The Genocide of Yazidis
Jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group may have committed genocide and war crimes against the minority Yazidi community in Iraq, the UN says.
In a new report, it says IS had "the intent... to destroy the Yazidi as a group."
Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled villages in northern Iraq amid IS advances last summer. Many were killed, captured and enslaved.
Yazidis follow an ancient faith that jihadists regard as devil worship.
The report, commissioned by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, was based on more than 100 interviews with survivors of attacks in Iraq between June 2014 and February this year.
Among the atrocities it says were perpetrated against the Yazidi community by IS (also known as ISIL), were:
the "brutal and targeted" killing of hundreds of men and boys in Nineveh province, northwest of Baghdad, in August 2014;
the rape of girls as young as six;
the abduction of women "as spoils of war";
the forced separation of families, with boys as young as eight taken to be trained as IS fighters.
The reports adds: "In some instances, villages were entirely emptied of their Yazidi population."
A statement by the UNHCR says: "One witness described how two ISIL members sat laughing as two teenage girls were raped in the next room.
"A pregnant woman, repeatedly raped by an ISIL 'doctor' over a period of two and a half months, said he deliberately sat on her stomach.
"He told her: 'This baby should die because it is an infidel; I can make a Muslim baby'. "
One would never know from this journalist's report that Christians were also slaughtered - crucified, beheaded, raped, trafficked, driven from their homes, etc., etc. I'm not saying there's an anti-Christian bias or anything, because the media brief on the report barely mentions Christians.
The brief includes this: Brutal treatment was meted out by ISIL to other ethnic groups, including Christians, Kaka’e, Kurds, Sabea-Mandeans, Shi’a and Turkmen. In a matter of days in June, thousands of Christians fled their homes in fear after ISIL ordered them to convert to Islam, pay a tax, or leave.
That's it! None of the above-mentioned atrocities were included at all!
A new UN-backed report says Islamic State probably tried 'to destroy the Yazidi as a group'.
The plight of the Yazidi population was brought to international attention when IS captured the town of Sinjar in August 2014.
Thousands of residents, mainly Yazidis, were forced to flee.
Many were trapped on nearby Mount Sinjar, which was surrounded by IS fighters.
Airstrikes led by the Unites States, and an offensive led by Kurdish peshmerga forces, helped break the stranglehold on Mount Sinjar.
Who are the Yazidis?
Yazidis revere the Bible and Koran - but much of their tradition is oral
Religious sect found in northern Iraq, Syria and the Caucasus
Religion incorporates elements of many faiths, including Zoroastrianism
Principal divine figure, Malak Taus (Peacock Angel), is the supreme angel of the seven angels who ruled the universe after it was created by God
Many Muslims and other groups incorrectly view Yazidis as devil worshippers
This belief most likely stems from their description of Malak Taus - the Peacock Angel, who, as world-ruler, causes both good and bad to befall individuals, an ambivalence reflected in 'myths' of his own 'temporary' fall from God's favor, before his remorseful tears extinguished the fires of his hellish prison and he was reconciled with God.
The description is clearly one of Satan. As well, the hell-fires are still burning and are eternal, and the Bible makes it clear that there never was nor ever will be reconciliation between God and Satan. Consequently - Yazidis, as much as they are to be pitied for their suffering, are, in fact, devil worshipers, although they don't know it. They desperately need our prayers, not so much for their suffering but for their deception and salvation.
There are estimated to be around 500,000 Yazidis worldwide, most living in Iraq's Nineveh plains
In August 2007 jihadists attacked Yazidi villages in Nineveh, killing between 400 and 700 people
Two extreme massacres
As well as looking into offences against the Yazidi community, investigators reported on crimes against other ethnic groups.
The report says 600 male prisoners - mainly Shia Muslims - were driven to a ravine in June 2014 and shot. It says some survived because bodies fell on top of them. Islamic State considers Shia Muslims as heretics.
On 12 June 2014, the report adds, between 1,500 and 1,700 cadets from the Speicher army base, near Tikrit, were killed after surrendering to IS fighters.
Iraqi government reports into both massacres have not yet been made public.
'Extrajudicial killings'
The report also warns of offences being committed by Iraqi security forces and affiliated militia.
It says they "carried out extrajudicial killings, torture, abductions and forcibly displaced a large number of people, often with impunity." It adds that they "may have committed war crimes".
Iraq's government has not yet responded to the report.
Iraq is not currently a member of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. If any crimes there were to be investigated by the ICC, Iraq would have to become a member.
Any offences defined as international crimes by the ICC would also have to be criminalised under Iraq's domestic laws.
The report urges Iraq to join the ICC, and also calls on the UN Security Council to refer the case to The Hague.
Jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group may have committed genocide and war crimes against the minority Yazidi community in Iraq, the UN says.
In a new report, it says IS had "the intent... to destroy the Yazidi as a group."
 |
| Yazidis fleeing to Mount Sinjar |
Yazidis follow an ancient faith that jihadists regard as devil worship.
The report, commissioned by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, was based on more than 100 interviews with survivors of attacks in Iraq between June 2014 and February this year.
Among the atrocities it says were perpetrated against the Yazidi community by IS (also known as ISIL), were:
the "brutal and targeted" killing of hundreds of men and boys in Nineveh province, northwest of Baghdad, in August 2014;
the rape of girls as young as six;
the abduction of women "as spoils of war";
the forced separation of families, with boys as young as eight taken to be trained as IS fighters.
The reports adds: "In some instances, villages were entirely emptied of their Yazidi population."
A statement by the UNHCR says: "One witness described how two ISIL members sat laughing as two teenage girls were raped in the next room.
"A pregnant woman, repeatedly raped by an ISIL 'doctor' over a period of two and a half months, said he deliberately sat on her stomach.
"He told her: 'This baby should die because it is an infidel; I can make a Muslim baby'. "
One would never know from this journalist's report that Christians were also slaughtered - crucified, beheaded, raped, trafficked, driven from their homes, etc., etc. I'm not saying there's an anti-Christian bias or anything, because the media brief on the report barely mentions Christians.
The brief includes this: Brutal treatment was meted out by ISIL to other ethnic groups, including Christians, Kaka’e, Kurds, Sabea-Mandeans, Shi’a and Turkmen. In a matter of days in June, thousands of Christians fled their homes in fear after ISIL ordered them to convert to Islam, pay a tax, or leave.
That's it! None of the above-mentioned atrocities were included at all!
 |
| Displaced Iraqi families from the Yazidi community cross the Iraqi-Syrian border at the Fishkhabur crossing, in northern Iraq, on August 13, 2014 |
The plight of the Yazidi population was brought to international attention when IS captured the town of Sinjar in August 2014.
Thousands of residents, mainly Yazidis, were forced to flee.
Many were trapped on nearby Mount Sinjar, which was surrounded by IS fighters.
Airstrikes led by the Unites States, and an offensive led by Kurdish peshmerga forces, helped break the stranglehold on Mount Sinjar.
Who are the Yazidis?
Yazidis revere the Bible and Koran - but much of their tradition is oral
Religious sect found in northern Iraq, Syria and the Caucasus
Religion incorporates elements of many faiths, including Zoroastrianism
Principal divine figure, Malak Taus (Peacock Angel), is the supreme angel of the seven angels who ruled the universe after it was created by God
Many Muslims and other groups incorrectly view Yazidis as devil worshippers
This belief most likely stems from their description of Malak Taus - the Peacock Angel, who, as world-ruler, causes both good and bad to befall individuals, an ambivalence reflected in 'myths' of his own 'temporary' fall from God's favor, before his remorseful tears extinguished the fires of his hellish prison and he was reconciled with God.
The description is clearly one of Satan. As well, the hell-fires are still burning and are eternal, and the Bible makes it clear that there never was nor ever will be reconciliation between God and Satan. Consequently - Yazidis, as much as they are to be pitied for their suffering, are, in fact, devil worshipers, although they don't know it. They desperately need our prayers, not so much for their suffering but for their deception and salvation.
There are estimated to be around 500,000 Yazidis worldwide, most living in Iraq's Nineveh plains
In August 2007 jihadists attacked Yazidi villages in Nineveh, killing between 400 and 700 people
 |
| Much of Yazidi tradition is oral |
As well as looking into offences against the Yazidi community, investigators reported on crimes against other ethnic groups.
The report says 600 male prisoners - mainly Shia Muslims - were driven to a ravine in June 2014 and shot. It says some survived because bodies fell on top of them. Islamic State considers Shia Muslims as heretics.
On 12 June 2014, the report adds, between 1,500 and 1,700 cadets from the Speicher army base, near Tikrit, were killed after surrendering to IS fighters.
Iraqi government reports into both massacres have not yet been made public.
 |
| An image grab taken from a propaganda video uploaded on June 11 2014 by jihadist group the Islamic State |
The report also warns of offences being committed by Iraqi security forces and affiliated militia.
It says they "carried out extrajudicial killings, torture, abductions and forcibly displaced a large number of people, often with impunity." It adds that they "may have committed war crimes".
Iraq's government has not yet responded to the report.
Iraq is not currently a member of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. If any crimes there were to be investigated by the ICC, Iraq would have to become a member.
Any offences defined as international crimes by the ICC would also have to be criminalised under Iraq's domestic laws.
The report urges Iraq to join the ICC, and also calls on the UN Security Council to refer the case to The Hague.
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