Jump to content

Yazidi genocide

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 188.108.15.25 (talk) at 20:50, 30 September 2015. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Yazidi persecution by ISIL
Images from top, left and right:
Yazidi refugees receiving support from the International Rescue Committee. A member of the U.S. Mt. Sinjar Assessment Team being greeted by locals near Sinjar, Iraq. Bundles of water inside of a C-17 Globemaster III before a humanitarian airdrop by the United States Air Force.
Location Sinjar, Iraq
TargetYazidi people
Attack type
Genocidal Massacre
Deaths5,000+ Yazidis killed (UN)[1]
Injured5,000–7,000 Yazidi women abducted[1]
Perpetrators Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Defenders Iraqi Kurdistan
 United States
MotiveReligious persecution, human trafficking, and forced conversions to Islam.[2]

Persecution of Yazidis by ISIL refers to the genocidal[3][4] persecution of the Yazidi people of Iraq, leading to their exile, the abduction of Yazidi women, and massacres of at least 5,000 Yazidi civilians,[5] during what has been called a "forced conversion campaign"[6][7] being carried out in Northern Iraq by the militant organization the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), starting in 2014.

ISIL's persecution of the Yazidi gained international attention, and directly led to the American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present) which started with United States airstrikes against ISIL. Additionally, the US, UK, and Australia made emergency airdrops to Yazidis who had fled to a mountain range (see Sinjar massacre, § Refugee crisis in the Sinjar Mountains), and provided weapons to the Kurdish Peshmerga defending them. ISIL's actions against the Yazidi population resulted in nearly 200,000 refugees and several thousand killed and kidnapped.

Background

The Yazidis are monotheists who believe in a benevolent peacock angel (Melek Taus) and whose ancient gnostic faith has elements of Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other extremists tend to view the peacock angel as the malevolent archangel Lucifer or Satan and label the Yazidis as 'devil worshippers'.[8][9]

Under Islamic Law as observed by ISIL, Yazidis are officially given the choice to convert to Sunni Islam or die. They are not eligible for the jizya tax taken from "People of the Book" by ISIL that would allow them to continue observing their religion.[10]

Previous targeting of Yazidis (by Sunnis)

Ottoman era

Post 2003 Iraq invasion era

Violence outbreak

On 3 August 2014, ISIL militants attacked and took over Sinjar in northern Iraq, a Kurdish-controlled town that was predominantly inhabited by Yazidis,[14] and the surrounding area.

Yazidis,[15] and Internet postings of ISIL,[16] have reported summary executions that day by ISIL militants, leading to 200,000 civilians fleeing Sinjar, of whom around 50,000 Yazidis escaping to the nearby Sinjar Mountains. They were trapped on Mount Sinjar, facing starvation and dehydration.[16][17][18]

On 4 August 2014, Prince Tahseen Said, Emir of the Yazidi, issued a plea to world leaders calling for assistance on behalf of the Yazidi facing attack from ISIL.[19]

Massacres, sexual slavery, forced exile

Massacres

On 3 August, ISIL killed the men from the al-Qahtaniya area, ten Yazidi families fleeing were attacked by ISIL; and ISIL shot 70 to 90 Yazidi men in Qiniyeh village.[20]

On 4 August, ISIL fighters attacked Jabal Sinjar, killed 30 Yazidi men; 60 more Yazidi men were killed in the village of Hardan.[20] On the same day, Yazidi community leaders stated that at least 200 Yazidis had been killed in Sinjar (see Sinjar massacre), and 60–70 near Ramadi Jabal.[20] According to reports from surviving Yazidi, between 3 and 6 August, more than 50 Yazidi were killed near Dhola village, 100 in Khana Sor village, 250–300 in Hardan area, more than 200 on the road between Adnaniya and Jazeera, dozens near al-Shimal village, and on the road from Matu village to Jabal Sinjar.[20]

On 10 August 2014, according to statements by the Iraqi government and others, ISIL militants buried alive an undefined number of Yazidi women and children in northern Iraq in an attack that killed 500 people, in what has been described as genocide.[21] [2][22][23][24] Those who escaped across the Tigris River into Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria on 10 August gave accounts of how they had seen individuals also attempting to flee who later died.[14][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]

On 15 August, in the Yazidi village of Kojo, south of Sinjar, after the whole population had received the jihadist ultimatum to convert or be killed, over 80 men were killed.[33][34] A witness recounted that the villagers were first converted under duress,[7] but when the village elder refused to convert, all of the men were taken in trucks under the pretext of being led to Sinjar, and gunned down along the way.[35] According to reports from survivors interviewed by OHCHR, on 15 August, the entire male population of the Yazidi village of Khocho, up to 400 men, were rounded up and shot by ISIL, and up to 1,000 women and children were abducted; on the same day, up to 200 Yazidi men were reportledy executed for refusing conversion in a Tal Afar prison.[20]

Between 24 and 25 August, 14 elderly Yazidi men were executed by ISIL in the Sheikh Mand Shrine, and the Jidala village Yazidi shrine was blown up.[20] On 1 September, the Yazidi villages of Kotan, Hareko and Kharag Shafrsky were set afire by ISIL, and on 9 September, Peshmerga fighters discovered a mass grave containing the bodies of 14 executed civilians, presumably Yazidis.[20]

According to an OHRCR/UNAMI report on 26 September, by the end of August, 1,600–1,800 or more Yazidis who had been murdered, executed, or died from starvation.[20] In early October, Matthew Barber, a scholar of Yazidi history at the University of Chicago, estimated between 3,000–5,000 Yazidi men had been killed by ISIS.[1]

In October 2014, a UN report revealed that ISIL had massacred 5,000 Yazidi men in northern Iraq in August 2014.[5]

In May 2015, the Yazidi Progress Party released a statement in which they said that 300 Yazidi captives were killed on 1 May by ISIL in the Tal Afar, Iraq.[36]

Abduction of women; sexual slavery

On 3 August, ISIL abducted women and children from the al-Qahtaniya area, and 450–500 abducted Yazidi women and girls were taken to Tal Afar; hundreds more to Si Basha Khidri and then Ba’aj.[20]

On 4 August, ISIL fighters attacked Jabal Sinjar and abducted a number of women; in the Yazidi village of Hardan, wives and daughters were abducted; other Yazidi women were abducted in other villages in the area.[20] On 6 August, ISIL kidnapped 400 Yazidi women in Sinjar to sell them as sex slaves.[37] According to reports from surviving Yazidi, between 3 and 6 August, 500 Yazidi women and children were abducted from Ba'aj and more than 200 from Tal Banat.[20]

According to a statement by the Iraqi government on 10 August 2014, hundreds of women were taken as slaves in northern Iraq.[2][22][23][24]

On 15 August, in the Yazidi village of Kojo, south of Sinjar, over 100 women were abducted.[33][34] On 15 August, according to reports from survivors, up to 1,000 women and children of the Yazidi village of Khocho were abducted.[20]

According to an OHRCR/UNAMI report on 26 September, by the end of August up to 2,500 Yazidis, mostly women and children, had been abducted.[20] In early October, Matthew Barber, a scholar of Yazidi history at the University of Chicago, compiled a list of names of 4,800 Yazidi women and children who had been captured (estimating the total number of abducted people to be possibly up to 7,000).[1]

Haleh Esfandiari from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in September 2014 has highlighted the abuse of local women by ISIL militants after they have captured an area. "They usually take the older women to a makeshift slave market and try to sell them. The younger girls ... are raped or married off to fighters", she said, adding, "It's based on temporary marriages, and once these fighters have had sex with these young girls, they just pass them on to other fighters."[38]

Speaking of Yazidi women captured by ISIS, Nazand Begikhani said in October, "These women have been treated like cattle... They have been subjected to physical and sexual violence, including systematic rape and sex slavery. They've been exposed in markets in Mosul and in Raqqa, Syria, carrying price tags."[39] Yazidi girls in Iraq allegedly raped by ISIL fighters have committed suicide by jumping to their death from Mount Sinjar, as described in a witness statement.[40]

A United Nations report issued on 2 October 2014, based on 500 interviews with witnesses, said that ISIL took 450–500 women and girls to Iraq's Nineveh region in August where "150 unmarried girls and women, predominantly from the Yazidi and Christian communities, were reportedly transported to Syria, either to be given to ISIL fighters as a reward or to be sold as sex slaves".[41] Also in October 2014, a UN report revealed that ISIL had detained 5–7,000 Yazidi women as slaves or forced brides in northern Iraq in August 2014.[5][42]

Defend International reached out to Yazidi refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan, providing humanitarian aid in December 2014

On 4 November 2014, Dr. Widad Akrawi of Defend International said that “the international community should define what’s happening to the Yezidis as a crime against humanity, crime against cultural heritage of the region and ethnic cleansing,” adding that Yazidi females are being “subjected to as systematic gender-based violence and the use of slavery and rape as a weapon of war.”[43] A month earlier, President of Defend International dedicated her 2014 International Pfeffer Peace Award to the Yazidis, Christians and all residents of Kobane because, she said, facts on the ground demonstrate that these peaceful people are not safe in their enclaves, partly because of their ethnic origin and/or religion and they are therefore in urgent need for immediate attention from the global community.[44][45][46][47][48][49][50] She asked the international community to make sure that the victims are not forgotten; they should be rescued, protected, fully assisted and compensated fairly.[51]

In November 2014 The New York Times reported on the accounts given by five who escaped ISIL of their captivity and abuse.[52]

In its digital magazine Dabiq, ISIL explicitly claimed religious justification for enslaving Yazidi women.[53][54][55][56][57][58]

According to The Wall Street Journal, ISIL appeals to apocalyptic beliefs and claims "justification by a Hadith that they interpret as portraying the revival of slavery as a precursor to the end of the world".[59] In late 2014, ISIL released a pamphlet on the treatment of female slaves.[60][61][62][63][64][65] The New York Times said in August of 2015 that "[t]he systematic rape of women and girls from the Yazidi religious minority has become deeply enmeshed in the organization and the radical theology of the Islamic State in the year since the group announced it was reviving slavery as an institution."[66]

Flight into Sinjar Mountains

The ISIL offensive in the Sinjar area of northern Iraq, 3–4 August, caused 30,000–50,000 Yazidis to flee into the Sinjar Mountains (Jabal Sinjar) fearing they would be killed by ISIL. They had been threatened with death if they refused conversion to Islam. A UN representative said that "a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Sinjar".[67]

On 3 and 4 August, 14 or more Yazidi children and some elderly or people with disabilities died of hunger, dehydratation, and heat on Sinjar Mountains.[20] By 6 August, according to reports from survivors, 200 Yazidi children while fleeing to Jabal Sinjar had died from thirst, starvation, heat and dehydratation.[20]

Fifty thousand Yazidis, besieged by ISIL on Mount Sinjar, were able to escape, thanks to a multinational rescue operation which involved dropping of supplies on the mountains and evacuation of refugees by helicopters, and to a Peshmerga attack that broke ISIL siege on the mountains. During the rescue operation, on 12 August, an overloaded Iraqi Air Force helicopter crashed on Mount Sinjar, killing Iraqi Air Force Major General Majid Ahmed Saadi (the pilot) and injuring 20 people.[68][69]

By 20 October, 2,000 Yazidis, mainly volunteer fighters, who had remained behind to protect the villages, but also civilians (700 families who had not yet escaped), were reported as still in the Sinjar area, and were forced by ISIL to abandon the last villages in their control, Dhoula and Bork, and retreat to the Sinjar Mountains.[70]

Forced conversion to Islam

In an article by The Washington Post, it is stated that there is an estimated 7,000 Yazidis who had been forced to convert to "the Islamic State group’s harsh interpretation of Islam".[71]

Sunni collaboration

In several villages, local Sunnis were reported to have sided with ISIL, betraying Yazidis for slaughter once ISIL arrived, and even possibly colluding in advance with ISIL to lie to Yazidis, to lure them into staying put until the jihadis invaded; although there was also one report of Sunnis helping Yazidis to escape.[72]

Classification as "Genocide"

The persecution of the Yazidi people has been viewed as qualifying as "genocide" by groups such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in a March 2015 report. The organization cited the numerous atrocities such as forced religious conversion and sexual slavery as being parts of an overall malicious campaign.[3][73] Multiple individual human rights activists such as Nazand Begikhani and Dr. Widad Akrawihave also advocated for this view.[74][75] The term itself first arose in 1944 as the creation of a Polish-Jewish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin, who himself defined the term as reflecting "a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves."[76]

Releases of Yazidi captives

In January 2015, about 200 Yazidis were released by ISIL. Kurdish military officials believed they were released because they were a burden. On 8 April 2015, 216 Yazidis, with the majority being children and elderly, were released by ISIL after being held captive for about 8 months. Their release occurred following an offensive by US-led air assaults and pressure from Iraqi ground forces who were pushing northward and in the process of retaking Tikrit. According to General Hiwa Abdullah, a peshmerga commander in Kirkuk, those released were in poor health with signs of abuse and neglect visible.[77]

International responses

Demonstration in Paris against persecution of Kurds and Yazidis.

Turkish aid

Hundreds and possibly thousands of Yazidis have taken refuge in neighboring Turkey, where they are being sheltered in refugee camps in the city of Silopi.[78][79] The Turkish Disaster Relief Agency (AFAD) has begun preparations to set up camps for receiving 6,000 refugees from Iraq.[80] The number of Yazidi refugees in Turkey has reached 14 thousand by August 30.[81]

Turkey has also airdropped humanitarian aid to Yazidi refugees within Iraq.[82]

Western military backlash

On 7 August 2014, U.S. President Obama ordered targeted airstrikes on IS militants and emergency air relief for the Yazidis. Airstrikes began on 8 August. (See American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present)#Obama authorizes airstrikes.)

On 8 August 2014, the US asserted that the systematic destruction of the Yazidi people by the Islamic State was genocide.[83]

President Barack Obama had authorized the attacks to protect Yazidis but also Americans and Iraqi minorities. President Obama gave an assurance that no troops would be deployed for combat. Along with the airstrikes of 9 August, the US airdropped 3,800 gallons of water and 16,128 MREs. Following these actions, the United Kingdom and France stated that they also would begin airdrops.[84]

On 10 August 2014, at approximately 2:15 a.m. ET, the US carried out five additional airstrikes on armed vehicles and a mortar position, enabling 20,000–30,000 Yazidi Iraqis to flee into Syria and later be rescued by Kurdish forces. The Kurdish forces then provided shelter for the Yazidis in Dohuk.[85][86]

On 13 August 2014, fewer than 20 United States Special Forces troops stationed in Irbil along with British Special Air Service troops visited the area near Mount Sinjar to gather intelligence and plan the evacuation of approximately 30,000 Yazidis still trapped on Mount Sinjar. One hundred and twenty-nine additional US military personnel were deployed to Irbil to assess and provide a report to President Obama.[87] The United States Central Command also reported that a seventh airdrop was conducted and that to date, 114,000 meals and more than 35,000 gallons of water had been airdropped to the displaced Yazidis in the area.[88]

In a statement on 14 August 2014, The Pentagon said that the 20 US personnel who had visited the previous day had concluded that a rescue operation was probably unnecessary since there was less danger from exposure or dehydration and the Yazidis were no longer believed to be at risk of attack from ISIL. Estimates also stated that 4,000 to 5,000 people remained on the mountain, with nearly half of which being Yazidi herders who lived there before the siege.[89][90][91]

Kurdish officials and Yazidi refugees stated that thousands of young, elderly, and disabled individuals on the mountain were still vulnerable, with the governor of Kurdistan's Dahuk province, Farhad Atruchi, saying that the assessment was "not correct" and that although people were suffering, "the international community is not moving".[90]

International bodies

  •  United Nations – On 13 August 2014, the United Nations declared the Yazidi crisis a highest-level "Level 3 Emergency", saying that the declaration "will facilitate mobilization of additional resources in goods, funds and assets to ensure a more effective response to the humanitarian needs of populations affected by forced displacements".[91][92] On 19 March 2015, a United Nations panel concluded that ISIL "may have committed" genocide against the Yazidis with an investigation head, Suki Nagra, stating that the attacks on the Yazidis "were not just spontaneous or happened out of the blue, they were clearly orchestrated".[93]
  •  Arab League – On 11 August 2014, the Arab League accused ISIL of committing crimes against humanity by persecuting the Yazidis.[94][95]

It’s all clear… ISIL invades your sphere… Yet no one imagines your fear… But don’t worry… Tausi Melek is here… Restoring Lives near…

Dr. Widad Akrawi of Defend International describing the plight of the Yazidis to raise awareness of their struggle to avoid another genocide in war-torn Iraq, September 2014[96][97][98][99]

  • Defend International - On 6 September 2014, Defend International launched a worldwide campaign entitled "Save The Yazidis: The World Has To Act Now" to raise awareness about the tragedy of the Yazidis in Sinjar; coordinate activities related to intensifying efforts aimed at rescuing Yazidi and Christian women and girls captured by ISIL; provide a platform for discussion and the exchange of information on matters and activities relevant to securing the fundamental rights of the Yazidis, no matter where they reside; and building a bridge between potential partners and communities whose work is relevant to the campaign, including individuals, groups, communities, and organizations active in the areas of women’s and girls’ rights, inter alia, as well as actors involved in ending modern-day slavery and violence against women and girls.[100][101]

Tensions and background

2007 Yazidi communities bombings
Location of Kahtaniya in Iraq
LocationKahtaniya and Jazeera, Iraq
DateAugust 14, 2007 (UTC+3)
TargetYazidis
Attack type
Car bombs
Deaths796[102]
Injured1,562

The 2007 Yazidi communities bombings occurred at around 7:20 pm local time on August 14, 2007, when four co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks detonated in the Yazidi towns of Kahtaniya and Jazeera (Siba Sheikh Khidir), near Mosul. Iraqi Red Crescent's estimates say the bombs killed 796 and wounded 1,562 people,[102][104] making this the Iraq War's most deadly car bomb attack during the period of major American combat operations. It was also the second deadliest act of terrorism in history, following only behind the September 11 attacks in the United States.

For several months leading up the attack, tensions had been building up in the area, particularly between Yazidis and Sunni Muslims (Muslims including Arabs and Kurds). Some Yazidis living in the area received threatening letters calling them "infidels".[105] Leaflets were also distributed denouncing Yazidis as "anti-Islamic" and warning them that an attack was imminent.[106][107]

The attack might be connected to an incident wherein Du’a Khalil Aswad, a Yazidi teenage woman, was stoned to death. Aswad was believed to have wanted to convert in order to marry a Sunni.[108][109] Two weeks later, after a video of the stoning appeared on the Internet, Sunni gunmen[110] stopped minibuses filled with Yazidis; 23 Yazidi men were forced from a bus and shot dead.

The Sinjar area which has a mixed population of Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs was scheduled to vote in a plebiscite on accession to the Kurdish region in December 2007. This caused hostility among the neighbouring Arab communities. A force of 600 Kurdish Peshmerga was subsequently deployed in the area, and ditches were dug around Yazidi villages to prevent further attacks.[111]

Details

The blasts targeted a religious minority, the Yazidi.[112][113] The co-ordinated bombings involved a fuel tanker and three cars. An Iraqi interior ministry spokesman said that two tons of explosives were used in the blasts, which crumbled buildings, trapping entire families beneath mud bricks and other wreckage as entire neighborhoods were flattened. Rescuers dug underneath the destroyed buildings by hand to search for remaining survivors.[114]

"Hospitals here are running out of medicine. The pharmacies are empty. We need food, medicine and water otherwise there will be an even greater catastrophe," said Abdul-Rahim al-Shimari, mayor of the Baaj district, which includes the devastated villages.[115]

Responsibility

The attacks carry Al-Qaeda's signature of multiple simultaneous attacks. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. "We're looking at Al-Qaeda as the prime suspect," said Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver, a United States military spokesman.[103] The group is reported to have distributed leaflets denouncing Yazidis as "anti-Islamic". Others, including Iraq's President, Jalal Talabani, blamed the bombings on "Iraqi Sunni Muslim Arab insurgents" seeking to undercut Premier Maliki's conclave to end political deadlock among the country's leaders.[116]

On September 3, 2007, the U.S. military reportedly killed the mastermind of the bombings, Abu Mohammed al-Afri.[117]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Hopkins, Steve (14 October 2014). "Full horror of the Yazidis who didn't escape Mount Sinjar: UN confirms 5,000 men were executed and 7,000 women are now kept as sex slaves". London: The Daily Mail. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b c "Islamic State Killed 500 Yazidis, Buried Some Victims Alive". Huffington Post. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b "UN accuses the "Islamic State" in the genocide of the Yazidis" (in Russian). BBC Russian Service/BBC. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  4. ^ "The UN has blamed "Islamic State" in the genocide of the Yazidis". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Hopkins, Steve (14 October 2014). "Full horror of the Yazidis who didn't escape Mount Sinjar: UN confirms 5,000 men were executed and 7,000 women are now kept as sex slaves". London: The Daily Mail. Retrieved 13 March 2015. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Arraf, Jane (7 August 2014). "Islamic State persecution of Yazidi minority amounts to genocide, UN says". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  7. ^ a b Blair, David (6 June 2015). "Isil's Yazidi 'mass conversion' video fails to hide brutal duress". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Why Does ISIS Consider the Yazidi 'Devil Worshippers'?". Ultra Culture. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  9. ^ The Devil Worshipers of the Middle East: Their Beliefs & Sacred Books Holmes Pub Group LLC (December 1993); ISBN 1-55818-231-4/ISBN 978-1-55818-231-8
  10. ^ Staff (9 August 2014). "Islamic State militants tell 300 Yazidi families: convert or die". News.yahoo.com. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  11. ^ Evliya Çelebi, The Intimate Life of an Ottoman Statesman: Melek Ahmed Pasha (1588–1662), Translated by Robert Dankoff, 304 pp., SUNY Press, 1991; ISBN 0-7914-0640-7, pp. 169–171
  12. ^ Edip Gölbasi, The Yezidis and the Ottoman State: Modern power, military conscription, and conversion policies, 1830-1909 (Master’s Thesis: Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History, 2008). See also: Nelida Fuccaro, 'Communalism and the State in Iraq: The Yazidi Kurds, c.1869-1940", Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 35, No. 2 (April 1999), p. 6
  13. ^ "Al-Qaeda blamed for Yazidi carnage". The Scotsman. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  14. ^ a b Sly, Liz (10 August 2014). "Exodus from the mountain: Yazidis flood into Iraq following US airstrikes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  15. ^ Khalel, Sheren; Vickery, Matthew (12 December 2014). "Playing Dead: How one man survived an IS massacre". Middle East Eye.
  16. ^ a b David Stout (6 August 2014). "Be Captured and Killed, or Risk Dying of Thirst: The Awful Choice Facing the Refugees of Sinjar". TIME.com. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  17. ^ "UN Security Council condemns attacks by Iraqi jihadists". BBC News. 7 August 2014. Archived from the original on 7 August 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2015. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 8 August 2014 suggested (help)
  18. ^ Levs, Josh (7 August 2014). "Will anyone stop ISIS?". CNN. Archived from the original on 7 August 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  19. ^ Packer, George (6 August 2014). "A Friend Flees the Horror of ISIS". The New Yorker. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Iraq: 6 July – 10 September 2014. UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  21. ^ Adam Withnall (10 August 2014). "Iraq crisis: Islamic militants 'buried alive Yazidi women and children in attack that killed 500'". London: The Independent. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  22. ^ a b "Islamisté povraždili 500 jezídů, ženy a děti zaživa pohřbili, tvrdí Bagdád". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  23. ^ a b Hoft, Jim. "Report: ISIS Buried Yazidi Victims Alive – 300 Women Kidnapped as Slaves". thegatewaypundit. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  24. ^ a b Rasheed, Ahmed (10 August 2014). "Exclusive: Iraq says Islamic State killed 500 Yazidis, buried some victims alive". Reuters. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  25. ^ Chulov, Martin (11 August 2014). "Yazidis tormented by fears for women and girls kidnapped by Isis jihadis". Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  26. ^ Joshi, Priya (8 August 2014). "Iraq Crisis: Hundreds of Yazidi Women Held as Slaves by Islamic State Militants". International Business Times. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  27. ^ "ISIL killed 500 Yazidis, took 300 women as slaves: Iraq govt". August 11, 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  28. ^ Rasheed, Ahmed (11 August 2014). "Islamic State kills 500 Yazidis, burying some alive, says human rights minister". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  29. ^ Yacoub, Sameer N. "Iraq Official: Militants Hold 100s of Yazidi Women". abc news. Associated Press. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  30. ^ "Islamic State forces kill hundreds of Yazidi minority in Iraq threaten Kurdish capital". The Jerusalem Post. Reuters. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  31. ^ Gander, Kashmira (8 August 2014). "Iraq crisis: Hundreds of Yazidi women taken captive by Islamic State militants". London: The Independent. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  32. ^ Krohn, Jonathan (10 August 2014). "Iraq crisis: 'It is death valley. Up to 70 per cent of them are dead'". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  33. ^ a b Coren, Anna; Carter, Chelsea J. "Report: U.S. airstrikes carried out as part of Iraqi effort to retake Mosul Dam". CNN. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  34. ^ a b Zavadski, Katie. "ISIS Just Killed 80 More Yazidis in an Iraqi Village". New York Magazine. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  35. ^ Reuters Reporter (6 June 2015). "How just one man's 'No' to ISIS triggered massacre and kidnapping of an entire Yazidi village". London: Daily Mail. Retrieved 24 August 2014. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  36. ^ "Islamic State: Militants 'kill 300 Yazidi captives'". BBC News. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  37. ^ ""داعش" يختطف اكثر من 400 امرأة ايزيدية في سنجار ويوزعهن على معسكرين لممارسة "جهاد النكاح"". Almasalah.com. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  38. ^ Brekke, Kira (8 September 2014). "ISIS Is Attacking Women, And Nobody Is Talking About It". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  39. ^ Ivan Watson, "'Treated like cattle': Yazidi women sold, raped, enslaved by ISIS", cnn.com, 30 October 2014.
  40. ^ Ahmed, Havidar (14 August 2014). "The Yezidi Exodus, Girls Raped by ISIS Jump to their Death on Mount Shingal". Rudaw Media Network. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  41. ^ Nebehay, Stephanie (2 October 2014). "Islamic State committing 'staggering' crimes in Iraq: U.N. report". Reuters. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  42. ^ Spencer, Richard (14 October 2014). "Isil carried out massacres and mass sexual enslavement of Yazidis, UN confirms". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  43. ^ "Dr Widad Akrawi Interviewed at RojNews: How should the international community classify the systematic massacre of the Yezidi civilians in Sinjar by IS jihadists that included taking Yezidi girls as sex slaves". Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  44. ^ "Dr Widad Akrawi awarded International Pfeffer Peace Prize". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  45. ^ "Dr. Widad Akrawi Receives the Pfeffer Peace Award". Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  46. ^ "Dr Akrawi Dedicated Peace Award to Yezidis, Christians and Kobane". Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  47. ^ "Dr. Widad Akrawi Barış ödülünü Kobanê ve Şengal'e adadı". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  48. ^ "Peace award dedicated to Kobanî and Şengal". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  49. ^ "Dr. Widad Akrawi Xelata Aştiyê pêşkêşî Kobanê û Şengalê hat kirin". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  50. ^ "Xelata Aştiyê diyarî Kobanê hat kirin". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  51. ^ "Save The Yazidis: The World Has To Act Now". Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  52. ^ Kirk Semple, "Yazidi Girls Seized by ISIS Speak Out After Escape," The New York Times, 14 November 2014.
  53. ^ "Islamic State Seeks to Justify Enslaving Yazidi Women and Girls in Iraq". Newsweek. Reuters. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  54. ^ Athena Yenko, "Judgment Day Justifies Sex Slavery Of Women – ISIS Out With Its 4th Edition Of Dabiq Magazine," International Business Times-Australia, 13 October 2014.
  55. ^ Allen McDuffee, "ISIS Is Now Bragging About Enslaving Women and Children", The Atlantic, 13 October 2014.
  56. ^ Salma Abdelaziz, "ISIS states its justification for the enslavement of women", CNN, 13 October 2014.
  57. ^ Spencer, Richard (13 October 2014). "Thousands of Yazidi women sold as sex slaves 'for theological reasons', says Isil". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  58. ^ "Slavery in Islam: To have and to hold - The Economist". The Economist. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  59. ^ Nour Malas, "Ancient Prophecies Motivate Islamic State Militants: Battlefield Strategies Driven by 1,400-year-old Apocalyptic Ideas", The Wall Street Journal, 18 November 2014; accessed 22 November 2014.
  60. ^ Amelia Smith, "ISIS Publishes Pamphlet On How to Treat Female Slaves", Newsweek, 9 December 2014.
  61. ^ Abul Taher, "Our faith condones raping underage slaves: ISIS publishes shocking guidebook telling fighters how to buy, sell and abuse captured women", Daily Mail, 13 December 2014.
  62. ^ Greg Botelho, "ISIS: Enslaving, having sex with 'unbelieving' women, girls is OK", CNN, 13 December 2014.
  63. ^ Katharine Lackey, "Pamphlet provides Islamic State guidelines for sex slaves", USA Today, 13 December 2014.
  64. ^ Carey Lodge, "Islamic State issues abhorrent sex slavery guidelines about how to treat women", Christianity Today, 15 December 2014.
  65. ^ Adam Withnall, "Isis releases 'abhorrent' sex slaves pamphlet with 27 tips for militants on taking, punishing and raping female captives", The Independent, 10 December 2014.
  66. ^ Callimachi, Rukmini (13 August 2015). "ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  67. ^ Salih, Mohammed; van Wilgenburg, Wladimir (5 August 2014). "Iraqi Yazidis: 'If we move they will kill us'". Aljazeera. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  68. ^ "Australian photographer on board crashed overloaded Iraqi helicopter". Mail Online. London. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  69. ^ "General Majid, Who Gave His Life For Others". The American Conservative. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  70. ^ Morris, Loveday (20 October 2014). "Islamic State seizes two Yazidi villages as it advances on Mount Sinjar". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  71. ^ "UN: Assault on Yazidis may be genocide attempt". The Washington Post. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  72. ^ Ahmed, Azam (27 August 2014). "For Yazidis Betrayed by Arab Neighbors, 'It Will Never Be the Same'". New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  73. ^ "UN: ISIS May Have Committed Genocide Against Yazidis". Huffington Post. 19 March 2015.
  74. ^ "Quick Links". CNN.
  75. ^ "Dr Widad Akrawi Interviewed at RojNews: How should the international community classify the systematic massacre of the Yezidi civilians in Sinjar by IS jihadists that included taking Yezidi girls as sex slaves". Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  76. ^ "What Is Genocide?". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  77. ^ Yacoub, Sameer N. (8 April 2015). "Islamic State releases over 200 Iraqi Yazidis after 8 months as captives". Toronto. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  78. ^ Dingemans, Guido (9 August 2014). "Iraqi Yezidi refugees flee to Turkey to escape ISIS militants". Demotix.com. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  79. ^ music66 (7 August 2014). "Turkey Gives Sanctuary to Hundreds of Yazidis Fleeing Iraq". Naharnet.com. Retrieved 6 June 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  80. ^ "IŞİD 150 Bin Kişiyi Yerinden Etti". Aktif Haber. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  81. ^ Hürriyet newspaper, August 31, 2014. P.8.
  82. ^ "Davutoğlu: Turkish aid air-dropped to Yazidis in Sinjar mountains". Today's Zaman. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  83. ^ Noack, Rick (8 August 2014). "When Obama talks about Iraq, his use of the word 'genocide' is vital". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  84. ^ J. Carter, Chelsea; Tawfeeq, Mohammed; Starr, Barbara (9 August 2014). "Officials: U.S. airstrikes pound ISIS militants firing at Iraq's Yazidis". CNN. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  85. ^ "Thousands of Yazidis rescued, Iraqi official says". CNN. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  86. ^ Siddique, Haroon (10 August 2014). "20,000 Iraqis besieged by Isis escape from mountain after US air strikes". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  87. ^ Chulov, Martin; Borger, Julian; Norton-Taylor, Richard; Roberts, Dan (13 August 2014). "US troops land on Iraq's Mt Sinjar to plan for Yazidi evacuation". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  88. ^ "Aug. 13: Update on Humanitarian Assistance Operations Near Sinjar, Iraq". United States Central Command. United States Central Command. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  89. ^ DeYoung, Karen; Whitlock, Craig (14 August 2014). "Rescue mission for Yazidis on Iraq's Mount Sinjar appears unnecessary, Pentagon says". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 June 2015. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  90. ^ a b Sly, Liz; Whitlock, Craig (14 August 2014). "Most Yazidis have been rescued from a besieged mountain in northern Iraq". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  91. ^ a b "UN declares highest-level humanitarian emergency in Iraq as clashes erupt near Baghdad". Fox News. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  92. ^ "UN Declares a 'Level 3 Emergency' for Iraq to Ensure More Effective Humanitarian Response". United Nations Iraq. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  93. ^ Cumming-Bruce, Nick (19 March 2015). "ISIS Suspected of Genocide Against Yazidis in Iraq, U.N. Panel Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  94. ^ "Mid Day News - 11/08/2014 - التطورات في العراق". YouTube. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  95. ^ Addamah, Steven (12 August 2014). "MENA: Arab league accuses ISIS of "crimes against humanity"". Medafrica times. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  96. ^ "Dr. Widad Akrawi quotes at bestquotes4ever.com". Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  97. ^ "Dr. Widad Akrawi quote at brainywords.com". Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  98. ^ "Dr. Widad Akrawi quote at azquotes.com". Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  99. ^ "Dr. Widad Akrawi quote at shayarihall.com". Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  100. ^ "Save The Yazidis: The World Has To Act Now". Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  101. ^ "Artist Jane Adams invited to join Save The Yazidis campaign". Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  102. ^ a b Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Thomson Reuters Foundation". Retrieved 15 March 2015. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  103. ^ a b "Al-Qaeda blamed for Yazidi carnage". Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  104. ^ Cave, Damien; Glanz, James (22 August 2007). "Toll in Iraq Bombings Is Raised to More Than 500". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  105. ^ Arwa Damon, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Raja Razek, "Iraqi officials: Truck bombings killed at least 500," CNN.com
  106. ^ "General Calls Attack on Yazidis 'Ethnic Cleansing'". NPR.org. 15 August 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  107. ^ Hardy, Roger (15 August 2007). "BBC NEWS - Middle East - Minority targeted in Iraq bombings". BBC News. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  108. ^ "Login". Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  109. ^ "How suicide bombings shattered Iraq - Secret Iraq Files - Al Jazeera English". Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  110. ^ Stephen Farell, "Death Toll in Iraq Bombings Rises to 250", New York Times (August 15, 2007).
  111. ^ "Yazidis Live Among Reminders of Deadly Attack". NPR.org. 5 October 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  112. ^ "BBC NEWS - Middle East - Deadly Iraq sect attacks kill 200". BBC News. 15 August 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  113. ^ "Dozens killed in multiple suicide attacks in Iraq - CNN.com". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  114. ^ "Iraqi Interior Ministry: 400 killed in suicide bombings in northern Iraq". ynet. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  115. ^ "Shiites, Kurds form alliance; 4 Iraqi kids found in rubble of bombed area - USATODAY.com". USA Today. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  116. ^ "Killings stoke tension in Iraq city", AlJazeera.net
  117. ^ AFP: Qaeda militant behind deadliest Iraq attack killed: US