Today, the Kurdish Diaspora in Europe and the Committee for Defending Religions and Ethnic Groups in Iraq, along with several Yezidi organizations, are marking the day as the International Day to Save Sinjar, to be followed by the UN Human Rights Day on December 10. This is a call to action and for greater awareness among governments and individuals, and seeks to educate and encourage people to become engaged in what is happening to the Yezidis in Sinjar and northern Iraq. This article is the result of an interview with Mr. Lakshari, co-chair of the Committee for Defending Religions and Ethnic Groups in Iraq
The Committee for Defending Religions and Ethnic Groups in Iraq, Board of The Kurdish Diaspora Community in Europe, and the Yezidi Charity Association and other civil society groups organized a small yet professional and dedicated team throughout Europe to help raise one collective voice defending the rights of Yezidis and other targeted minorities of the so-called Islamic State as a result of the horrific attacks against Yezidis in Sinjar, beginning this past summer.
This collaborative effort organized nearly 60 civil society organizations throughout the European Union (EU). The Committee for Defending Religious and Ethnic Groups in Iraq formerly submitted their petition on December 9, calling for immediate action to save and free the Sinjar area (Shingal in Kurdish). The petition was submitted to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dutch Members of Parliament, as well as to offices in the United Nations (New York). The petition will also be presented to various EU governments and the EU Parliament with the stated objective of encouraging the European community to immediately assist Yezidis and other targeted and threatened minorities. This campaign is supported and encouraged by the KRG Head Mission in Brussels.
The Committee tasked several in the Kurdistan Region to promote and submit the petition to various UN offices on December 9, and hope that this action will help catalyze the world, and the EU in particular, to act and begin the process of helping free the people of Sinjar. The committee is working to realize their goals of organizing international aid and protection for those in need in the Kurdistan Region, including the creation of a safety corridor through which aid may be carried to refugees and IDPs. They also ask the international community to implement a comprehensive plan toward Yezidi and other ethnic and religious minorities in dealing with the sustained threat of violence and ethnic cleansing by the Islamic State. The Committee is working on implementation of a line of information which will streamline the facilitation of linking separated and displaced families while simultaneously demanding that those missing or kidnapped should be actively sought after and brought to safety.
Future legislation should strive to condemn ISIS for its Crimes Against Humanity committed against Yezidis and Christians. These crimes should be recognized as such by the Government of Iraq as well as the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region.
The Committee also seeking clear, consistent, and comprehensive policies from various levels of governments in the EU and beyond regarding the ongoing violence in Iraq which dovetails with the necessity of implementing a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution which would guarantee a protection zone and/or safe area in the Nineveh Plains as well as Sinjar in order that the displaced may be able to safely return to their homes. Moreover, need for further humanitarian relief is a priority as well.
The Yezidi and Christian communities as well as others have suffered ethnic cleansing and genocidal acts beyond proportion to anything the world has seen in several decades. There is no better time to act and call out with one voice that the international community must come together and help free Sinjar and ultimately the rest of the region from brutality steeped in religious and ideological extremism. There is no better day than the day before the UN Human Rights Day.
---------------------------
Petition Links
http://www.petities24.com/sign_up_to_call_on_9th_decemberinternational_day_to_save_sinjar
