Mother Neso is a Yazidi woman who was captured during the 2014 Sinjar (Şengal) genocide perpetrated by ISIS. Speaking to Rojnews, she related the story of the immense pain and suffering she endured at the hands of ISIS fighters. Like other Yazidi women, Mother Neso was taken from slave market to slave market, and tells how every day during that period she prayed to God for death.
The attack by ISIS on Sinjar on 3 August 2014 opened many deep wounds within the Yazidi community. Today, the Yazidi community is still striving to heal these wounds, still rescuing captives from ISIS and working towards rebuilding their city.
The scenes of massacre and the casualties estimated in news broadcasts were not exaggerated. During the genocide, thousands of Yazidis were killed, while thousands more women and children were kidnapped and sold in markets. The captivity of these women and children remains a dark and grim chapter in human history.
Every year, survivors and freed captives share their stories. Their experiences reopen the wounds inflicted on human bodies. Especially unforgettable are the images of Yazidi women in black chained up in Raqqa, Mosul and other places, being sold as slaves. One of these women was Mother Neso.
Mother Neso is from the village of Tilqesebe. After being captured, she was taken as far as Raqqa in northern Syria and sold in the slave markets. Mother Neso shares the torment and suffering of her captivity.
They killed people, beheaded them before our eyes
Mother Neso begins her story: “When ISIS attacked Şengal on 3 August, I was in my village, Tilqeseb. When the attack began, we fled our village, but we were caught. Myself, my four daughters and my husband, were all caught. At first they told us ‘Nothing is happening, go back to your homes, we won’t harm you’. But we didn’t believe them; we knew they had previously attacked the Shiites and would eventually attack us too. When we were caught, we were not alone; there were many others. They were shouting and chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ as they killed and beheaded people.”
According to Mother Neso, almost all the ISIS fighters there were Arabs, though there were a few from different places, but they were fewer in number. There was a phone call, and the ISIS fighters were told not to kill but to take captives.
Mother Neso and her family were taken back to the centre of Sinjar and held there for three days, then moved out of the city, so their future became even more uncertain. She relates: “They moved us to Tal Afar. There, men and women were separated, and we were taken to a school, and from there to Badush prison. We were held in that prison for 15 days and then taken back to Tal Afar. They told us that if we became Muslims, they wouldn’t harm us, but if we didn’t, they would kill our men. It was a very difficult situation. We had to say we accepted. We told them we would become Muslims. After some time, they brought the men to us and put us in houses in Kesilmihrab village near Tal Afar. They told us each family should stay together. My husband and daughters were with me. Every day they came and said, ‘If you accept Islam, we won’t harm you.’ We wanted to protect our children and keep them safe. They came every day, searched us, and took away children and girls. We stayed in those houses for four months, suffering these searches. If people tried to escape, they faced severe torture.”
Taken to the ISIS market in Mosul for sale
After this intense pressure to accept Islam, the captives faced even greater hardships. Mother Neso always feared that something might happen that would end badly. In Tal Afar, coalition forces bombed ISIS positions, so the ISIS militants moved the family to Mosul. Mother Neso relates the events of those days:
“After the planes bombed around Tal Afar, they took us to Mosul. They said that Russian planes were bombing us. They put us on cattle trucks and took us to Mosul. We were there for 40 days. Many captives were sent from there to Syria. Traders came. Some took women, others children. Those who were sold were taken to Syria, and we were brought back to Tal Afar, to the village of Heyil Khidr. We were there for four months. They put us in houses and made us work for them, taking men and young people to work in farms and fields. Those who couldn’t work were taken back to Mosul and held there. Some were killed, others abducted and others sold.”
After four months, an ISIS commander from Mosul came to the place they were staying. Hajji Mahdi, a man from Tal Afar, took pictures of them and told them they were to be released. Then they separated off the men and gathered them together, then separated off the women and gathered them together. Mother Neso says: “After that day we never got any news about the men, they were lost. They grouped us together and kept us in a school for a week. Every day, someone would come and pick one person and take them away. There were about a thousand of us.”
“One day they brought buses and took us away. We were on the road for three days and nights. We worked out they were taking us across the border to Syria. We were all women and children, some women were pregnant. We arrived in Raqqa in Syria one morning at 5am. We were all in a wretched state. The people who had taken us there spoke to a local official saying they had brought captives, then took us to an underground prison. By the things scattered about the place, it was clear it had been a men’s prison. They had taken them out and put us in there.”
Presented in the ISIS market in Raqqa
The brutality of the ISIS markets in Mosul and in Raqqa took a severe toll. Mother Neso was presented in both markets. She describes enduring torture and beatings, and witnessing killings. They gave the children and women religious education. “After three days on the road, we were thirsty and hungry. We asked for water for our children. They said we should drink dirty water. We were desperate, we drank that dirty water that smelled of gas, and it made us all sick,” she says.
“We were held in that underground prison for ten more days. We were in a terrible condition. ISIS fighters came with notebooks, writing down our names and the names of our children. One of them was called Abu Azam Jazrawi. He said if we stayed there, we would all die, and he wanted to take us out. Then they took us out at night and moved us to a two-storey school.”
“Some ISIS fighters came and again took away young women, young girls and children whom we tried to hide from them. We were held captive in that school for a month. After a month, their commander came to take us away. All the ISIS leaders were Syrian. Each one bought 30-odd women, some took 40. ISIS fighters from Raqqa, Hasakah, Palmyra and Sukhna also came. Myself and my daughters were among 40 people taken to Palmyra where they put us in a prison. Some of us were taken and sold. Women were sold for the price of a goat. Their commanders also gave Yazidi women as gifts to each other.”
Dreams of escaping from the ISIS terrorists
The ISIS terror was unending – constant daily fear, pressure and intimidation were the norm. Mother Neso says: “To scare us, they would behead someone and bring the head to us. They told us, ‘If you don’t do what we say, we will behead you too.’ Every day, they took us to the market and sold more of us, some for trade, some for prostitution, some as servants. This is how we were scattered about. Some of us were taken to Raqqa, others to Tabqa and to many other Syrian cities.”
“My daughters and I were also separated. I do not know what happened to my daughters. I will never forget the pain and suffering ISIS inflicted on me. Every day, we would pray to God to be killed so we wouldn’t have to see these things. Every night felt like a thousand years, and the nights would not end for us. Every night we prayed to God for death. I was a captive in Iraq for one year, in Syria for two years. They took us to Tabqa, Raqqa, Palmyra, Hasakah, Sukhna. They took us to Mayadin.”
It is known that thousands of Yazidi women are still in captivity and unable to free themselves from the hands of ISIS. However, Mother Neso was very fortunate to find an opportunity to escape. She was present during a battle in Mayadin. She relates: “During the battle in Mayadin, we ran away. I was wounded in Mayadin, when I ran and tried to escape. My brother Dakhil came to our aid. My father had spent a lot of money trying to get information about me while I was in captivity.”
“Finally, after many hardships and nuch suffering, despite the pain and difficulties, I reached the house of my father. I will never forget things I went through. As long as the remaining captives are not freed, I will never have a happy day. I am glad that I gained my freedom.”
‘The most painful thing for me was the death of my mother’
The Yazidi community has suffered great losses. Many were brutally killed by ISIS, many were left stranded in the desert and starved or died of thirst after escaping. Mother Neso endured much pain and suffering, and lost many family members and acquaintances. One of these losses was that of her mother, who died of a heart attack when she heard about her daughter and grandchildren being taken captive.
Mother Neso describes her mother’s suffering as her heaviest burden, saying: “The most painful thing for me is the death of my mother, who died in agony, unable to bear the torment. My mother was captured in the village of Solakh. She was held by ISIS for several days. When they captured her, she did not know that I too had been captured. I did not hear anything about anyone including my mother after I was taken. When I was freed, I learned that she had broken her arms in the Sinjar mountains after she was freed. When she heard that I had been captured, she had two heart attacks. She died of a third. I was my mother’s youngest daughter, and my captivity caused her a lot of pain. She died from that pain and suffering. I have suffered greatly from my mother’s death. My cousin was also killed. When I returned, many of our people were missing. I still have no news of my sister. I have no news of my husband. Many other Yazidis are still missing too.”
“I have to say that as long as the world exists, these wounds will continue to speak, and those difficult days will never be forgotten. I beseech the entire world to bring back the missing people, alive or dead. We want to see them all again. If our girls and women are not alive, we want their bones. Because I too have seen and lived through those days of captivity, I know how much those captives are suffering,” she concluded.
