PHOTOS: Yezidis hold candlelight vigil to mark genocide anniversary

Members of the Yezidi (Ezidi) religious minority marked on Monday the solemn occasion of the sixth anniversary of the so-called Islamic State's attack on Sinjar (Shingal) in which the terror group subjected women and girls to sexual slavery, kidnapped children, forced religious conversions, and abused, sold, and trafficked women across areas they controlled in Iraq and Syria, actions now widely recognized as genocide.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Members of the Yezidi (Ezidi) religious minority marked on Monday the solemn occasion of the sixth anniversary of the so-called Islamic State's attack on Sinjar (Shingal) in which the terror group subjected women and girls to sexual slavery, kidnapped children, forced religious conversions, and abused, sold, and trafficked women across areas they controlled in Iraq and Syria, actions now widely recognized as genocide.

A Yezidi (Ezidi) woman holds a candle during a vigil to mark the sixth anniversary of the Yezidi genocide, August 3, 2020.  (Photo: AFP/Safen Hamid)
A Yezidi (Ezidi) woman holds a candle during a vigil to mark the sixth anniversary of the Yezidi genocide, August 3, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Safen Hamid)

Earlier in the day, the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights called on the federal government to rebuild the Ezidi areas to foster a safe return for members of the community.

The body said that the authorities have so far found more than 83 mass graves that contain remnants of Ezidis members of the terrorist organization killed in their murderous campaign.

"After more than three years since the liberation of Shingal, the majority of these mass graves have not been unearthed," which, the commission said, is a mark of negligence and bureaucratic inefficiencies by the entities the government has tasked with the process.

Iraqi Yazidis (Ezidis) attend a candlelight vigil in Sharya, outside the northern city of Dohuk, Kurdistan Region, August 3, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Safen Hamid)
Iraqi Yazidis (Ezidis) attend a candlelight vigil in Sharya, outside the northern city of Dohuk, Kurdistan Region, August 3, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Safen Hamid)

The mayor of Shingal, Mahma Khalil, stated on Monday that 80 percent of the areas populated mainly by the minority lack the security needed to allow the return of displaced members of the group.

Read More: 80 percent of Yezidi territories are unsafe for the IDPs to return: Official

The mayor's statement came on the sixth anniversary of the Yezidi (Ezidi) genocide in 2014, in which thousands of people were brutally murdered, kidnapped, and trafficked at the hands of the so-called Islamic State.

Editing by John J. Catherine