises Mr. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (Chair), Ms. Karen Koning AbuZayd, Ms. Carla Del Ponte, and Mr. Vitit Muntarbhorn, has been mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate and record all violations of international law March 2011 in the Syrian Arab Republic.

The full report can be found on the Human Rights Council web page dedicated to the commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/IndependentInternationalCommission.aspx
*****
For further media information:
(Geneva) Rolando Gómez, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Tel: +41-22-917.9711, email: rgomez@ohchr.org, or Cédric Sapey, OHCHR, Tel: +41-22-917.9695, email:csapey@ohchr.org

The post Issue 593: "Genocide is occurring": UNHRC must ratify experts' finding to protect Yazidis appeared first on UN Watch.

Days before world leaders gather at UNHRC in Geneva, a global summit of dissidents
led by UN Watch on Feb. 23 will spotlight human rights situations in China, Cuba, Iraq,
North Korea, Eritrea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela & more

GENEVA, February 19, 2016 — One of the world’s most prestigious international women’s rights awards will go this year to Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of the Iraqi parliament, and to German psychologist Jan Ilhan Kizilhan, for their “extraordinary and inspiring” work to rescue Yazidi and other women enslaved, assaulted, and sexually abused by ISIS in Syria and Iraq, a global coalition of 25 human rights organizations led by UN Watch announced today.
Both laureates will personally receive the 2016 Geneva Summit’s International Women’s Rights Award at a major ceremony to take place this Tuesday, February 23, 2016, where they will address UN diplomats, several hundred human rights activists, and journalists from around the world attending the 8th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.
Vian Dakhil Broke Into Tears
Ms. Dakhil broke into tears during a parliament session in August 2014 while describing the plight of her fellow Yazidis during the onslaught by ISIS in northern Iraq.
Ms. Dakhil’s impassioned plea made the world sit up and take notice, and was instrumental in President Obama’s decision to order airdrops of urgent supplies and airstrikes against ISIS.
Due to her tireless work to provide solace for and rebuild the shattered lives of traumatized ISIS escapees, she is today at the top of ISIS’s hit list.
Comment by Vian Dakhil
“I am honored to have been selected for this prestigious award on behalf of all women victims of ISIS,” said Dakhil. “The Yazidi community has been victimized by ISIS, especially the women and girls. The world needs to do more to release the girls in ISIS captivity and protect the human rights of all the people under ISIS control.”

Dr. Kizilhan: ISIS Has “Nazi-like, Genocidal” Attitude

Dr. Jan Ilhan Kizilhan is a German psychologist who operates a unique clinic in Iraq’s Kurdish region where he has treated over 1,100 female Yazidi and other victims of ISIS abuse, with the most severe cases sent to Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany, for a period of intensive treatment.
The $100 million “preventative asylum” project is funded by the Baden-Württemberg state government. For Dr. Kizilhan, himself a Turkish-born Yazidi who immigrated to Germany at age 6, it’s personal. Islamic State doesn’t see Yazidis like him as human.
“As a scientist you learn that ideology can blind people,” he told the Wall Street Journal‘s Sohrab Ahmari, who will also be participating at Tuesday’s Geneva Summit. “In the morning they rape children, and at night when they go home they’re loving fathers and husbands.” To treat ISIS as just another al Qaeda-style terror group, Kizilhan warned in his WSJ interview, is to ignore the “Nazi-like,” genocidal evolution of its Islamist worldview.
“On each of his visits to Iraqi Kurdistan, Mr. Kizilhan interviews dozens of women to identify those most in need of evacuation. Most are Yazidis and Christians, with smaller numbers of Shiite Muslims. He is now close to the program’s head-count limit, forcing him to make wrenching decisions as the women take him on a tour of the depths of Islamic State depravity,” reported the WSJ.
Comment by Dr. Kizilhan
“I am honored to have been selected for this prestigious award on behalf of all women victims of ISIS,” said Professor Kizilhan. “The state government of Baden-Württemberg in Germany has brought 1,100 women and girls to Germany for treatment after they were released from ISIS captivity. Yet, hundreds more are still held captive and we need to keep on fighting for their release.”
25 NGOs to Present 2016 International Women’s Rights Award at Geneva Summit
Dakhil and Kizilhan were chosen “for their extraordinary work to protect the most basic human rights of Yazidi women” said Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, a co-organizer of the conference together with Liberal International, Human Rights Foundation, and more than 20 other human rights groups.
Last year’s prize went to Masih Alinejad, Iranian women’s rights campaigner and creator of the My Stealthy Freedom project
Geneva Summit Seeks to Influence Foreign Ministers Days Before
They Gather for 10th Anniversary of UN Human Rights Council
The two-day Geneva Summit will feature presentations by top-name activists, former political prisoners and victims from North Korea, China, Russia, Iran and many other human rights hotspots, with the aim of placing key issues on the global agenda days before UN chief Ban Ki-moon and numerous foreign ministers gather across the street to open the 10th anniversary session of the UN Human Rights Council.
 
Assembly of World Champions of Human Rights
Next week’s Geneva Summit provides a one-stop opportunity to hear from frontline human rights advocates, many of whom have personally suffered imprisonment and torture.
The speakers’ compelling and vivid testimonies will press UNHRC delegates not to allow politics to override the cries of human rights victims.
Speakers will include:
· Svitlana Zalishchuk, Ukrainian MP and key figure in 2013 EuroMaidan movement
· Yang Jianli, Former Chinese political prisoner, survivor of Tiananmen Square massacre
· Vian Dakhil, Iraq’s only female Yazidi MP and champion of ISIS victims
· Jan Ilhan Kizilhan, German psychologist who treats female ISIS victims
· Ensaf Haidar, Wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, recipient of 2015 Geneva Summit Courage Award
· Anastasia Lin, Miss World Canada 2015, advocate for human rights in China
· Jigme Golog, Tibetan monk and filmmaker recently released from jail
· Darya Safai, Campaigner for Iranian women’s rights
· Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Turkish human rights lawyer & columnist
· Daniel Mekonnen, Exiled Eritrean human rights lawyer and scholar
· Lee Young-guk, Bodyguard to former North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Il who fled to South Korea
· Rosa Maria Paya, Cuban human rights activist and daughter of late dissident Oswaldo Paya
· Polina Nemirovskaia, Russian human rights activist
· Joan Hoey, Editor of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index
· Lord David Trimble, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former First Minister of Northern Ireland
· Christopher Walker, VP, National Endowment for Democracy
· Irwin Cotler, Former Canadian Minister of Justice and lawyer for political prisoners
Now in its eighth year, the annual conferences of the Geneva Summit have enjoyed widespread coverage by CNN, Le Monde, and other major media.
Admission to this year’s February 23, 2016 summit is free to the public and media, but registration is mandatory. For registration, program and schedule information, visit www.genevasummit.org.
All sessions will be live webcast next Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, starting at 9:15 am Geneva time, at www.genevasummit.org

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GENEVA, Aug. 20, 2014 – The following statement was issued today by Mr. Breen Tahseen, the son and spokesman of Prince Tahseen, leader of the Yazidi people, at the conclusion of Geneva diplomatic meetings:
Today I conducted valuable meetings in Geneva, on behalf of the Yazidi people, with UN representatives of the United States and the European Union, and with the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights.
We are grateful for the extensive, in-depth and productive discussions concerning the desperate plight of the Yazidi people.
We reached important consensus about the need for the international community to act. We appreciate their efforts and trust that concrete and effective action will follow.
On behalf of Prince Tahseen and the Yazidi people, we appeal to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to lead the call for the UN Human Rights Council to hold an emergency session in order to focus world attention on the desperate plight of the Yazidi people.
The outcome of the session should focus on the following key objectives:

• Release of the approximately 5,000 Yazidi people kidnapped by ISIS.
• Resettlement of Yazidi refugees in Europe, the U.S., Canada, and Australia, with priority to the victims of genocide and their families.
• Creation of a safe zone in Iraq for displaced persons, supervised by the UN and administered by Christians and Yazidis.
• Compensation to victims for material and moral damages, and an allocation to them under the Iraqi budget.

We also request that negotiations by the international community with Iraq should include direct consultation with the Yazidi people.
Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to the human rights group UN Watch for successfully organizing my visit to Geneva, along with an inspiring solidarity rally, UN press conference and diplomatic meetings.
Links to videos, photos and audio of UN rally and press conference

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What: Demonstration in support of Christians and Yazidis in Iraq
When: Tuesday, August 19, 2014, at 1:00 pm
Where: Place des Nations, in front of the UN European headquarters in Geneva

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