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The Yazidi Genocide and the Role of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch

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The Yazidi Genocide and the Role of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch ‘Unique In Its Ferociousness:’ The Yazidi Genocide and the Role of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch 01/10/2017 M.A. Thesis in History - Holocaust and Genocide Studies, University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Karel Berkhoff Word count: 26, 054 Abstract: This thesis seeks to determine the role of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in times of acute crisis, more specifically the organisations’ approach to the ongoing Yazidi genocide. I examine how the two nongovernmental organisations reported on the Yazidi genocide through one-on-one interviews and a textual analysis of their reports between June 2014 and May 2017. An analysis of the articles enabled me to collate information on various aspects of the Yazidi genocide, from the perspective of the organisations. Namely how the genocide came to being, followed by an exploration of the content of the conflict, which involves displacement, forced confinement, mass killing of adult Yazidi males, and enslavement and rape of Yazidi females. Moreover, reprisals have been a feature of the conflict, and are therefore addressed. Throughout my thesis Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch’s work is compared and contrasted, culminating in an inspection of their successes and failures, specific to this set of reports. 1 Table of Contents Introduction p.4-8 I. Inside Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch p.9-22 II. The Emergence of the Yazidi Genocide p.23-29 III. Displacement and Forced Confinement p.30-39 IV. Mass Killing of Adult Males, Enslavement and Rape of Females p.40-45 V. Losses and Reprisals p.46-59 VI. Recommendations p.60-81 Conclusions p.82-92 Bibliography p.93-103 Appendices p.104-113 Abbreviations The northern regions of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Iraq Chronology of main events Relevant employees of AI and HRW Number of articles about the Yazidis per year 2 3 Introduction On 3 August 2014, members of the terrorist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al- Sham (ISIS), descended on the Sinjar region in northwest Iraq, near the Iraqi- Syrian border. The majority of the world’s Yazidis, a distinct religious group, resided in the region, alongside a smaller number of Sunni Muslims. The third day of August marked the beginning of a genocidal campaign against the Yazidis. The campaign to destroy the Yazidis, referred to as Êzîdi or Êzdî in Kurdish, has been systematic since its inception, and continues to this day. The following introduction to the genocide is largely informed by a United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council report, entitled “They came to destroy”: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis,” alongside reports by Yazda, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to documenting crimes and advocating on behalf of the Yazidis, and an interview conducted by me with Yazda’s deputy executive director, Ahmed Burjus. Burjus’ family was one of the thousands forced to flee from ISIS in August 2014. Yazidism emerged thousands of years ago. Its followers have repeatedly been subject to religious discrimination. However, in Sinjar town and various villages in the region, Yazidis and Arabs lived together. Nevertheless, after the external attack, relations between the two communities have deteriorated. Yazda has labeled the attack the 74th genocide against the Yazidis, highlighting the enduring nature of their plight dating back to at least the Ottoman Empire.1 Muslims, for centuries, have deemed Yazidis to be infidels, referring to those following the religion, as Kafir, or “devil worshippers,” due to the group’s worship of a Peacock Angel, which Christian and Islamic tradition can equate with the fallen angel Lucifer. Although Yazidism is a monotheistic religion connected to the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian faith, for centuries outsiders have perceived the religion to include polytheistic elements, which to them created grounds for maltreatment. Additionally, Yazidi customs are based on oral tradition, whereas Islam places an emphasis on the importance of a written scripture. Those that belong to the religion must have a mother and father that are Yazidi. Theologically conversion is not possible, and mixed marriage is rare. 1 Yazda, Yazidi Refugees in Greece, Turkey, Syria and Iraq seek legal admission to Germany (2016), 1. 4 In the months leading up to the violent entrance of hundreds of ISIS fighters into the Sinjar region, a region consisting of ‘hundreds of villages’ that ‘are spread out around the base of Mount Sinjar, with one main town Sinjar town, huddled at the base of the southeastern side of the mountain,’ the extremist group had been seizing areas in Syria and Iraq.2 This contributed to the success of the attack, as ISIS men were able to enter Sinjar from their bases in these areas, such as Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city (captured in June 2014), Tel Afar in Iraq, and Al- Shaddadi and the Tel Hamis region (Hasakah) in Syria.3 Furthermore, there was a lack of resistance, as the Peshmerga (the Iraqi Kurdish forces) retreated from their bases and checkpoints in the Sinjar region, without adequately informing civilians. Therefore, ‘no evacuation orders were issued and most villages were initially unaware of the collapse of the security situation.’4 When the dire situation became clear, impromptu groups of Yazidi men formed in some villages, with limited weaponry, endeavoring to provide their peers with a better chance of escaping. The UN report outlines that ‘by day break, Yazidi families from hundreds of villages across Sinjar were fleeing their homes in fear and panic.’5 After ISIS entered Sinjar the group’s primary objective was to capture Yazidis. They achieved this by ‘controlling the main roads and all strategic junctions,’ as well as setting up checkpoints and sending ‘mobile patrols to search for fleeing Yazidi families.’6 Families that fled in the early hours made it to Mount Sinjar, ‘an arid 100- kilometre-long mountain range,’ forming ‘the region’s heart.’7 However, ISIS besieged and trapped thousands of Yazidis on Mount Sinjar, and hundreds of them died from lack of resources. ‘All villages were emptied within 72 hours of the attack,’ aside from Kocho, ‘which was not emptied until 15 August 2014.’8 The fighters then moved to Iraq’s Nineveh Plain, home to a community of Yazidis, to continue the assault. 2 The United Nations, “They came to destroy”: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis (Distr.: Restricted: The United Nations Human Rights Council, 2016), p.5-6. 3 Ibid., p.6. 4 Ibid., p.7. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid., p.6. 8 Ibid., p.7. 5 At the time of writing, three years on from the initial Yazidi-centric attack, the majority of the community has left their homes for other areas of Syria, or other countries. Overall, the attacks resulted in the displacement of most Yazidis: over 400,000 of them.9 Meanwhile, thousands of Yazidi women and children remain captive in the Syrian Arab Republic and in Iraq, while thousands of Yazidi males are missing. The campaign has consistently included actions defined in Article II of the 1948 Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It is replicated in full in the Rome Statute.10 The crime of genocide is committed when a person commits a prohibited act with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such. Prohibited acts are (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.11 The ways in which the terrorist group has implicated itself in the Genocide Convention will be further elucidated in the body of the thesis. Nevertheless, in summary, the men are killed, the females are sexually enslaved, whilst the boys are separated from their families, forced to convert and trained as fighters. The intent to destroy can be found in ISIS’ public statements, and its actual behaviour. The UN Human Rights Council declared it an ongoing genocide on 15 June 2016.12 The assault matches the criteria of the Genocide Convention, which Syria and Iraq are parties to. The Yazidi Genocide and Human Rights NGOs When looking at the current Yazidi genocide it felt necessary to consider questions about ‘why it matters and to whom; who is responsible for its cause; and what sort 9 Yazda, Mass Graves of Yazidis Killed by the Islamic State Organisation or Local Affiliates On or After August 3, 2014 (2016), 4. 10 The United Nations, “They came to destroy,” p.8. 11 Ibid., p.4. 12 Ibid., p.1-41. 6 of action, by whom, should be taken.’13 The musings of Melissa Leach, a social anthropologist, and Mariz Tados, a political scientist, were considered and deconstructed over the course of the thesis by identifying the key features of the quotation. This thesis takes a close look at the way Amnesty International (AI, or Amnesty) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have treated the Yazidi genocide, by using their online archives. Who do they hold responsible for it? What actions are needed in response? And who should enact these recommendations? Ian Gorvin, the guardian of HRW’s written standards, wrote a unique and important article looking at how NGOs, more specifically HRW, evaluate themselves.14 His work allowed for a more thorough understanding of the ways in which NGOs work. It is interesting to note that there are virtually no published studies of the way these NGOs react to specific case of genocide and mass violence, which explains why Gorvin’s article was unique.
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