German parliament to vote on recognizing Yezidi genocide in autumn

“It’s an important step, and I am sure that there will be recognition of genocide against the Yezidis.”

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/07/08 20:12

The exhumation of six Yezidi mass graves began in Qini village, Sinjar, on June 28, 2022 (Photo: Farhad Ali)

Kurdistan Yezidi Genocide Yezidis Germany German Parliament

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The German parliament on Friday accepted a petition to vote on recognizing the genocide against Yezidis.

“The (German parliament’s) Petitions Committee recommends that the Bundestag (German parliament) unanimously recognize the genocide of the Yezidis,” Kurdish Yezidi journalist Düzen Tekkal tweeted.

“(This is) another step on the long road to justice. Thanks to the @jesiden_stelle and Gohdar Alkaidy who started the petition!”

Very important step: the petitions' committee unanimously recommends that the German 🇩🇪parliament should recognise the #genocide against the Yazidi community. https://t.co/BmNh4M6XTc
— Sofia Koller (@sofia_koller) July 6, 2022

The official application will now be followed by the Human Right Commission with all five Parties, and the last decision, vote will be in autumn this year,” German-Kurdish psychologist and author Jan Kizilhan told Kurdistan 24 on Friday.

“It’s an important step, and I am sure that there will be recognition of genocide against the Yezidis.”

Moreover, Kizilhan said they would ask for support to rebuild Sinjar.

“We need concrete steps to help Yezidis,” he said, pointing out that symbolic recognition of the genocide is not enough for Yezidis to live and peace and cope with the trauma of the aftermath of the genocide.

In June, at a hearing in the Human Rights Committee of the German parliament, several experts called for recognition of the crimes against Yezidis as genocide.

Last year, the Dutch and Belgium parliament recognized the crimes ISIS committed against the Yezidi community as genocide. The British parliament also recognized it as genocide in 2016.

In August 2014, ISIS began its genocide against the Yezidi community in Sinjar. The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria recognized the genocide in 2016.

Last year, the United Nations body investigating the crimes of ISIS (UNITAD) presented evidence proving that the crimes carried out by ISIS against Yezidi amounted to genocide.

In November, a German court jailed an Iraqi jihadist for life for participating in the Yezidi genocide.