Irish government urged to help bring Islamic State killers, captors and rapists to justice

In today's Irish Times, Ruadhán Mac Cormaic Foreign Affairs Correspondent, reports on the story of Nadia Murad a member of the Yazidi community. She tells of when in early August 2014, Islamic State gunmen arrived in the village of Kocho, near Sinjar in northern Iraq. Nadia Murad tells of the horrific events that unfolded under the evil rule of Islamic State also known as Isis.

Nadia Murad, who was aged 21 at the time, tells of how she and other Yazidi women and girls endured months of repeated rape, beatings and humiliation. Men and boys of the community were gunned down while Nadia Murad and hundreds of other women were then put on buses and brought to the city of Mosul, which was under the control of Islamic State.  The beliefs of Yazidis combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions, but are regarded by Islamic State as devil-worshippers. Nudia Murad described how her captor never showed any regret or remorse, and that he and the other men “were proud of every rape”.

She goes on to tell of a ceremony at an Islamic court in Mosul, and being forced to convert to Islam. In her time in captivity, Nadia Murad saw and heard of “a lot of women” who took their own lives. Many Yazidi towns and villages remain under Islamic State control and the people face appalling conditions. This week on a visit to Dublin she urged the Irish Government to press for the establishment of protected zones for vulnerable minorities as part of any settlement to the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. At the same time investigations should be undertaken and evidence gathered into the Islamic State ethnic cleansing programme. Above all, Nadia Murad and other victims wants to know that the killers, captors and rapists will be brought to justice.

Image: Defend International reached out to Yazidi refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan, providing humanitarian aid in December 2014