Ten years after the Sinjar massacre, Yazidi survivors demand justice

Peshmerga Forces in Sinjar

Scenes from the now destroyed city of Sinjar, in Iraq. (Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images) Credit: Giles Clarke/Getty Images

Ten years have passed since the I-S-group attacked Sinjar in northern Iraq, killing and enslaving thousands of Yazidis. But many survivors, including those in Australia's Yazidi community, are still waiting for justice for what happened to them. The scale of atrocities perpetrated against the Yazidi community by the Islamic State group include mass executions, forced conversions, abduction, enslavement and systematic sexual violence. Those are acts which bodies such as a commission mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council have called a genocide. And a warning, some people may find this story distressing.









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Hayam Mihi was taken by I-S militants from her hometown in Sinjar in northern Iraq when she was sixteen years old and five-months pregnant.

She was held captive for almost two years.

"They did a lot to us. They abused us, they wouldn’t let us eat, they would beat us, they would force themselves on us, I was pregnant, I suffered a lot."

She arrived in the New South Wales regional town of Wagga Wagga in late 2019 with her husband and children, after receiving humanitarian visas.

Ten years on from what happened at Sinjar, Hayam wants justice for what happened to her.

"All the crimes that ISIS has committed, so far nothing has been done, they destroyed the world. What they did to the Yazidis, they wanted to break us only because of our religion. Our wish is that one day they will be prosecuted for what they have done to us."

It is estimated around 30,000 foreign fighters, including more than 200 Australians joined I-S from at least 89 countries.

Many of these countries, including Australia, are state parties of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

That obliges them to investigate and prosecute the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression, perpetrated by their citizens.

Susan Hutchinson is the architect behind the 'Prosecute; don’t perpetrate' campaign, which advocates to end impunity for sexual violence in armed conflict.

"The kind of violence that they experienced at the hands of ISIS was extreme brutality. The whole point of the principal of complimentarity of the Rome Statute is that countries like Australia do our own investigations and prosecutions. At the moment members of the Australian Defense force are being held to a higher degree of accountability than people like those who joined ISIS and fought overseas for terrorist organisations and that is not ok."

According to a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Department -

The Government has robust frameworks to prohibit Australians from engaging in hostilities overseas and to manage the return of foreign fighters. 29 people have been convicted for foreign incursions offences in Australia, and 5 people are currently before the courts for foreign incursions offences.

This is Daniela Gavshon, the Australian director of Human Rights Watch.

"Unfortunately what we've seen domestically in Iraq is that when anyone is prosecuted, they're prosecuted only for being members of ISIS but they're not prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. In Australia we haven't had any prosecutions like that either."

For Hayam, the years since the horror of what happened at Sinjar keep passing - But they bring with them few answers.

"It’s been ten years; thousands are still captive. Some families are still awaiting to find the remains of their dead so they can bury them and have closure."

Readers seeking support with mental health can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. More information is available at beyondblue.org.au. Embrace Multicultural Mental Health supports people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

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