Their stories are hard for to see and heard. I could only imagine what it does to them to be stripped of all human dignity. I can not believe nations of power stand by and do not exercise their power and influence to bring a stop to this human injustice in this day of age. I would like to believe as humans we evolved to a level that what happens to the the most vulnerable of us affects all of us, and it is the responsibility of all of us to correct this injustice.
ISLAMIC STATE BOMB ASSYRIAN HOMES, MONASTERY IN IRAQ, CEMETERIES VANDALIZED
The Arabic letter “n” (inside red circle), signifying “Nasrani” (Christian), on an Assyrian home in Mosul
TEL KEPE, NORTHERN IRAQ (ANS – Dec. 26, 2015) – On Christmas Eve (Dec. 24, 2015), Islamic State terrorists bombed ten Assyrian homes and a monastery in the Assyrian village of Tel Kepe in north Iraq.
According to the Assyrian International News Agency (http://www.aina.org), the blasts injured several people. The monastery belonged to Assyrian nuns. According to residents, Islamic State threatened to bomb Assyrian homes in other villages in the area.
S vandelizes cemetaryOn November 27, 2015, a cemetery in Kirkuk used by the Assyrian Church of the East and the Syriac Orthodox church was vandalized. Graves were opened, tombstone and crosses were destroyed. Another Assyrian cemetery in west Kirkuk was also vandalized. The identity of the perpetrators is unknown.
The news agency says that Christian and Muslim officials condemned the attacks on the cemeteries. Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako condemned the destruction of the cemeteries and said “We live in difficult conditions, but we will not accept injustice and systemic radical thinking against Christians...”
In August of 2015 IS drove into the Nineveh Plains in north Iraq, forcing nearly 200,000 Assyrians to flee from their homes and villages. Most have not returned.
Timeline of ISIS in Iraq (AINA)
The Islamic State terror group captured the city of Mosul, Iraq on June 10, 2014. Almost immediately thereafter it began to drive Assyrians out of Mosul and destroy Christian and non-Sunni institutions.
* There are no Assyrians/Christians remaining in Mosul, all have fled to the north, to Alqosh, Dohuk and other Assyrian villages.
Assyrian Refugees Syria Elizabeth Kendal* All Christian institutions in Mosul (churches, monasteries and cemeteries), numbering 45, have been destroyed, occupied, converted to mosques, converted to IS headquarters or shuttered.
* All non-Sunni Muslim groups in Mosul -- Shabaks, Yazidis and Turkmen -- have been targeted by ISIS. Most have fled.
* Water and electricity to the Nineveh Plain have been cut off by IS.
* Mosul is now governed under Sharia law.
* 200,000 Assyrian have fled from Baghdede (Qaraqosh), Bartella, Karamles and dozens of Assyrian villages and towns in the Nineveh Plain north of Mosul.
* 150,000 Yazidis have fled from Sinjar and Zumar. 40,000 trapped on Shingal mountain. Thousands have died from exposure. Thousands have been killed by IS.
Note: The Assyrians are the only group in the world that still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
In Defense of Christians, A Demand for Action and ANCA leaders at the White House making the case for a US designation of ISIS anti-Christian attacks as 'genocide'
ANCA urging US to properly characterize ISIS attacks against Christians as 'genocide'
WASHINGTON, DC — With Christmas just days away, 30 U.S. Representatives, led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), have called on the Obama Administration to condemn the ongoing Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) attacks against Christians and other Middle East minorities as ‘genocide,’ reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The December 23rd letter, addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry comes in response to reports that the Obama Administration is set to characterize the ISIS attacks on Yezidis as genocide, but will stop short of similarly referencing the murder and destruction of Christians and other minority groups. “While it is hardly possible to overstate the brutality of ISIL’s attempts to destroy the Yezidis, an overly narrow finding would wrongly discount similar violence directed against other minorities in the region, with likely dire consequences for those minorities,” noted the letter. The Congressional letter cited the recent U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report which, “call[ed] on the US government to designate the Christian, Yazidi, Shi’a, Turkmen and Shabak communities of Iraq and Syria as victims of Genocide by ISIL.”
A copy of the letter is available here: https://anca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/122315_Royce_Kerry_Genocide.pdf
The effort is part of a broad outcry of concern by Congressional leaders, genocide experts and rights groups, including the ANCA, to secure a clear U.S. genocide determination regarding the anti-Christian atrocities, including calls for passage of various U.S. House and Senate genocide measures and Obama Administration’s determination.
Hovsepian: “It’s Deja Vu All Over Again”
ANCA Western Region Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian outlined why the ANCA and the Armenian Americans are working hard with Assyrian-Chaldean, Greek and an array of human rights groups on securing the proper characterization of the ISIS genocide against Christians in this recent interview with the LA Daily News. “With respect to what’s happening in the Middle East now, it’s deja vu all over again. It’s like chapter two,” Hovsepian said. “Unfortunately, the United States’ policy at this point is baffling to us. Of course it’s a genocide against (Christians) as well. One of the reasons why it’s happening now is because it happened 100 years ago. (Turkey) got away with it then, with zero accountability.”
The complete LA Daily News article is available here: http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20151213/pressure-grows-on-obama-administration-to-call-persecution-of-middle-eastern-christians-a-genocide
Last week ANCA Legislative Affairs Director Raffi Karakashian joined In Defense of Christians (IDC) Executive Director Kirsten Evans, A Demand For Action Executive Director Steve Oshana, and renowned genocide expert Greg Stanton for a meeting with White House officials to make the case for the proper genocide designation. On the same day, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian participated in a White House briefing on Syrian refugees, urging the US to close gaps in aid to Armenian and other Christian victims of ISIS and other Islamic extremist groups.
In Defense of Christians Press Conference Spotlights Need for Immediate Action
The December 16th Capitol Hill press conference, organized by In Defense of Christians (IDC), a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Christians and Christian culture in the Middle East, brought the issue of the ongoing ISIS genocide front and center.
“When genocide has been committed or is looming the President and Congress should publicly say so and take robust actions to end it and ensure accountability,” explained Helsinki Commission Chairman Chris Smith (R-NJ), speaking at the press conference. “Any failure by President Obama to recognize the ongoing genocide against Christians would be irresponsible, indefensible, and unconscionable.” [Watch ANCA Video: https://youtu.be/gSXkHMVgp38]
Armenian and Assyrian American Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, who, along with Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) serves as Co-Chair of the House Caucus for Religious Minorities in the Middle East said, “This is history for my family that is repeating itself all over again. […] Future generations will look at us and ask ‘did they do anything?'” [Watch ANCA Video: https://youtu.be/lSGcR-Zmq2k]
“We cannot underestimate the moral authority the United States has when we simply utter what is true,” stated Rep. Fortenberry, holding a photo of Christians shackled by ISIS abductors prior to their murder. [Watch ANCA Video: https://youtu.be/DiKx27365_k]
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) refuted arguments that labeling the slaughter of Christians ‘genocide’ is a form of religious bias. “It is not about a test of religion. It is about special protection for victims of targeted and systematic persecution.”
Internationally reknowned Genocide and human rights expert, Dr. Greg Stanton outlined how the ISIS actions against Christians meets the internationally agreed UN definition of ‘genocide’ and went on to explain why that designation is important.
“‘Genocide’ is a much more powerful word that ‘crimes against humanity,’ war crimes, ‘ethnic cleansing,’ or ‘atrocity crimes,'” noted Stanton, citing a 2007 study he and colleagues had conducted on the words used in The New York Times to describe the Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo and Darfur genocides. “We discovered that as long as ‘ethnic cleansing’ was used, there was no forceful action to stop it. As soon as the situations were called ‘genocide,’ forceful action resulted and ended the killing, except in Darfur where a UN Commission of Inquiry rejected the ‘genocide’ word.”
Stanton went on to identify the two most important reasons for the ‘genocide’ designation, explaining first that the word “more strongly justifies our broad coalition military support for Kurdish and Iraqi forces to defeat ISIS;” and second, “members of such groups are much more likely to receive preferential treatment as bona fide refugees under the UN Convention and Protocols on the Status of Refugees.” [Watch ANCA Video: https://youtu.be/2Ji7Md6T3Tc]
Nina Shea, Director of the Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom, cited the importance of political advocacy by Christians and all Americans of good conscience in support of passage Congressional legislation characterizing the ISIS attacks as Genocide, and finished her remarks with a simple question: “To Secretary Kerry, Samantha Power, and President Obama I ask, ‘Where are you?'”
“In August of 2014 the Iraqi parliament decried the atrocities and crimes against humanity targeting religious minorities under ISIS as a genocide. Many others have done the same, including Pope Francis, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and the world’s leading international association of genocide scholars. In Defense of Christians has been working hard to ensure that the United States government, both Congress and the State Department, do the same,” stated IDC Executive Director Kirsten Evans when opening the conference. [Watch ANCA Video: https://youtu.be/efTJUWShJHg]
Other experts offering remarks at the press conference included Dr. Randel Everett, President of the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative; Dr. Chris Seiple, Chairman of the Board at the Institute of Global Engagement; Louay Mikhael, IDC Special Advisor on Iraq and Mr. Mark Tooley, President of the Institute on Religious and Democracy. Broad Coalition in Support of Designating ISIS Anti-Christian Attacks ‘Genocide’
Over the past months, a diverse group of religious, civic and ethnic groups have petitioned the White House to include Christians in their ‘genocide’ designation when describing ISIS atrocities.
On November 25th, the ANCA joined Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac rights group “A Demand for Action,” IDC and over 20 organizations in urging swift Obama Administration action. “Calling genocide by its proper name cannot wait for a ruling by a court of law. Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide we have an obligation to work toward prevention and punishment,” stated the letter, a copy of which is available here: https://anca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/112515_Obama_ChristianGenocide.pdf
On December 4th, the Knights of Columbus and Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom led a similar effort urging Secretary Kerry to take action. “The United States is rightly viewed the world’s leading defender of vulnerable minorities, and as an historic safe-haven for those fleeing religious persecution. A declaration of genocide by the State Department is thus a unique opportunity to bring America’s religious communities together to pursue the truth, to support the victims, and to bear witness to the noble principle of ‘Never Again,'” noted the letter, cosigned by the ANCA and a number of Armenian American leaders including the His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate, Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America (Eastern); and Archbishop Vicken Aykazian Ecumenical Director and Legate, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern). A copy of the letter is available here: https://anca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/120415_ChristianGenocide_KOFC.pdf
In a September, 2015, appeal, over 40 respected experts in the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), called on Congress to designate the ISIS crimes against Christians and other minorities ‘genocide’ and went further to call for concrete international action to prevent future atrocities. “ISIS leaders should be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their crimes. The U.N. Security Council should refer ISIS crimes to the ICC for investigation and prosecution. The UN and Regional Organizations should act swiftly and firmly, and follow-up with police force to arrest ISIS leaders,” stated the letter by Genocide scholars, available here: https://anca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IAGS-An-Appeal-to-the-United-States-Congress-from-Genocide-Scholars.pdf
Prior to Chairman Royce’s joint Congressional letter, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) sent his personal appeal to Secretary Kerry, questioning the distinction being placed between the plight of Yezidis as opposed to Christians and other minorities targeted by ISIS in the Middle East, stemming primarily from a recent U.S. Holocaust Museum report which focused primarily on Iraq’s Nineveh province as opposed to Iraq and Syria overall. “ISIS targets Christians on the bases of their religious identity, without regard to where they are located. It is imperative that the State Department approach its decision for genocide designation in terms of which religious minorities are being persecuted, rather than where they live,” stated Rep. Pompeo. View Rep. Pompeo’s letter here: https://anca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/120415_Pompeo_ChristianGenocide.pdf
Congressional Resolutions Condemning Christian Genocide Abound; Votes Yet to be Scheduled
Senators and Representative have introduced a number of resolutions referencing the ISIS actions against Christians, Yezidis and other minorities ‘genocide,’ though no vote has yet been scheduled on any of these pieces of legislation.
The resolution with the greatest Congressional and grassroots support is led by Congressman Fortenberry and Congressowman Eshoo. With over 160 cosponsors, H.Con.Res.75, which the IDC supports, expresses the “sense of Congress that those who commit or support atrocities against Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities, including Yezidis, Turkmen, Sabea-Mandeans, Kaka‘e, and Kurds, and who target them specifically for ethnic or religious reasons, are committing, and are hereby declared to be committing, ‘war crimes,’ ‘crimes against humanity,’ and ‘genocide.'”
The ANCA has teamed up with IDC to set up an action alert urging Congressional support for H.Con.Res.75, which is available at:
Earlier this week, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced S.Res.340, a resolution “expressing the sense of Congress that the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or Da’esh) is committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and calling upon the President to work with foreign governments and the United Nations to provide physical protection for ISIS’ targets, to support the creation of an international criminal tribunal with jurisdiction to punish these crimes, and to use every reasonable means, including sanctions, to destroy ISIS and disrupt its support networks.” The resolution, cosponsored by Republican Presidential Candidate Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), notes that “communities of Assyrian Chaldean Syriac, Armenian, Evangelical, and Melkite Christians; Kurds; Yezidis; Shia and Sunni Muslims; Turkmen; Sabea-Mandeans; Kaka‘e; and Shabaks have been an integral part of the cultural fabric of the Middle East for millennia.”
Congressman Rohrabacher has introduced H.R. 4017, a bill which would expedite the processing of immigrant and refugee visas for Christian and Yezidi victims of ISIS genocide. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) had earlier introduced a similar resolution (H.Res.435).
A number of Senate and House resolutions have noted that ISIS has “threatened genocide” against Christians and other minorities including, S.2377, introduced by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and H.R. 4208, introduced by Rep. Scott Rigell (R-VA).
H.Res.440, spearheaded by Rep. David Trott (R-MI) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), calls for for “urgent international action on behalf of Iraqi and Syrian civilians facing a dire humanitarian crisis and severe persecution because of their faith or ethnicity in the Nineveh Plain region of Iraq and Khabor, Kobane, and Aleppo regions of Syria.” The resolution, which has over 15 cosponsors, specifically notes that Islamic extremist attacks “have had a particularly severe effect on ethnic and religious minority communities such as Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac Christians, Armenians, Yezidis, Shabak and other minorities in the region.”
An official U.S. government declaration of genocide could provide a critical lifeline to hundreds of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq seeking refugee status in the face of jihadi violence and persecution, human rights activists told a Capitol Hill briefing this week.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers expressed support for the genocide declaration at the gathering, organized by In Defense of Christians, a 2-year-old nonprofit coalition advocating for human rights of persecuted minorities in the Middle East.
Christian sects and religious minorities such as the Yazidis face brutal persecution, death and enslavement in areas in Iraq and Syria controlled by Islamic State, the terrorist group also known as ISIS and ISIL. Activists say an official finding by the Obama administration that the persecution amounts to genocide would set in motion a number of legal and financial sanctions and give the issue a much greater urgency around the world.
“We have to act in order to raise international consciousness,” said Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican who has teamed up with California Democratic Rep. Anna G. Eshoo on a House resolution on the crisis. “Yes, it is complicated, but our first priority is to call it what it is: genocide.”
Mr. Fortenberry held up a photo of 13 Egyptian Copts executed by Islamic State on a Libyan beach earlier this year as he spoke. His bill now has 167 co-sponsors.
Rep. Christopher H. Smith, a New Jersey Republican and a leading voice for human rights on Capitol Hill, warned that “any failure by President Obama to recognize the ongoing genocide against Christians would be irresponsible, indefensible and unconscionable.”
“Too often,” Mr. Smith added, “weak words have been used to justify weak action or indifference.”
Gregory Stanton, a specialist in genocide studies at George Mason University, told Wednesday’s session that “the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is the greatest threat to civilization since Nazism and Stalinist and Maoist communism.”
Research has found that such terms as ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity have “never compelled forceful action to this day, whereas the term ‘genocide’ not only demands but compels forceful action,” Mr. Stanton added.
Politico reported this week that the State Department has been debating the genocide label for months for both Christian and non-Christian groups facing persecution from Islamic State. But U.S. governments have traditionally been leery of employing the term, which brings with it legal, political and diplomatic mandates. Even some human rights groups have said that the genocide term can make it harder to reach a negotiated deal to end a crisis.
But many of those who spoke at this week’s hearing cited a new Marist Poll that found 55 percent of Americans believe Islamic State’s atrocities against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East rise to the level of genocide.
By almost 20 points, 55 percent to 36 percent, Americans agree that this targeting of Christians and other religious minorities meets the U.N. definition of genocide, according to the poll released Dec. 15.
That survey comes just over a week after a broad coalition of religious leaders, researchers and scholars sent a letter to Secretary of State John F. Kerry, urging that Christians be included in any determination of genocide made by the U.S. government.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, has introduced a bill directing the State Department to give victims of genocide, such as Yazidis and Chaldean Christians, priority status as refugees, comparing their plight to that of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939.
“This is no religious test,” he said, “since these groups are being targeted for extermination.”
George Mason’s Mr. Stanton took issue with a report by the National Holocaust Museum last month that concluded that because the Chaldean Christians could escape execution by paying a religious minority tax, the term genocide didn’t apply to them.
The problem, he said, was that the tax is set so high that very few people can pay it.
“So what happens, when the people refuse to convert, they are beheaded, or — and this is their favorite punishment — they are crucified.”
Resolution recognizing the Genocide against the indigenous people of Syria and Iraq introduced in the US Senate
Washington, DC: In September, US Congressman Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo introduced H.Con.Res 75, an imperfect but important measure which recognizes the ongoing suffering of Christians and other minorities as Genocide. The legislation currently has over 160 cosponsors.
While A Demand for Action was not part of drafting the original resolution, our team in Washington has been working closely with members of Congress and partners such as IDC (In Defense of Christians) and ANCA (Armenian National Committee of America) to amend the resolution to more accurately reflect the unique ethnic and religious dimensions of the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people, as well as Christian groups such as Armenians, Melkites, and others. Last week ADFA team members from around the country convened in Washington to advocate for these changes, and we're proud to announce that as of this afternoon the Senate has introduced the amended resolution, S.Res 340 with bipartisan sponsorship. Original sponsors include Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois
A Demand for Action would like to thank our coalition partners in Washington, particularly IDC, and our members of Congress for supporting these important changes which serve to strengthen the resolution and help ensure its swift passage. Most importantly, we offer our sincerest gratitude to all the local organizations who took part in letter writing campaigns to support ADFA in this effort. We hope that this grassroots advocacy from our local communities will continue as it only helps to strengthen the direct legislative work we do in DC.
A historic speech delivered by Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman that was kidnapped by the terrorist group Daesh (ISIS). Many of the members of UN:s Security Council shared her tears.
Nadia's participation in this important event was coordinated by Yazda, a Yazidi human rights organisation. Nadia was accompanied by Murad Ismael of Yazda, to deliver her speech.
Please find her written speech below.
Mr. President
Ladies and gentlemen, delegates of the Security Council, good afternoon.
I would like to thank the United States for calling for this debate and for inviting me to speak.
It is with great sadness, gratitude and hope that I stand before you today as one of the few survivors of one of the world’s oldest ethnic and religious group now threatened by extinction.
I am here today to speak on the way the so-called Islamic State trafficked us, transformed the Yazidi women into sex slaves, and the way IS committed a genocide against my people. I am here to tell what has happened to me and my community that lost hope is headed to the unknown, I am here also to speak on behalf of those who remain in captivity.
I am here to speak about a global terrorist organization that came to end our existence, culture and freedom, to speak about the nightmare that changed life for a community, overnight.
Before August 3, 2014, I was living with my family in Kocho village with my single mother and brothers and sisters, our village was beautiful, we were living in peace. But on August 3rd, the militants of the Islamic State attacked our areas and we found ourselves faced with a brutal genocide. These large groups of armed men of various nationalities in uniforms with weapons had decided that the Yazidis were infidels and had to be eradicated.
The Islamic State didn’t come to kill the women and girls, but to use us as spoils of war, as objects to be sold with little or to be gifted for free.
Their cruelty was not merely opportunistic. The IS soldiers came with a pre-established policy to commit such crimes.
Islamic State had one intention, to destroy the Yazidi identity by force, rape, recruitment of children, and destruction of holy sites they captured, especially against the Yazidi woman where the used rape as a mean of destruction for Yazidi women and girls and ensuring these women will never return to a normal life.
On August 15th, the militants called us to the school building, where they separated men from us; I witnessed from the second floor of the school, they took the men and killed them, including six of my biological and step brothers who were killed, and three who escaped the mass killing with creator blessing.
We, the women and the children, were driven away to another area. Along the way, they insulted us; they were forcefully touching women and girls.
I was taken with some other 150 girls to Mosul, in a building in Mosul, there were thousands of Yazidi women and children who were previously captured by IS to be offered as gifts.
A militant approached me, he said they would take me, I was looking down, I was terrified, when I looked up, I saw a big man, he looked like a minister. I cried, I said I don't want you, I told him you are too big for me, I am a little girl. Another militant walked in, I was still looking down, I saw his feet, he had small feet, I begged him to take me for himself, I was so scared of the big militant.
The one who took me asked me to convert, I did not, he then one day asked me for "marriage", I told him I am sick, most of the captive women there had their menstrual period due to the fears. Then he one day forced me to dress for him and put on makeup, I did, and during that black night, he did it.
He forced me to serve his militant squad; he insulted me by forcing me to dress improperly. I was unable to bear more rape and torture, I decided to escape, but I failed and I was captured by one of the guards.
That night, he beat me, forced me to undress, and put me in a room with six militants. They continued to commit crimes to my body until I became unconscious.
After three months of abduction, finally I was able to escape. Now, I live in Germany. Thanks to Germany who accepted to treat me.
But it was not only me who suffered, it was a collective suffering, the Islamic State gave us two choices, convert or die, for those who accepted to convert fearing their lives, their men were killed, women were enslaved and children were recruited.
To date, 16 mass graves have been found, including a mass grave of 80 women which contained the remains of my mother, who they didn’t desire, therefore decided to kill. More than 400,000 Yazidis are displaced, more than 40 percent of our areas remain under control of IS, and the liberated areas are not habitable because of the destruction and Yazidi fears to return and live in their homes with peace.
Over the past week only, more than 70 Yazidi women and children drowned on their way through dangerous paths to Europe, thousands are seeking an exodus, and great percentage see immigration is the only choice.
Mrs. President, Ladies and gentlemen
The Islamic State has made the Yazidi women a fuel for human trafficking.
I am presenting to you our requests and I have hope that humanity has not died, yet:
1- Bring back more than 3400 women and children currently suffering under the mercy of those who lost every bit of mercy.
2- Recognized the mass killing, enslavement and human trafficking committed as genocide, I appeal to you to find a way to open a case before the International Criminal Court.
3- Liberate our land, Liberate Kocho so that Kocho people can bury the remains of their dead, provide Yazidi Areas and other threaten minorities Areas with international protection so we can return one day and live in peace, I also request that you allocate an international fund to compensate victims and build our areas.
4- Open your borders for my community, we are victims of genocide and we have the right to seek a safe place where our dignity will be preserved. We request that to give Yazidis and other threatened minorities the choice to resettle, especially to the victims of human trafficking, as Germany Did.
5- Bring an end to IS. I have seen them; I have lived the pain they caused. We have to bring all human traffickers criminals and those who committed genocide to justice so that the women and children in Nigeria, Syria, Somalia, and everywhere in the world can live in peace. These crimes against women and their freedom shall stop now.
Nadia Murad delivers her powerful message to the UN Security Council.
Nadia's participation in this important event was coordinated by Yazda. Nadia was accompanied by Murad Ismael of Yazda, to deliver her speech. Please find her written speech below.
Mr. President
Ladies and gentlemen, delegates of the Security Council, good afternoon.
I would like to thank the United States for calling for this debate and for inviting me to speak.
It is with great sadness, gratitude and hope that I stand before you today as one of the few survivors of one of the world’s oldest ethnic and religious group now threatened by extinction.
I am here today to speak on the way the so-called Islamic State trafficked us, transformed the Yazidi women into sex slaves, and the way IS committed a genocide against my people. I am here to tell what has happened to me and my community that lost hope is headed to the unknown, I am here also to speak on behalf of those who remain in captivity.
I am here to speak about a global terrorist organization that came to end our existence, culture and freedom, to speak about the nightmare that changed life for a community, overnight.
Before August 3, 2014, I was living with my family in Kocho village with my single mother and brothers and sisters, our village was beautiful, we were living in peace. But on August 3rd, the militants of the Islamic State attacked our areas and we found ourselves faced with a brutal genocide. These large groups of armed men of various nationalities in uniforms with weapons had decided that the Yazidis were infidels and had to be eradicated.
The Islamic State didn’t come to kill the women and girls, but to use us as spoils of war, as objects to be sold with little or to be gifted for free.
Their cruelty was not merely opportunistic. The IS soldiers came with a pre-established policy to commit such crimes.
Islamic State had one intention, to destroy the Yazidi identity by force, rape, recruitment of children, and destruction of holy sites they captured, especially against the Yazidi woman where the used rape as a mean of destruction for Yazidi women and girls and ensuring these women will never return to a normal life.
On August 15th, the militants called us to the school building, where they separated men from us; I witnessed from the second floor of the school, they took the men and killed them, including six of my biological and step brothers who were killed, and three who escaped the mass killing with creator blessing.
We, the women and the children, were driven away to another area. Along the way, they insulted us; they were forcefully touching women and girls.
I was taken with some other 150 girls to Mosul, in a building in Mosul, there were thousands of Yazidi women and children who were previously captured by IS to be offered as gifts.
A militant approached me, he said they would take me, I was looking down, I was terrified, when I looked up, I saw a big man, he looked like a minister. I cried, I said I don't want you, I told him you are too big for me, I am a little girl. Another militant walked in, I was still looking down, I saw his feet, he had small feet, I begged him to take me for himself, I was so scared of the big militant.
The one who took me asked me to convert, I did not, he then one day asked me for "marriage", I told him I am sick, most of the captive women there had their menstrual period due to the fears. Then he one day forced me to dress for him and put on makeup, I did, and during that black night, he did it.
He forced me to serve his militant squad; he insulted me by forcing me to dress improperly. I was unable to bear more rape and torture, I decided to escape, but I failed and I was captured by one of the guards.
That night, he beat me, forced me to undress, and put me in a room with six militants. They continued to commit crimes to my body until I became unconscious.
After three months of abduction, finally I was able to escape. Now, I live in Germany. Thanks to Germany who accepted to treat me.
But it was not only me who suffered, it was a collective suffering, the Islamic State gave us two choices, convert or die, for those who accepted to convert fearing their lives, their men were killed, women were enslaved and children were recruited.
To date, 16 mass graves have been found, including a mass grave of 80 women which contained the remains of my mother, who they didn’t desire, therefore decided to kill. More than 400,000 Yazidis are displaced, more than 40 percent of our areas remain under control of IS, and the liberated areas are not habitable because of the destruction and Yazidi fears to return and live in their homes with peace.
Over the past week only, more than 70 Yazidi women and children drowned on their way through dangerous paths to Europe, thousands are seeking an exodus, and great percentage see immigration is the only choice.
Mrs. President, Ladies and gentlemen
The Islamic State has made the Yazidi women a fuel for human trafficking.
I am presenting to you our requests and I have hope that humanity has not died, yet:
1- Bring back more than 3400 women and children currently suffering under the mercy of those who lost every bit of mercy.
2- Recognized the mass killing, enslavement and human trafficking committed as genocide, I appeal to you to find a way to open a case before the International Criminal Court.
3- Liberate our land, Liberate Kocho so that Kocho people can bury the remains of their dead, provide Yazidi Areas and other threaten minorities Areas with international protection so we can return one day and live in peace, I also request that you allocate an international fund to compensate victims and build our areas.
4- Open your borders for my community, we are victims of genocide and we have the right to seek a safe place where our dignity will be preserved. We request that to give Yazidis and other threatened minorities the choice to resettle, especially to the victims of human trafficking, as Germany Did.
5- Bring an end to IS. I have seen them; I have lived the pain they caused. We have to bring all human traffickers criminals and those who committed genocide to justice so that the women and children in Nigeria, Syria, Somalia, and everywhere in the world can live in peace. These crimes against women and their freedom shall stop now.
سيدي الرئيس
السادة والسيدات ممثلي دول المجلس، طاب يومكم.
أشكر الولايات المتحدة على إقامة هذه الجلسة ودعوتي للتحدث امامكم.
بالحزن والامتنان والأمل انا هنا اليوم اقف، ناجية ايزيدية وابنة واحدا من اقدم الاديان المهددة بالزوال.
أنا هنا اليوم لاتحدث عن ممارسات ما يسمى بالدولة الإسلامية ضدنا، من الاتجار بالبشر، استخدام نسائنا للاستعباد الجنسي، وتجنيد أطفالنا للحرب، التشرد وارتكاب جريمة ألابادة الجماعية بحقنا، انا هنا لأخبركم عن ما حدث لي وعن ما حدث لمجتمعي الذي فقد الامل بالحياة وصار يتجه الى المجهول. انا هنا ايضا لاتحدث بأسم اكثر من 3400 طفل وامرأة لا يزالوا تحت الخطف.
أنا هنا لاتحدث لكم عن هذه المنظمة الارهابية العالمية التي أتت الينا لتقضي على وجودنا، على ثقافتا، وعلى حريتنا. انا هنا لاتحدث عن الكابوس الذي غير حياة مجتمع كامل بين ليلة وضحاها.
قبل الثالث من أب 2014، كنت اعيش مع عائلتي في قرية كوجو، مع أمي الوحيدة واخوتي وأخواني، كانت قريتنا جميلة وكنا نعيش بسلام. ولكن في الثالث من أب قامت ميليشا الدولة الاسلامية بالهجوم على مناطقنا ووجدنا أنفسنا امام إبادة حقيقية، هذه المجاميع الكبيرة من قوى الشر، اتوا من الكثير من الدول، بالاسلحة والاعتدة والملابس العسكرية، وكان غايتهم هي انهاء الوجود الايزيدي برمته، بالاستنادا الى تفسيرهم باننا كفار.
أتت الدولة الاسلامية ليس فقط لتقتلنا نحن النساء والبنات، ولكن لاخذنا كغنائم حرب، كاداوت لتباع بالاسواق مقابل القليل من المال او حتى دون مقابل.
هذا الاجرام الذي ارتكب لم يكن اجراما عابرا، ولكن كانت سياسة ممنهجة ومسبقة التخطيط.
الدولة الاسلامية اتت بدافع وحيد، وهو تدمير الهوية الايزيدية باستخدام القوة، الاغتصاب، تجند الاطفال، وتدمير جميع معابدنا الذي استولوا عليها. وكل هذا لا يمكن تفسيرها سوى انها كانت بالفعل ابادة جماعية ضد هويتنا، وخاصة ضد المرأة الايزيدية حيث استخدموا الاغتصاب كوسيلة لتدمير النساء والبنات وتاكيد بان هولاء النساء لن يعودوا الى حياتهم الطبيعية بعد ألان.
في 15 من أب قامت عناصر الدولة الأسلامية بدعوتنا جميعا الى مدرسة القرية، حيث قاموا بتفريق الرجال من النساء والأطفال، رأيتهم ومن الطابق الثاني للمدرسة، اخذوا الرجال وقاموا بتصفيتهم، 6 من اخواني قتلوا و3 منهم نجوا من القتل الجماعي.
نحن النساء , والاطفال، أخذونا في المركبات من المدرسة الى منطقة أخرى، وفي الطريق كانوا يقومون بأهانتنا، كانوا يلمسوننا بطريقة تخش الحياء.
قاموا بأخذي الى الموصل مع اكثر من 150 امرأة ايزيدية أخرى، وفي بناية كبيرة هناك، كانت هناك الالاف من النساء الايزيديات والأطفال يتم اعطائهم كهدايا.
عنصر من عناصرهم اقترب مني، وقال يريد ان يأخذني، كنت انظر الى الأرض، كنت في حالة رعب، وعندما رفعت رأسي وجدت رجلا ضخما جدا، كان بالفعل كوحش مفترس، صرخت وبكيت كثيرا، وقلت له انني صغيرة لك وانت ضخم جدا، فقام بركلي وضربي. بعدها بلحظات اقدم عنصر اخر، وكنت لا أزال انظر الى الأرض، فرأيت حجم اقدامه اصغر، فتوصلت الى الشخص حتى يأخذني لنفسه، كنت خائفة جدا من الرجل الضخم الأول.
الذي قام بأخذي، طلب من ان أغير ديني، ولكنني رفضت، وبعدها أتى في يوم وطلب مني ما يسمونه "الزواج"، قلت له بأنني مريضة، فأغلب النساء الختطفات كانت لديها الدورة الشهرية من شدة الخوف. مرت أيام قليلة، واجبرني ان البس له، واضع له المكياج على وجهي، وفي تلك الليلة السوداء، فعلها.
اجبرني ان اخدم فصيله العسكري، وقام بأهانتي كل يوم، أجبرني ان البس ما لا يحفظ جسدي. لم اكن قادرة على تحمل المزيد من الاغتصاب والتعذيب، قررت ان اهروب ولكن احد الحراس كان هناك، وقام بمسكي.
في تلك الليلة قام بضربي، وطلب مني ان اتخلى عن ملابسي، ووضعوني مع الحراس في الغرفة، واستمروا بارتكاب جرائمهم بجسدي حتى فقدت الوعي.
بعد ثلاثة اشهر من الخطف، استطعت أخيرا الهروب، الان أعيش في المانيا التي قبلت معالجتي مشكورة.
لم أكن أعيش المعاناة لوحدي، كانت معاناة جماعية، حيث قامت الدولة الإسلامية باعطاءنا خيارين، الأسلمة او الموت، حتى أولئك الذين اعلنوا اسلامهم خوفا على حياتهم، تم أيضا قتل الرجال منهم وسبي النساء وتجنيد الأطفال.
اكتشف الى الأن 16 مقبرة جماعية، بما فيها مقبرة ل 80 أمراة لم يرغبوهم فقاموا بقتلهم، وتم تشريد اكثر من 400 الف، اكثر من 40 بالمئة من مناطقنا لا تزال تحت سيطرة الدولة الأسلامية، ومناطقنا المحررة غير مهيئة للعيش فيها بسبب الدمار وبسبب عدم ثقة الأنسان الايزيدي بالعيش على ارضه مرة أخرى.
خلال الأسبوع الماضي فقط، غرق اكثر من 70 أيزيدي في طريقهم عبر طرق خطرة نحو اوربا، الالاف يبحثون عن مخرج ونسبة كبيرة تجد الهجرة الخيار الوحيد.
سيدي الرئيس، السيدات والسادة
لقد جعلت الدولة ألاسلامية من للمرأة الايزيدية وقود للاتجار بالبشر.
أتقدم اليكم اليوم بمطاليبنا وانا لدي ألامل بان الإنسانية لم تنتهي بعد:
1. تحرير اكثر من 3400 أمراة وطفل لايزالوا يعيشون المعاناة تحت رحمة من لا رحمة لهم.
2. نطالب ان يتم تعريف ما حدث من القتل والاستعباد الجماعي والاتجار بالبشر على انها إبادة جماعية، التمس منكم اليوم ان تجدوا الحلول لفتح ملف الإبادة امام المحكمة الدولية.
3. تحرير جميع مناطقنا، تحرير كوجو حتى يستطيع أهل كوجو دفن موتاهم، توفير حماية دولية لمناطق الأيزيدية والأقليات المهددة حتى نستطيع ان نعود يوما الى مناطقنا ونعيش بسلام، كما واطالب بتخصيص ميزانية دولية تحت اشراف دولي لتعويض الضحايا وبناء المنطقة.
4. افتحوا أبواب بلدانكم لمجتمعي، فنحن ضحايا الإبادة ومن حقنا البحث عن بلد أمن يحفظ كرامتنا، كل يوم يخاطر المئات من الناس بحياتهم، نلتمس منكم ان تعطوا خيار إعادة التوطين الايزيدية والأقليات الأخرى المهددة وخاصة لضحايا الاتجار بالبشر كما فعلت المانيا.
5. انهاء داعش نهاية ابدية، انا عشت الألم الذي سببوا لي، رأيت شرهم. يجب ان يتم جلب جميع مرتكبي جرائم الأتجار بالبشر والابادة الى العدالة، حتى تعيش المرأة والطفلة بأمان في العراق، سوريا، نيجيريا، صوماليا، وكل مكان في العالم. يجب ان تتوقف الأن هذه الجرائم ضد المرأة وضد حريتها
A growing coalition of American clergy, scholars and experts want the U.S. State Department to recognize the acts committed by ISIS in Iraq and Syria as a genocide against Christians.
In a letter sent to Secretary of State John Kerry Dec. 4, the Knights of Columbus, the Armenian National Committee of America and nearly 30 other bishops and groups say they are concerned that an announcement soon to be made by the Obama administration will omit the acts committed against the ancient Christian people of the Middle East by ISIS as being part of a genocide.
“We recently learned that a State Department finding is imminent that ISIS is committing genocide against the Yazidis,” according to the letter to Kerry. “We would wholeheartedly endorse that finding, but we are deeply troubled by the prospect that the department’s statement will either omit or reserve judgment on whether ISIS is committing genocide against Christians.”
The Yazidis, a Kurdish speaking people of Northern Iraq who practice a monotheistic religion, were targeted by members of ISIS last year. Men were killed while young women were kidnapped and sold as sex slaves.
Supporters of the letter are hoping to meet with Kerry to discuss how Christians, such as Assyrians, Chaldeans and Syriacs, also were forced out of their ancestral lands in the Nineveh Plains of Northern Iraq beginning in summer 2014. Their homes were spray painted with the Arabic letter “N,” which stands for Nazarene or follower of Christ. Their churches were destroyed and priests were assassinated. Thousands were told to convert to Islam, pay a tax or be killed. Most now are displaced, and hundreds have been kidnapped and held for ransom. The same has happened to Syrian Armenians.
“The Genocide Convention defines genocide as killing and certain other acts ‘committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” according to their letter. “We have extensive files supporting a finding that ISIS’ treatment of Iraqi and Syrian Christians, as well as Yazidis and other vulnerable minorities, meets this definition.”
‘WE NEED TO RESPOND’
U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, said Friday he was briefed during the week about the issue from the organization A Demand For Action, which formed last year to speak out and document what was happening to the religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq as the ranks of ISIS rose.
Sherman said he learned that those groups also are being assaulted in the refugee camps across the Middle East. The congressman’s San Fernando Valley district includes a large Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac and Armenian diaspora community.
While the Yazidis were targeted by ISIS, Christians “face the same massacres by ISIS, and we need to respond to that,” Sherman said.
In September, Sherman joined dozens of other California lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, in introducing a resolution to protect religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. But while the resolution has garnered support, it also has opposition because of its strong language, Sherman said.
“Those who commit or support atrocities against Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities, including Yezidis, Turkmen, Sabea-Mandeans, Kaka’e, and Kurds, and who target them specifically for ethnic or religious reasons, are committing, and are hereby declared to be committing, ‘war crimes’, ‘crimes against humanity’, and ‘genocide’,” according to the resolution.
Sherman said the Obama administration may be leaning toward calling what has happened to Yazidis a genocide because more were killed.
“That is so technical and shouldn’t matter,” Sherman said. “I think the administration (hesitates) to see the word genocide used because it creates more pressure on them to act, and actions are difficult and complicated.”
TURKEY COMPLICATION
What makes it complicated is Turkey’s hold on the U.S., said Nora Hovsepian, chairwoman of the Glendale-based Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region. Members of the organizations gathered in Washington, D.C., last week to encourage lawmakers to hold Turkey — considered a NATO ally — accountable for its link with ISIS.
That the word genocide continues to be a topic of discussion now is noteworthy, Hovsepian added.
A century ago this year, the Ottoman Turks began the pogroms against Armenians resulting in nearly 1.5 million deaths among them alone. Others were taken on death marches toward the Syrian deserts. It is widely acknowledged as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Tens of thousands of Armenians and their supporters marched through Hollywood in April to mark the centennial start of the genocide and to call for global recognition.
They had been hopeful that the centennial of the event would bring a formal recognition by the U.S., which in turn would persuade Turkey to acknowledge the killings and deportations of Armenians as well as Assyrians and Pontic Greeks a genocide. There was some validation when Pope Francis in April called it such. But Armenians were left disappointed when President Barack Obama backed out of using the term, even after he promised to do so during elections.
“With respect to what’s happening in the Middle East now, it’s deja vu all over again. It’s like chapter two,” Hovsepian said. “Unfortunately, the United States’ policy at this point is baffling to us. Of course it’s a genocide against (Christians) as well. One of the reasons why it’s happening now is because it happened 100 years ago. (Turkey) got away with it then, with zero accountability.”
Nuri Kino, a Swedish Assyrian author and journalist who founded A Demand For Action, said his visit to Washington, D.C., may spur lawmakers to press the state department to be inclusive in their language when it comes to the word genocide.
“The sense that we got in D.C. is that our voices are being heard and that the issue at the very least is being considered and the collective advocacy of the global community is having an impact,” Kino said. “We have been working hard to show that criteria for genocide has been met.”
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