24-09- 2015

I am Pari Ibrahim, Founder and Executive Director of the Free Yezidi Foundation.

I am proud that the Free Yezidi Foundation has partnered with Yazda to present this report to the ICC. The horrific crimes committed by ISIS terrorists against Yezidi civilians should not be ignored, but unfortunately, the international community has been shamefully slow to act. Thankfully, over the last months, with help from some friends around the world, we have been able to put together a strong legal document to outline these crimes, show that these actions amount to genocide, and demonstrate clearly and legally that the ICC does indeed have jurisdiction to open an investigation into this case.

You will see from the redacted version of this report that because of the foreign character of ISIS and the actions of nationals of state parties to the ICC, the ICC can and should open a case into the genocide against the Yezidis by the ISIS terrorists.

In particular, I would like to draw your attention in this report to the inhumane, disgusting, animalistic character of ISIS terrorists in their treatment of Yezidi women. Today we Yezidis call for justice, and I hope that one day we will see ISIS terrorists on trial in the Hague to answer for their crimes. But before that, we call upon the ICC to begin a preliminary investigation into the genocide against the Yezidi people.

Martin Luther King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

And today we seek justice. Thank you.[1]