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The Last Genocide against the Yazidi People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2023

Hawre Ahmed Mohammed*
Affiliation:
Executive Director of Kurdistan Center for International Law (KCIL), Master of Human Rights at Erlangen University

Abstract

When the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) emerged from the ashes of unsolved political, religious, and sectarian conflicts in the Middle East, it became one of the greatest threats to global order in recent years. It invaded and occupied a large swath of territory in Iraq and Syria, leaving a trail of bloodshed in its wake. ISIS fighters carried out a deliberate campaign of annihilation against the religious Yazidi community, which is officially recognized as a protected group under the UN Genocide Convention. ISIS identified them as an “unbeliever community” and proceeded to embark on an eliminationist campaign against the group, including deliberate killing, destruction of the conditions of their life, and the capture and transference of Yazidi children.

Type
Special Focus: Revisiting Legacies of Anfal and Reconsidering Genocide in the Middle East Today: Collective Memory, Victimhood, Resilience and Enduring Trauma
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Middle East Studies Association

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