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[snoop1130]

For Yazidis, Baghdadi's death 'doesn't feel like justice yet'

By Raya Jalabi

 

Yazidi displaced students from the minority Yazidi sect walk at the Sharya camp, in Duhok, Iraq October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal

 

SHARYA CAMP, Iraq (Reuters) - Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death will mean nothing to 19-year-old rape victim Jamila unless the Islamic State militants who enslaved her are brought to justice.

 

Jamila, who asked not to be identified by her last name, is one of thousands of women from the Yazidi minority religion who were kidnapped and raped by IS after it mounted an assault on the Yazidi homeland in northern Iraq in August 2014.

 

"Even if Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead, it doesn't mean Islamic State is dead," Jamila told Reuters outside the tent that is now her temporary home in the Sharya camp for displaced Yazidis in Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

 

"This doesn't feel like justice yet," she said. "I want the men who took me, who raped me, to stand trial. And I want to have my voice heard in court. I want to face them in court ... Without proper trials, his death has no meaning."

 

Baghdadi, who had led IS since 2010, detonated a suicide vest after being cornered in a raid by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday.

 

Inspired by his edicts to enslave and slaughter Yazidis, whom IS regard as infidels, his followers shot, beheaded and kidnapped thousands in a rampage which the United Nations called a genocidal campaign against them.

 

Along with thousands of other women and children, Jamila said she was enslaved by the militants and kept in captivity for five months in the city of Mosul along with her sister.

 

She was just 14 when she was seized. But her problems did not end after she and her sister managed to escape when, she said, their guards were high on drugs.

 

"When I first came back, I had a nervous breakdown and psychological problems for two years, so I couldn't go to school," she said.

 

Now instead of working or catching up on her years of lost schooling, she looks after her mother, with whom she shares her cramped tent at the camp.

 

"My mother can't walk and has health problems so I have to stay and take care of her because my older siblings are in Germany," she said.

 

NO PLANS TO GO HOME

 

The prospect of going home to Sinjar in northern Iraq is not an option for Jamila, and many others. The city still lies in ruin four years after the IS onslaught, and suspicion runs deep in the ethnically mixed area.

 

"Sinjar is completely destroyed. Even if we could go back, I wouldn't want to because we'd be surrounded by the same Arab neighbours who all joined IS in the first place, and helped them kill us (Yazidis)," she said.

 

Thousands of men are being tried in Iraqi courts for their ties to IS. Iraq has so far not allowed victims to testify in court, something community leaders and human rights groups say would go a long way in the healing process.

 

"It is deplorable that not a single victim of Islamic State's horrific abuses including sexual slavery has gotten their day in court," said Belkis Wille, Iraq Researcher for Human Rights Watch. "Iraq's justice system is designed to allow the state to exact mass revenge against suspects, not provide real accountability for victims."

 

For some of the nearly 17,000 Yazidis at the Sharya camp, Baghdadi's death was a first step in that direction though they fear the IS fighters who are still alive.

 

Mayan Sinu, 25, can dream of a new life after the camp as she and her three children have been granted asylum by Australia. But she also wants the men who shot her husband in the legs and dragged him off to be brought to justice. He has been missing since the incident five years ago.

 

"I hope Baghdadi is suffering more than we ever did, and my God we suffered," said Sinu. "I wish he (Baghdadi) hadn't blown himself up so I could have slaughtered him myself with my bare hands."

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-10-30

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[nausea]

44 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

they fear the IS fighters who are still alive

 Indeed:

'I met my IS captor on a German street'

 

 

 

[captpkapoor]

Historically persecuted by Kurds, Iraqis, Turks, Ottomans - all because they subscribed to their own ancient belief system (which is a very gentle faith, has Vedic influences from ancient India) did not agree with the dominant religion in the region. Very sad indeed.

[Scott]

4 hours ago, captpkapoor said:

Historically persecuted by Kurds, Iraqis, Turks, Ottomans - all because they subscribed to their own ancient belief system (which is a very gentle faith, has Vedic influences from ancient India) did not agree with the dominant religion in the region. Very sad indeed.

During the years when I lived in Northern Iraq, I never saw or heard of any persecution of the Yazidis by the Kurds.   As a matter of fact, the Yazidis are Kurds and are referred to as the original Kurds.  

 

There were  periodic problems between various groups of Kurds.   Sunni groups, Shia groups, KDP political party, PUK political party, Christians etc..   Most of the groups lived together so in was sometimes one tribe against another.  

 

The Yazidis generally kept themselves more isolated from other groups.  

 

[captpkapoor]

On 10/31/2019 at 10:21 PM, Scott said:

During the years when I lived in Northern Iraq, I never saw or heard of any persecution of the Yazidis by the Kurds.   As a matter of fact, the Yazidis are Kurds and are referred to as the original Kurds.  

 

There were  periodic problems between various groups of Kurds.   Sunni groups, Shia groups, KDP political party, PUK political party, Christians etc..   Most of the groups lived together so in was sometimes one tribe against another.  

 

The Yazidis generally kept themselves more isolated from other groups.  

 

Yes, but Muslim Kurds - almost all- believe that Yazidis are not Muslims, and so persecute them.

I could refer you to many books/ links on this subject.

[Scott]

4 minutes ago, captpkapoor said:

Yes, but Muslim Kurds - almost all- believe that Yazidis are not Muslims, and so persecute them.

I could refer you to many books/ links on this subject.

I was the director of an organization in Northern Iraq.   I had offices in Suleimaniyah, Irbil, Dohuk and Zako.   We had a number of projects in Yazidis villages.   The Yazidis seemed to keep themselves more separated than other groups, but I didn't see any persecution, nor was I subjected to the usual barrage of stories about particular groups or individuals. 

 

I am not in a position to argue with you because what I saw doesn't always tell the whole story and that's obvious by the fact that they were targeted by ISIS.   I don't think there is any group in the Kurdish area that hasn't been subjected to persecution at one time or another.  

 

[Crazy Alex]

2 minutes ago, Scott said:

I was the director of an organization in Northern Iraq.   I had offices in Suleimaniyah, Irbil, Dohuk and Zako.   We had a number of projects in Yazidis villages.   The Yazidis seemed to keep themselves more separated than other groups, but I didn't see any persecution, nor was I subjected to the usual barrage of stories about particular groups or individuals. 

 

I am not in a position to argue with you because what I saw doesn't always tell the whole story and that's obvious by the fact that they were targeted by ISIS.   I don't think there is any group in the Kurdish area that hasn't been subjected to persecution at one time or another.  

 

So ISIS targeted the Yazidis. But don't they target pretty much anyone that's in their way for whatever reason? Or were they targeted specifically for some purpose other than their usual hate of anyone just like them? I honestly don't know.

[Scott]

1 minute ago, Crazy Alex said:

So ISIS targeted the Yazidis. But don't they target pretty much anyone that's in their way for whatever reason? Or were they targeted specifically for some purpose other than their usual hate of anyone just like them? I honestly don't know.

I suspect they were targeted as Infidels -- their religion is quite different -- and also because they lived in relative isolation, they didn't have the large well-connected system of village and tribal affiliations to afford them the same level of protection that Sunni Kurds generally had.  

 

After the re-invasion of Northern Iraq, thousands of Kurds who worked for US affiliated programs were moved out.   I am still in contact with quite a few of former staff and I will try to get a bit more 'inside' information on the Yazidis.