Yazidi women from Freedom’s Movement of Êzidî Women (TAJÊ) made a statement in front of the dungeon where women captured by ISIS gangs were imprisoned during the genocide against the Yazidi people in Sinjar (Şengal), Iraq, in 2014.
TAJÊ Spokeswoman Riham Hiço began by commemorating the martyrs of the 74th genocide that started on 3 August 2014, remembering “All Yazidi women and children who were brutally murdered by ISIS gangs […] and those still found in mass graves.”
“The place where we are making this statement is where ISIS captured women and massacred children. Hundreds of people, especially women, spent days without food and water here,” Hiço said.
Hiço stated that the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and its affiliated Peshmerga groups fled from Sinjar, abandoning them to ISIS fighters. “Because of the betrayal and co-operation of the Peshmerga and KDP, 360,000 of our people had to migrate from Sinjar. 3,504 women and 2,869 men fell into the hands of ISIS gangs and were sold in slave markets and raped. There are 80 mass graves in Sinjar,” she explained.
The speech thanked the women fighters of YJA-STAR, HPG, YPG and YPJ, who came to the Yazidis’ aid “while the whole world watched”. The statement noted that Yazidi people had organised themselves using ideas from Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, building their own self-defence forces.
“We are educating ourselves, organising ourselves and building our unity to prevent another genocide. […] We have broken the chains of slavery and fear in our minds and hearts. We have made our voices heard around the world,” said Hiço.
The statement called on the Iraqi government to recognise the genocide, describing it as their “conscientious and moral responsibility”. It also urged exposure of “the betrayal of the Barzani family and the KDP” and stressed that “this is the era of free women and peoples”.
“On this basis, we will stand against the 74th genocide and all oppression against our people with resistance. This is our promise to our martyrs, the women still in the hands of ISIS and all our people,” Hiço concluded.
