An O Ve Rv Iew 10 Points on Religious Persecution

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

An O Ve Rv Iew 10 Points on Religious Persecution PM GLYNN INSTITUTE An overview 10 points on Religious Persecution CRICOS registered provider: 00004G Religious freedom: a question of survival “In the Central African Republic, religious Many instances of religious persecution freedom is not a concept; it is a question have been underreported or neglected of survival. The idea is not whether one completely, especially in Western media. is more or less comfortable with the 10 points on Religious Persecution is ideological foundations underpinning intended to draw attention to the issue religious freedom; rather, the issue is and raise awareness on the plight faced how to avoid a bloodbath!” For Cardinal by many, most often minority religious Dieudonné Nzapalainga, the Archbishop groups. of Bangui in the Central African Republic, At a time when advocacy for minority this is a sad and harsh reality; a reality that groups is increasing, it would be is faced by millions of people on a global encouraging to see similar support for scale today. religious minority groups who face When religious freedom is undervalued, persecution because of their faith and ignored, discouraged or targeted, religious beliefs. persecution sometimes follows. Current views on the importance and relevance of religious freedom as a human right are varied and complex, however what can be agreed upon is that persecution is never the right course of action, regardless of the reason. Cover image: Original iron cross from the grave of St. Mary MacKillop 1909, late-19th century, iron and timber. Australian Catholic University Art Collection Overleaf: John Coburn, The First Day: The Spirit of of God brooded over the waters, 1977. Colour lithograph. Australian Catholic University Art Collection What is religious persecution? 1. IT IS VIOLENT AND OPPRESSIVE minorities, as in China or North Korea. Defined as an active program or campaign In many countries including Myanmar, to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Syria, religious people based on membership of a religious majorities in certain regions are responsible group, acts of religious persecution can for persecuting religious minorities. include: murder (mass or individual), kidnapping, detention, enslavement, forced 4. IT IS NOT ONLY DRIVEN BY exile, expropriation of buildings, assets and RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES funds and damage to property, physical It is important to highlight that difference assault including mutilations and battery, in faith is not the only driver of religious harsh sentences or punishments, and persecution. The historical background of intimidation and threats. a particular region, and its relationship with the State, is often vital to understanding 2. IT HAPPENS ALL AROUND how religious persecution comes about. THE WORLD The legal and social restrictions that are In 2018, at least 25 countries were identified placed on religious freedom within a where significant religious persecution country are also important factors. was taking place. These countries include: These are shaped both by governments Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Central African and social groupings, and are informed Republic, China, Eritrea, India, Indonesia, by a broader range of socio-political factors Iran, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar (Burma), including religious regulations, nationalism Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, the and fundamentalism. This can often take Palestinian Territories, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the shape of ethnic subjugation Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, and discrimination. Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen. Ethnic cleansing and genocide has also taken place in recent history: in Myanmar 3. IT IS PERPETRATED BY with the state persecution of Rohingyas; GOVERNMENTS, EXTREMISTS AND in Iraq through the persecution of Yazidis EVEN OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS by Islamic State Group; and in Nigeria State and non-state bodies are usually with the persecution of Christians by Boko responsible for religious persecution. In Haram and Fulani jihadis. places like China, Myanmar, North Korea and Saudi Arabia, to name a few, religious 5. IT AFFECTS CHRISTIANS minorities are predominantly targeted by Conservative estimates suggest that their governments. 260 million Christians were subjected In Afghanistan, Iraq, Niger, Nigeria and to religious persecution in 2017-18; the Somalia religious minorities are targeted by largest group by number targeted by non-state groups such as extremists. religious persecution. In some countries like India, Indonesia, Christian minority groups face persecution Pakistan, Syria and Yemen groups are in many countries, but some of the worst targeted not only by extremists but also by places include: Afghanistan, India, the government. Interestingly, it is not just Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, the non-religious groups targeting religious Palestinian Territories and Syria. Of these, North Korea is considered to be one of the have ‘graduated’ from these re-education worst countries in the world for violations camps are being forced to work in factories of human rights and perpetrating religious which are in the supply chain of at least 83 persecution. While the North Korean well-known companies including: Amazon, constitution protects people’s freedom Apple, BMW, Dell, General Motors, Google, of religion in principle, this only extends H&M, Land Rover, Microsoft, Nike, Puma, to a handful of state-controlled houses Sony, Toshiba, Volkswagen and Zara. of worship permitted to exist. All other religious activities outside of this domain 7. IT AFFECTS JEWS AND OTHER are heavily regulated. RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES The North Korean regime actively seeks out Evidence suggests that anti-Semitism is Christians practising their religion in secret increasing around the world, which has led and imprisons those that they apprehend, to a rise in Jewish migrants to Israel. This along with their families, in political prison rise in anti-Semitism has been documented camps. There they endure forced labour, in in countries including France, Germany, violation of international law, on minimal Iran, Norway, Sweden, the United States of rations, causing extreme fatigue and America and Yemen. sickness or even death. Estimates suggest After the 2015 Hyper Cacher attack in that 25 per cent of Christians in North France, where four Jewish people were Korea are held in these prison camps where killed and a number were taken hostage at a they are heavily persecuted, even more so kosher supermarket, a record 7,900 Jewish than other prisoners. people emigrated to Israel, with many of them citing increased fears of anti-Semitism 6. IT AFFECTS MUSLIMS as their reason. Many Muslim communities also face While attacks on the Jewish population persecution, not only because of their today rarely fall into the category of religious beliefs but because of their ethnic persecution, discrimination and growing and cultural origins as well. hatred towards Jewish populations is on In China, estimates suggest between one the rise leading in some instances to Jewish and two million Uyghurs and members people concealing their faith in public to of other Turkic Muslim minorities have avoid harassment. disappeared into a vast network of re- While religious persecution aimed at other education camps in the far west region religious minorities like the Rohingyas in of Xinjiang since 2017. Inside the camps Myanmar and the Yazidis in Iraq has been detainees are subjected to political well-documented, religious persecution of indoctrination, forced to renounce their other minority groups often go unnoticed, religion and culture and, in some instances, such as the suppression of Buddhists in reportedly subjected to torture. Tibet and Hindus in Yemen. In the name of combating religious extremism Chinese authorities have been actively remoulding the Muslim population in the image of China’s Han ethnic majority. A recent report suggests that trainees who 8. IT TARGETS WOMEN WITH SEXUAL While religious persecution is not the only VIOLENCE factor driving people from their homelands, Sexual violence towards women and young it is often a factor that is rarely discussed girls is a growing concern around the or acknowledged. Religious persecution world. Rape is often used as a means of has forced Christians from China, Iraq, punishment, humiliation and degradation, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, the Palestinian and women of faith are often targeted. Territories, Sudan and Syria, Yazidis from Where there is religious persecution, there is Iraq and Rohingya from Myanmar. often rape. While these people often struggle to access Sources indicate that countries of particular basic rights in their new homelands, concern include: India, Iraq, Libya, and often face racism, hatred and other Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea and hostilities, the greater issue here is the Pakistan. In some instances, women are destruction of communities. also forced into sexual slavery. If they are Communities and traditions that span fortunate enough to escape, shame and generations are being destroyed and stigma from within their own communities traditional ways of life annihilated. This often follows. in turn devastates a person’s sense of In 2014, 17 year old Esther was kidnapped belonging; something that is of great from her village in Nigeria’s Borno State by importance to all of us. members of Boko Haram. When she would not renounce her Christian faith she was 10. IT CAN BE RESISTED repeatedly raped and eventually conceived While the situation is dire for many, and gave birth to her daughter in captivity.
Recommended publications
  • Hate Speech and Persecution: a Contextual Approach
    V anderbilt Journal of Transnational Law VOLUME 46 March 2013 NUMBER 2 Hate Speech and Persecution: A Contextual Approach Gregory S. Gordon∗ ABSTRACT Scholarly work on atrocity-speech law has focused almost exclusively on incitement to genocide. But case law has established liability for a different speech offense: persecution as a crime against humanity (CAH). The lack of scholarship regarding this crime is puzzling given a split between the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on the issue of whether hate speech alone can serve as an actus reus for CAH-persecution. This Article fills the gap in the literature by analyzing the split between the two tribunals and concluding that hate speech alone may be the basis for CAH- persecution charges. First, this is consistent with precedent going as far back as the Nuremberg trials. Second, it takes into account the CAH requirement that the speech be uttered as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population. Third, the defendant must be aware that his speech ∗ Associate Professor of Law, University of North Dakota School of Law, and Director, UND Center for Human Rights and Genocide Studies; former Prosecutor, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law. The author would like to thank his research assistants, Lilie Schoenack and Moussa Nombre, for outstanding work. The piece also benefited greatly from the insights of Kevin Jon Heller, Joseph Rikhof, and Benjamin Brockman-Hawe. Thanks, as always, to my family, especially my wife, whose incredible support made this article possible.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Addressing the Security Needs of Muslim Communities
    Understanding Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Addressing the Security Needs of Muslim Communities A Practical Guide Understanding Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Addressing the Security Needs of Muslim Communities A Practical Guide Published by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Ul. Miodowa 10 00-251 Warsaw Poland www.osce.org/odihr © OSCE/ODIHR 2020 All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may be freely used and copied for educational and other non-commercial purposes, provided that any such reproduction is accompanied by an acknowledgement of the OSCE/ ODIHR as the source. ISBN 978-83-66089-93-8 Designed by Homework Printed in Poland by Centrum Poligrafii Contents Foreword v Executive Summary vii Introduction 1 PART ONE: Understanding the challenge 7 I. Hate crimes against Muslims in the OSCE region: context 8 II. Hate crimes against Muslims in the OSCE region: key features 12 III. Hate crimes against Muslims in the OSCE region: impact 21 PART TWO: International standards on intolerance against Muslims 29 I. Commitments and other international obligations 30 II. Key principles 37 1. Rights based 37 2. Victim focused 38 3. Non-discriminatory 41 4. Participatory 41 5. Shared 42 6. Collaborative 43 7. Empathetic 43 8. Gender sensitive 43 9. Transparent 44 10. Holistic 45 PART THREE: Responding to anti-Muslim hate crimes and the security challenges of Muslim communities 47 Practical steps 48 1. Acknowledging the problem 48 2. Raising awareness 51 3. Recognizing and recording the anti-Muslim bias motivation of hate crimes 53 4. Providing evidence of the security needs of Muslim communities by working with them to collect hate crime data 58 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Regional Implications of Shi'a Revival in Iraq
    Vali Nasr Regional Implications of Shi‘a Revival in Iraq Since regime change disenfranchised the Sunni minority leader- ship that had ruled Iraq since the country’s independence in 1932 and em- powered the Shi‘a majority, the Shi‘a-Sunni competition for power has emerged as the single greatest determinant of peace and stability in post-Saddam Iraq. Iraq’s sectarian pains are all the more complex because reverberations of Shi‘a empowerment will inevitably extend beyond Iraq’s borders, involv- ing the broader region from Lebanon to Pakistan. The change in the sectar- ian balance of power is likely to have a far more immediate and powerful impact on politics in the greater Middle East than any potential example of a moderate and progressive government in Baghdad. The change in the sec- tarian balance of power will shape public perception of U.S. policies in Iraq as well as the long-standing balance of power between the Shi‘a and Sunnis that sets the foundation of politics from Lebanon to Pakistan. U.S. interests in the greater Middle East are now closely tied to the risks and opportunities that will emanate from the Shi‘a revival in Iraq. The competition for power between the Shi‘a and Sunnis is neither a new development nor one limited to Iraq. In fact, it has shaped alliances and de- termined how various actors have defined and pursued their interests in the region for the past three decades. Often overlooked in political analyses of greater Middle Eastern politics, this competition is key to grasping how cur- rent developments in Iraq will shape this region in years to come.
    [Show full text]
  • IRFA (International Religious Freedom Act)
    REFUGEE, ASYLUM, AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS DIRECTORATE (RAIO) RAIO DIRECTORATE – OFFICER TRAINING RAIO Combined Training Program INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT (IRFA) AND RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION TRAINING MODULE DATE (see schedule of revisions): 12/20/2019 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) and Religious Persecution This Page Left Blank Intentionally , USCIS: RAIO Directorate – Officer Training DATE (see schedule of changes): 12/20/2019 RAIO Combined Training Program Page 2 of 49 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) and Religious Persecution RAIO Directorate – Officer Training / RAIO Combined Training Program INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT (IRFA) AND RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION Training Module MODULE DESCRIPTION: This module introduces you to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) and the responsibilities that the Act creates for adjudicating protection claims. The training you receive will also be useful in adjudicating immigration benefits, petitions, and other immigration-related requests. Through reading and discussing country conditions information, you will increase your awareness of religious freedom issues around the world. Through discussion and practical exercises, you will learn how to conduct an interview and adjudicate a claim with a religious freedom issue. TERMINAL PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE(S) Given a request for protection (an asylum or refugee application, or a reasonable fear or credible fear screening1) with a religious freedom issue, you will apply IRFA and case law.0) ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Summarize the IRFA requirements for RAIO officers. 2. Explain the statutory and regulatory requirements for consideration of protection claims and benefits requests involving religious freedom and religious persecution. 3. Summarize legal rulings that must be followed or that provide guidance when making decisions based on religious freedom or religious persecution.
    [Show full text]
  • Liberty University the Religious Persecution of Christians a Thesis
    Liberty University The Religious Persecution of Christians A Thesis Project Report Submitted to The Faculty of the School of Divinity In Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Ministry Department of Christian Leadership and Church Ministries By Novella L. Crudup Lynchburg, Virginia November 2018 Copyright Page Copy © 2018 by Novella L. Crudup All rights reserved iii Liberty University School of Divinity Thesis Project Approval Sheet ________________________________ Dr. Adam McClendon, Mentor _________________________________ Dr. Micheal Pardue, Reader iv THE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY THESIS PROJECT ABSTRACT Novella L. Crudup Liberty University School of Divinity, 2018 Mentor: Dr. Adam McClendon The thesis project addressed the religious persecution of Christians in Kenya, East Africa, and the United States. The problem is that Christians deny Christ to avoid persecution. There is a need for a proposed solution that emphasizes the need to believe that persecution is a reality, and that every believer should anticipate and prepare for it. Furthermore, the proposed solution should emphasize that God has a purpose for allowing Christians to face persecution. The methodology used for this project was qualitative analysis. The researcher applied the content analysis approach towards interpreting the data that was collected from thirty-one participants completing the questionnaire. The content analysis approach revealed five themes instrumental in developing a proposed solution to the problem. The proposed solution is intended to encourage Christians to have a proper mindset related to God’s Word, recognize the importance of spiritual growth, and maintain a focus on eternal rewards. The proposed solution will help Christians maintain a focus on God before, during, and after periods of persecution.
    [Show full text]
  • UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech
    UNITED NATIONS STRATEGY AND PLAN OF ACTION ON HATE SPEECH Foreword Around the world, we are seeing a disturbing groundswell of xenophobia, racism and intolerance – including rising anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim hatred and persecution of Christians. Social media and other forms of communication are being exploited as platforms for bigotry. Neo-Nazi and white supremacy movements are on the march. Public discourse is being weaponized for political gain with incendiary rhetoric that stigmatizes and dehumanizes minorities, migrants, refugees, women and any so-called “other”. This is not an isolated phenomenon or the loud voices of a few people on the fringe of society. Hate is moving into the mainstream – in liberal democracies and authoritarian systems alike. And with each broken norm, the pillars of our common humanity are weakened. Hate speech is a menace to democratic values, social stability and peace. As a matter of principle, the United Nations must confront hate speech at every turn. Silence can signal indifference to bigotry and intolerance, even as a situation escalates and the vulnerable become victims. Tackling hate speech is also crucial to deepen progress across the United Nations agenda by helping to prevent armed conflict, atrocity crimes and terrorism, end violence against women and other serious violations of human rights, and promote peaceful, inclusive and just societies. Addressing hate speech does not mean limiting or prohibiting freedom of speech. It means keeping hate speech from escalating into something more dangerous, particularly incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, which is prohibited under international law. The United Nations has a long history of mobilizing the world against hatred of all kinds through wide-ranging action to defend human rights and advance the rule of law.
    [Show full text]
  • 9. Persecution of Buddhists
    208 CORRESPONDENCE. could easily be predicted. Such a publication would un- doubtedly receive substantial support from all the societies interested in the subject. The direction of affairs could not be undertaken by anyone more competent than Professor Goldziher, assisted as he would be by a number of eminent scholars, and it would be a source of great regret for all concerned were he to relinquish this task, as he seems to desire.—Yours faithfully, H. HlRSCHFELD. November 22, 1897. 9. PERSECUTION OF BUDDHISTS. SIR,—At the late Congress of Orientalists in Paris there arose, in the Indian Section, a discussion relative to the alleged persecution of the votaries of Buddhism by the Brahmans, and by sovereigns professing, or converted to, the religion of Siva. This was followed by a paper read by Professor Rhys Davids at a meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society. In the course of his remarks Professor Rhys Davids alluded to a supposed persecution by a king called Sudhanvan, which was brought about at the instigation of Kumarilabhatta in the first half of the eighth century A.D. It is described in the first canto of the Sahkara Dig Vijaya, ascribed to Madhava, and in the Sahkar a Vijaya, ascribed to Anandagiri. I do not intend to discuss the question of persecution in this brief note, but merely to touch on the question of the identity of Sudhanvan. This king is styled a monarch of South India. The name does not appear in any of the known lists of South Indian kings. Was there really a king of that name about that time, and who was he? Sanskrit writers are constantly in the habit of 'Sanskri- tizing Dravidian names, just as in England we anglicize the names of North American Indian celebrities, calling them "Deer-foot," "Burning Cloud," and so on.
    [Show full text]
  • Jewish Persecutions and Weather Shocks: 1100-1800⇤
    Jewish Persecutions and Weather Shocks: 1100-1800⇤ § Robert Warren Anderson† Noel D. Johnson‡ Mark Koyama University of Michigan, Dearborn George Mason University George Mason University This Version: 30 December, 2013 Abstract What factors caused the persecution of minorities in medieval and early modern Europe? We build amodelthatpredictsthatminoritycommunitiesweremorelikelytobeexpropriatedinthewake of negative income shocks. Using panel data consisting of 1,366 city-level persecutions of Jews from 936 European cities between 1100 and 1800, we test whether persecutions were more likely in colder growing seasons. A one standard deviation decrease in average growing season temperature increased the probability of a persecution between one-half and one percentage points (relative to a baseline probability of two percent). This effect was strongest in regions with poor soil quality or located within weak states. We argue that long-run decline in violence against Jews between 1500 and 1800 is partly attributable to increases in fiscal and legal capacity across many European states. Key words: Political Economy; State Capacity; Expulsions; Jewish History; Climate JEL classification: N33; N43; Z12; J15; N53 ⇤We are grateful to Megan Teague and Michael Szpindor Watson for research assistance. We benefited from comments from Ran Abramitzky, Daron Acemoglu, Dean Phillip Bell, Pete Boettke, Tyler Cowen, Carmel Chiswick, Melissa Dell, Dan Bogart, Markus Eberhart, James Fenske, Joe Ferrie, Raphäel Franck, Avner Greif, Philip Hoffman, Larry Iannaccone, Remi Jedwab, Garett Jones, James Kai-sing Kung, Pete Leeson, Yannay Spitzer, Stelios Michalopoulos, Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, Naomi Lamoreaux, Jason Long, David Mitch, Joel Mokyr, Johanna Mollerstrom, Robin Mundill, Steven Nafziger, Jared Rubin, Gail Triner, John Wallis, Eugene White, Larry White, and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya.
    [Show full text]
  • Your Ad Here Your Ad Here
    Eye on the News [email protected] Truthful, Factual and Unbiased Vol:X Issue No:203 Price: Afs.15 www.afghanistantimes.af www.facebook.com/ afghanistantimeswww.twitter.com/ afghanistantimes SUNDAY . FEBRUARY 21. 2016 -Hoot 02, 1394 HS Yo ur Yo ur ad ad he re he re 0778894038 UN AGENCIES MEET ON 2016 UPLIFT PLANS FOR AFGHANISTAN The Afghan government has re- dren and Armed Conflict. well as the Presidential decree crim- of recruitment processes for the on all parties to respect interna- iterated its commitment to fully "The political will and inalizing the recruitment and use Afghan Local Police tional humanitarian law and to take implement its action plan to end progress I have seen on the ground of children in the ANSF, and (ALP).Further, noting the large in- all precautions to reduce the im- and prevent the recruitment and are encouraging. stressed that effective implemen- crease in the number of UN veri- pact of conflict on children," she use of children in national secu- The government's commit- tation and enforcement of these fied cases of child recruitment in added. According to reports, gov- rity forces, said a press release ment will be instrumental to turn tools are critical to prevent recruit- 2015 – mostly by the Taliban and ernment signed an action plan with Saturday sent by the UN office. the page on the recruitment and ment and use. Zerrougui recognized other armed groups – she called the United Nations in 2011 to end According to the press release, use of children in the Afghan Na- progress made to end underage re- for a general prohibition of under- and prevent the recruitment and the commitment was made dur- tional Security Forces (ANSF)," cruitment in the Afghan National age recruitment and use.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender-Related Persecution Guidelines
    Distr. GENERAL HCR/GIP/02/01 7 May 2002 Original: ENGLISH GUIDELINES ON INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION: Gender-Related Persecution within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees UNHCR issues these Guidelines pursuant to its mandate, as contained in the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in conjunction with Article 35 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and Article II of its 1967 Protocol. These Guidelines complement the UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (Reedited, Geneva, January 1992). They further replace UNHCR’s Position Paper on Gender-Related Persecution (Geneva, January 2000) and result from the Second Track of the Global Consultations on International Protection process which examined this subject at its expert meeting in San Remo in September 2001. These Guidelines are intended to provide legal interpretative guidance for governments, legal practitioners, decision-makers and the judiciary, as well as UNHCR staff carrying out refugee status determination in the field. Gender-Related Persecution within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees I. INTRODUCTION 1. “Gender-related persecution” is a term that has no legal meaning per se. Rather, it is used to encompass the range of different claims in which gender is a relevant consideration in the determination of refugee status. These Guidelines specifically focus on the interpretation of the refugee definition contained in Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (hereinafter “1951 Convention”) from a gender perspective, as well as propose some procedural practices in order to ensure that proper consideration is given to women claimants in refugee status determination procedures and that the range of gender-related claims are recognised as such.
    [Show full text]
  • Rebuilding from the Yazidi Genocide from GENOCIDE to JUSTICE a B O U T T H E G E N O C I D E W H O a R E T H E Y a Z I D I S ?
    Rebuilding from the Yazidi Genocide FROM GENOCIDE TO JUSTICE A B O U T T H E G E N O C I D E W H O A R E T H E Y A Z I D I S ? In August 2014, the world witnessed genocide. The Yazidis are a small minority indigenous to Over the course of two weeks, the Sinjar region of Mesopotamia who are united by their ethnic and Iraq was invaded by the so-called Islamic State religious identity. As an ancient monotheistic (ISIS). ISIS militants undertook a strategized religion, Yazidism shares elements with other Middle Eastern traditions, but is set apart by its campaign to ethnically cleanse Yazidis from prayer rituals, a belief in reincarnation, and the existence. central role of the Peacock Angel, Tawusi Malek, Approximately 400,000 Yazidis fled to the who is worshiped as messenger to the Yazidi god. neighboring Kurdistan Region of Iraq and tens of It is because of these unique tenets of their faith thousands took refuge on Mount Sinjar, where that Yazidis have been persecuted for centuries. they faced near starvation. The rest, unable to Yazidi history recounts seventy-three instances flee, were killed or taken into captivity and of genocide - the latest of which was conducted subjected to horrific acts of violence – by ISIS. The constant threat of persecution led enslavement, forced labor, conscription, torture, many Yazidis to settle in the northern region of and rape. Iraq (namely Sinjar), where the mountainous ISIS considered Yazidis “infidels” and ordered men terrain provides some protection. to either convert or die.
    [Show full text]
  • ISIS-Only Tribunal: Selective, Politicised Justice Will Do More Harm Than Good 31 October 2019
    POLICY BRIEF ISIS-only tribunal: selective, politicised justice will do more harm than good 31 October 2019 Amidst heightened fears that ISIS fighters could escape captivity in north-eastern Syria as a result of the Turkish incursion into the region, powerful European states are pressing ahead with attempts to wash their hands of their own citizens with ISIS ties by establishing a hybrid tribunal or similar mechanism limited to trying ISIS-affiliated perpetrators of international crimes in Iraq, and possibly also Syria. Such a tribunal would leave victims’ needs unmet, threaten prospects for reconciliation in Iraq and Syria, and risk further undermining already fragile trust in international justice. To do justice to ISIS’ victims and prevent a resurgence of the extremist group, the international community must pursue accountability for ISIS and others who have committed grave abuses in Iraq and Syria, but resist adopting a counterproductively politicised and selective approach that would appear to encourage impunity and worsen rather than alleviate conflict in the longer term. International justice is a last-resort avenue for when domestic paths to justice have been exhausted, not a long-term replacement for a functioning national judiciary; western states must take responsibility for holding their citizens who joined ISIS accountable in their own countries, provide support to Iraq to meet victims’ needs and demands, and support Syrian victims in their struggles for justice and redress. Background: ISIS in Iraq and Syria In mid-2014, ISIS overran swathes of territory across western Iraq and eastern Syria, establishing a ‘caliphate’ that committed gross human rights violations against the populations under its control likely amounting to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
    [Show full text]