With over 80 thousand signatures, a petition demanding the Swiss government’s recognition of the massacres committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) against Yazidis as genocide was submitted to the Swiss Federal Council on Friday.
Last May, 80,927 signatures were collected as part of a petition demanding that the Swiss government recognise the massacres committed by ISIS against Yazidis in August 2014 in Sinjar as genocide. The collected signatures were presented to the Chancellor of the Swiss Federal Council by a group of 50 people, including Swiss Socialist Party National Parliamentary Deputy Roger Nordman, Greens National Parliamentary Deputy Natalie Imboden and witnesses of ISIS massacres, after a statement in front of the Federal Parliament in Bern, as reported by Kurdish journalist Serkan Demirel.
The motion, endorsed by 15 MPs in June, brought attention to the UN International Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria’s report regarding the massacres carried out by ISIS in August 2014. It highlighted the UN Human Rights Council’s call for member states to recognise the atrocities as genocide. The motion further emphasised, “Through acknowledging this genocide, Switzerland will not only pursue justice for the victims to a certain extent, but also actively commit to prosecuting the perpetrators and combating impunity in line with international law. Recognising the Yazidi genocide will also serve as a deterrent against the recurrence of such heinous crimes.”
