On eve of Nobel Peace Prize, Nadia Murad calls prosecution of IS members to begin

“The lack of justice and the lack of accountability of criminals will lead to the emergence of other terrorist organizations that are more lethal than the current one.”

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Yezidi (Ezidi) activist Nadia Murad has called on the international community to begin the prosecution of Islamic State (IS) militants, one day before she officially receives the Nobel Peace Prize.

Murad and Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege will receive the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway on Monday.

“Within these past four years, not a single IS member has been brought before the international courts,” Murad said on Sunday, adding that “there has been no application of justice.”

The Ezidi survivor was subjected to various kinds of violence by members of the extremist group following its takeover of the city of Sinjar (Shingal) in August 2014. Murad was one of a few women who fled from IS and has since recounted her suffering to the world.

“The lack of justice and the lack of accountability of criminals will lead to the emergence of other terrorist organizations that are more lethal than the current one,” the 24-year-old warned.

According to The Nobel Committee, Murad, who was abducted and enslaved by IS, “showed unusual courage in recounting her own suffering.”

Last week, the United Nations announced that a team would begin fieldwork in early 2019 to investigate the extremist group’s crimes against Iraq’s Ezidi minority.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) along with the United States, among others, have recognized the IS campaign against Ezidis as a genocide. However, Baghdad, along with other countries in the international community is yet to follow suit.

Speaking to Kurdistan 24 in October, Murad emphasized that “there is public evidence, even [IS] videos, showing what they did to Ezidis.”