Vian Dakhil receives Women’s Rights Award from UN Watch’sGENEVA, 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
Biography of Vian Dakhil
Vian Dakhil is the only female Yazidi member of the Iraqi parliament, and a leading activist fighting for the rescue of the Yazidi people from ISIS rape, enslavement and extermination.
Dakhil gained international attention in the summer of 2014 after she made an impassioned speech to her fellow Iraqi parliamentarians, entreating them to intervene on behalf of the Yazidi people trapped on the Sinjar Mountains following the Islamic State’s capture of the territory, and accusing the Islamic State of genocide of the Yazidi people.
Her stirring plea helped inspire President Barack Obama to order airstrikes and launch a humanitarian effort to rescue thousands of Yazidi Iraqis who were trapped on the mountainside, facing starvation or slaughter at the hands of ISIS.
Vian Dakhil is the Winner of the 2016 Geneva Summit Women’s Rights Award, bestowed by 25 human rights groups, as well as the 2014 Anna Politkovskaya Award.
Due to her tireless work providing solace for and rebuilding the shattered lives of traumatized ISIS escapees, she is today at the top of ISIS’s hit list.
