Iraqi Yazidis describe flight from Islamic State militants

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These stories should be on the front page of all the major newspapers in the world, except of course we can excuse the Muslim publications if they choose to opt out.

Iraqi Yazidis describe flight from Islamic State militants

Iraqi Yazidis who fled Islamic militants several days ago cross the Tigris River from Syria into Iraq on Aug. 9, met by offerings of bottled water. (Kamiran Sadoun / For The Times)By PATRICK J. MCDONNELLcontact the reporterMiddle EastIraqSyriaCommutingReligion and Belief

Iraqi Yazidis pursued by Islamic militants escaped up a mountain on foot and then fled to SyriaMany Iraqi Kurds greet and express solidarity with the returning Iraqi Yazidis, who are also Kurdish speakers'We all want to go home, but who knows when we can,' one Iraqi Yazidi saysThe Murad family, caked in dust and grime, trudged through a dismal gravel quarry where mangy dogs dodged bulldozers as dusk approached along the banks of the Tigris River.

The Murads were among thousands of displaced Iraqis, members of the minority Yazidi sect, who crossed a shaky pontoon bridge Saturday back into Iraq from Syria after a six-day odyssey through mountain and desert, assisted by Kurdish fighters.
"I wanted to get my daughters out safely," explained Burjun Murad, 45, a dignified, straight-backed figure with a thick mustache and a scarf wrapped around his head. "But we want to go home."

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Iraqi Yazidis describe flight from Islamic State militants - LA Times
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ISIS still killin' Yazidis...

ISIL's 'genocide' against Yazidis is ongoing, UN rights panel says, calling for international action
Friday 4th August, 2017 -- Marking three years since the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) attacked the Yazidis in Syria, a United Nations-mandated inquiry has called for justice and rescue plans.

"The Commission of Inquiry calls on the international community to recognize the crime of genocide being committed by ISIL against the Yazidis and to undertake steps to refer the situation to justice," said the expert panel in a statement marking the third anniversary of ISIL's attack on the Yazidis. According to the Commission, in the early hours of 3 August 2014, ISIL fighters launched an attack on the Yazidis of Sinjar 8211 a distinct religious community whose practice spans thousands of years. Over the following days, the terrorist group executed hundreds of men and took captive thousands of women and children, publicly reviling them as 'infidels.'

In its June 2016 report, entitled They Came to Destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis the Commission found that many of the women and girls were taken to Syria where they were sold as chattel and sexually enslaved by ISIL fighters. Boys were indoctrinated, trained and used in hostilities. "ISIL committed the crime of genocide by seeking to destroy the Yazidis through killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture, forcible displacement, the transfer of children and measures intended to prohibit the birth of Yazidi children," the report concluded. The genocide is on-going and remains largely unaddressed, despite the obligation of States Party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948 to prevent and to punish the crime, the Commission said.

The international community must also recognize ISIL is committing the crime of genocide against the Yazidis. "Thousands of Yazidi men and boys remain missing and the terrorist group continues to subject some 3,000 women and girls in Syria to horrific violence including brutal daily rapes and beatings," the expert body noted. Pointing out that some women and girls are being held in Raqqa city, the Commission revealed that as the Syrian Democratic Forces and international coalition offensive on Raqqa intensifies, reports have emerged of ISIL fighters trying to sell enslaved Yazidi women and girls before attempting to flee Syria."

The Commission recommended that all parties fighting ISIL consider plans to rescue Yazidi captives and use all possible to ensure their freedom during on-going military operations. "The international community must also recognize ISIL is committing the crime of genocide against the Yazidis," the statement concluded, urging action to refer the situation to justice, "including to the International Criminal Court or an ad hoc tribunal with relevant geographic and temporal jurisdiction as well as to dedicate resources to bringing cases before national courts, whether under the framework of universal jurisdiction or otherwise." The Independent International Commission 8211 comprised of the Chair, Paulo S"rgio Pinheiro, Karen Koning AbuZayd and Carla Del Ponte 8211 has been mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate and record all violations of international law since March 2011 in Syria.

ISIL genocide against Yazidis is ongoing UN rights panel says calling for international action