Title: Atrocities against the Yazidi religious community
Author: Philip Loft,
Nigel Walker
Place of publication: UK
Publisher: House of Commons Library
Release date: 2022

The Yazidis are a religious minority, primarily residing in northern Iraq. In August 2014, they were attacked by #Islamic State# (IS), who then controlled significant amounts of territory in Iraq and Syria. In addition to attacks against the Yazidis, IS also targeted Christians, Turkmen, Shabaks, and other minorities.
In 2016 a UN human rights panel and the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, described IS actions against the Yazidis as constituting genocide. A further UN investigative team in 2021 concluded there was “clear and convincing evidence” of genocide against the group. The UK Government has condemned the atrocities, but has a long-standing policy that any determination of genocide is one for competent courts (opens PDF), rather than governments.
What happened in 2014?
In the summer of 2014, IS militants advanced through Iraq’s northern Sinjar province, where many Yazidis live. The UN reports that upon the arrival of IS in August 2014:
Yazidi men and boys over twelve were separated from women and girls. IS executed men and older boys who refused to convert to Islam.
Yazidi women and children were forcibly moved to holding sites. In one case, women aged over 60 were executed.
Women and girls were also sold as slaves, and subject to sexual violence.
The total number of Yazidis captured, killed and missing is uncertain. In 2017, the UN estimated more than 5,000 were killed and 7,000 girls and women were forced into sex slavery.[1]