Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October, 30 2017 [NEW YORK and BAGHDAD] – Today, the Global Justice Center along with the Eyzidi Organization for Documentation, the Iraqi Al-Amal Association, the Iraqi Women Network, Madre and Yazda sent a joint open letter to the Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Haider al-Abadi regarding the Terms of Reference currently being drafted for UN Security Council Resolution 2379 (2017). On September 21, 2017, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2379 (2017) which requests the creation of an Independent Investigative Team to help holding members of Daesh accountable for their crimes in Iraq. The open letter by civil society calls on Iraqi Leadership to ensure a successful and inclusive investigative process in line with international standards and international law and gives concrete recommendations for the Terms of Reference, as related to gender justice and a victim-centered approach. In particular, the recommendations stress the need for an applicable legal framework and urgent legal reform, ensuring investigative efficiency, inclusion of gender expertise, providing victim and witness protection, community outreach and civil society engagement. It also stresses the need for an Investigative Team and Iraqi authorities to hold all sides who have committed crimes accountable and asks to consider expanding the mandate of the Investigative Team in possible successor resolutions by the UN Security Council. Finally, the letter emphasizes the need to investigate and prosecute all forms of sexual and gender-based violence which can constitute acts of genocide as well. While the atrocities committed by Daesh have been receiving worldwide condemnation and outrage, particular its sexual and gender based crimes, so far no member of Daesh has been held accountable for acts of genocide against the Yazidi and other ethnic minorities before a court. Read Letter English Read Letter Arabic For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211 Stephanie Johanssen, UN Advocacy Director, Global Justice Center, sjohanssen@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.735.6530 ext. 209 Background: The Global Justice Center is a human rights organization that advocates for a multi-faceted approach to accountability for crimes committed in Iraq and Syria, including in international, regional and national venues. In December 2015, the Global Justice Center filed an amicus letter in support of the Article 15 filing by Yazda and the Free Yazidi Foundation to the ICC. The letter urged the ICC to ensure that they employ a comprehensive gender perspective throughout any investigation or examination. In June 2017, the Global Justice Center made its second submission to the ICC, together with the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, asking them to open a preliminary examination into genocide and other crimes committed by foreign fighters from Daesh.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 21, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] – Today, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted UNSC Resolution 2379 (2017) on Daesh accountability, paving the way for an investigative team to collect evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Iraq. Since 2014, Daesh has been perpetrating a genocidal campaign against the Yazidi and potentially other ethnic minorities in Northern Iraq but yet to date no perpetrator has been held accountable for genocide. “The resolution today marks an important first step,” says Janet Benshoof, President of the Global Justice Center. “But the Security Council and Iraq must also fully implement their obligations under the UN Genocide Convention to prevent, suppress and punish genocide, including by rescuing the thousands of women and girls still held in captivity. The Council and UN Member States have been tiptoeing around even acknowledging the ongoing genocide against the Yazidi for years. This resolution is a long overdue first step to them fulfilling their obligations and upholding the promise of ‘Never Again.’” Sareta Ashraph, an international legal expert on genocide and gender and lead author of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria’s 2016 report “They came to destroy” says, “Women and girls are the living victims of this genocide. It is important not to treat the sexual violence crimes against Yazidi women and girls separate from the genocide, as they are an integral part. Daesh has employed all five prohibited acts detailed in the 1948 Genocide Convention.” Iraq does not have legislation to try war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide and is not a member to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Furthermore, current trials and prosecutions of Daesh fighters have been conducted solely under Iraq’s counter-terrorism law and the proceedings have been characterized by human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture and a lack of due process for the accused. “Justice and accountability are essential components of post-conflict transition and rebuilding,” says Benshoof. “For these trials to be viewed as legitimate and credible they must be conducted in line with international human rights standards.” Benshoof adds, “Prosecuting Daesh fighters for terrorism crimes only is like prosecuting Nazis solely for money laundering and not for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. While you may meet the desire to put them in jail, you are not holding them accountable for the full range of crimes they committed and denying victims justice.” Benshoof further warns of one-sided justice: “Only prosecuting Daesh fighters reeks of victor’s justice. This is a start, but there must be a more comprehensive mechanism with the mandate to hold all perpetrators of crimes accountable, including Iraqi, Kurdish and Coalition forces and a resolution which fully acknowledges rape and other forms of sexual violence as an act of genocide.” For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211 Background: The Global Justice Center is a human rights organization that advocates for a multi-faceted approach to accountability for crimes committed in Iraq and Syria, including in international, regional and national venues. In December 2015, the Global Justice Center filed an amicus letter in support of the Article 15 filing by Yazda and the Free Yazidi Foundation to the ICC. The letter urged the ICC to ensure that they employ a comprehensive gender perspective throughout any investigation or examination. In June 2017, the Global Justice Center made its second submission to the ICC, together with the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, asking them to open a preliminary examination into genocide and other crimes committed by foreign fighters from Daesh.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 16, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] - GJC welcomes Iraq’s letter to the UN requesting assistance in bringing Daesh to justice and thanks the United Kingdom for its efforts in negotiating a UN Security Council resolution. We reiterate our call that all investigations and prosecutions must ensure accountability for gender-based crimes, including those amounting to genocide, by all actors. We also express concern over reports of current Daesh prosecutions that focus solely on terrorism crimes, extrajudicial killings and torture of those thought to be Daesh-aligned and accordingly, call on the Iraqi Government to ensure due process in line with international human rights standards. We also urge the Iraqi government to ensure that enabling legislation is adopted to incorporate genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity into domestic law in order to ensure that prosecutions reflect the full criminality of the acts in question. The global community must hold the perpetrators of these horrific crimes accountable for their actions, and ensure victims and survivors receive their entitled reparations, including redress and reparations for sexual and gender-based violence. Finally, we call on all parties in Iraq and the Global Coalition against Daesh to ensure respect for international humanitarian law (IHL), including by ensuring access to comprehensive medical and psychosocial care for victims, and to take concrete steps to rescue all remaining Yazidi women and children held captive by Daesh. For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 3, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] - Today is the third anniversary of the massacre at Mount Sinjar where ISIS fighters murdered thousands of Yazidi men and enslaved thousands of Yazidi women and girls. Despite the fact that the UN and the European Parliament have accepted that crimes committed against the Yazidis constitute genocide, there has not been a single prosecution of ISIS fighters for these crimes. On July 7th, 2017, the Global Justice Center and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales urged the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open a preliminary examination into genocide and other crimes committed by foreign fighters from ISIS. The legal submissions urge the Prosecutor to re-evaluate her April 2015 finding that there is inadequate jurisdictional bases to open a preliminary examination into these crimes. The Global Justice Center and the Bar Human Rights Committee submit that the ICC has jurisdiction over ISIS’s foreign fighters who form a significant part of ISIS’s infrastructure and outlines how the OTP’s gender policy prioritizes precisely the crimes ISIS foreign fighters are committing against Yazidi women and girls. Global Justice Center (GJC) Vice-President and Legal Director, Akila Radhakrishnan, says:  “There has been no justice for the victims of ISIS. Thousands of women and children remain in captivity and evidence is languishing.,” says “it’s time for the international community to act on its obligations under the Genocide Convention to prevent, suppress, and punish genocide.” The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales has been working since the summer of 2015 to raise awareness of the genocide of the Yazidis and breaches of international human rights law. Kirsty Brimelow QC, Chair said: “The ongoing genocide of the Yazidi people is one of the worst crimes of our time. Such grave crimes are not only despicable but they threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world. Effective prosecutions are required. The gravest crimes in the Rome Statute continue to be committed with impunity. It never was an option for the International Criminal Court to do nothing.  It must act urgently. “ For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211 Amanda June Chadwick (London),Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, coordination@barhumanrights.org.uk +44 (0) 20 7404 1313 ext. 359

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 17, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] – On the World Day for International Justice and almost three years after ISIS began a campaign of genocide against the Yazidis, the Global Justice Center renews its calls to world leaders to uphold international law and ensure justice for Yazidi women and girls. “As successes attacks are waged against ISIS on the battlefield, it is equally important that there is justice and accountability for ISIS fighters in international courts,” says Janet Benshoof, founder and president of the Global Justice Center (GJC). “The women and girls persecuted by ISIS deserve to see their abusers held accountable for the crimes committed against them.” “It’s important that when we have trials, that they be fair and that they serve the interests of the victims,” said Stephen Rapp, the former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues in the Office of Global Criminal Justice in an interview with GJC. “Prosecuting and convicting powerful men, specifically for the crimes against people they have weakened and destroyed, is one of the ways you reverse that power relationship, and it’s extremely enabling and empowering.” ISIS’s intent to destroy the Yazidis is clear and they been committing an admitted genocide since August 2014. They have massacred men and older women, forcibly converted and indoctrinated young boys, and enslaved young women and girls subjecting them to systematic sexual violence. While there are strong global measures aimed at stopping ISIS, such as Security Council Resolutions and counter-terrorism efforts, states have largely ignored legal obligations related to genocide in this context. “Upholding the Genocide Convention is important not only for justice but also for the special values it protects: plurality, diversity, and tolerance,” Benshoof said. “In today’s world of increasing nationalism, suppression and prejudice, it is more important than ever for the international community to send a strong signal in upholding these values.” GJC recently convened a brain trust of high-level experts to discuss ways in which the legal obligations to prevent, suppress and punish genocide can be reconciled with counter-terrorism measures against ISIS, while paying special attention to the gendered aspects of this genocide. The Brain Trust created recommendations to demystify the difficulties of ensuring accountability and how to tap into modern avenues of international cooperation to help achieve justice. “I think in this situation, with the global interest in this, I think [prosecutions] will happen,” says Rapp. “But whether it happens right depends on all of us to be advocating every day to make it happen, but I am confident that the day will arrive when we will have trials of ISIS leaders for the genocide against the Yazidi. In my view, it can’t come too soon. But if we keep working at it, the day will for certain arrive.” For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — May 15, 2017 [NEW YORK, NY] -  Today, the UN Security Council holds its Open Debate on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence under Uruguay’s presidency. In the concept note, Uruguay reflected on the findings of the new UN Secretary-General’s report on how rape is used as a weapon of terrorism and genocide. They cited the example of the crimes Daesh is committing against ethnic minorities such as the Yazidi in North Iraq and Syria, including using rape as a non-killing crime of genocide. Yet, to date, no trial has been held to prosecute perpetrators of this ongoing genocide. Briefing the Council, on behalf of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security which the Global Justice Center is a member of, is Mina Jaf, herself a refugee and founder of the Women’s Refugee Route. In her statement, Ms. Jaf stressed that services for women and girls fleeing conflict are still grossly insufficient “despite the fact that international humanitarian law says that donor aid be delivered in a non-discriminatory manner that includes access to sexual and reproductive health care, such as abortions.” Janet Benshoof, President of the Global Justice Center says; “Too often, we see governments going out of their way to deny women and girls their rights under international law treaties, including international refugee law. Countries need to stop paying lip service when responding to conflict-related sexual violence but uphold women and girls’ absolute rights under international humanitarian law.” For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— February 14 2017 [NEW YORK] –   This weekend, the German newspaper “Welt am Sonntag” reported that in December, the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office obtained an international arrest warrant for a high-ranking ISIS commander who according to sources was “significantly responsible to the sexual slavery of Yazidi women and girls.” The warrant for genocide and war crimes, would be the first international arrest warrant for what is an ongoing genocide against the Yazidi. “We applaud the German investigators for taking this hugely important first step to ensuring justice for the women and girls who are victims of ISIS’s genocide,” says Stephanie Johanssen, UN and EU Advocacy Director of the Global Justice Center. “This genocide has been ongoing since August 2014 and while there has been international condemnation of these crimes, there has not been a single prosecution for genocide. We commend Germany for taking international leadership and acting on their legal obligations to prevent, suppress and punish genocide.” In December of 2015, the Global Justice Center (GJC) sent a letter to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in support of an Article 15 communication by Yazda and the Free Yazidi Foundation, urging them to investigate ISIS’s crimes against Yazidi women and girls as genocide, in particular the non-killing crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. These crimes include forcible transfer, rape, torture, enslavement, forcible marriage, forcible impregnation, and forced abortions. “The ways these crimes are being carried out are sharply divided among gender lines. Any actions to punish these genocidal acts must take into account the gender specific elements of genocide,” says Global Justice Center President, Janet Benshoof.  “The victims of ISIS deserve to see justice.” “Genocide prosecutions are enormously important to deter and delegitimize ISIS’s atrocities. While Germany’s actions are commendable, they should also be the first step,” says Benshoof. “3,000 women and girls remain in ISIS captivity today. If the international community is going to live up to the mandate of the Genocide Convention to protect diversity, then there must also be action to prevent genocide and rescue these women and girls.” For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—December 12, 2016 [NEW YORK] — Tomorrow the European Parliament will award its annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Nadia Murad and Lamya Haji Bashar. The two Yazidi women were captured by ISIS in their home area of Sinjar, Iraq, in 2014. They escaped after several months of enslavement and now live in Germany. Nadia Murad and Lamya Haji Bashar said: “We are grateful and honoured to receive the Sakharov Prize, but the EU can and must do more. The EU must call this what it is: a genocide of our people.” “The EU must call for its prosecution and international accountability for ISIS, for example before the International Criminal Court, Tribunal, or a special court.” “We ask that the EU and all those concerned with the fate of Syria and Iraq establish a safe zone to protect the Yazidis, Christians and other vulnerable minorities in Sinjar and the Nineveh Plain.” “If the world can’t protect the Yazidis in our homeland, we ask Europe to give us a safe new home.” The United States recognised the ongoing genocide of the Yazidi by ISIS in March this year, and the United Nations in June. The EU has not yet formally acknowledged this genocide; the European Parliament is the only EU institution to have done so in February 2016, asking EU member states to take action. 104 Members of the European Parliament wrote to the High Representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini, to recognise the genocide targeting women and girls, and call for its prosecution. The letter’s co-authors, Lars Adaktusson (Sweden, EPP), Beatriz Becerra (Spain, ALDE), Sylvie Guillaume (France, S&D), Heidi Hautala (Finland, Greens/EFA), Virginie Rozière (France, S&D), and Marietje Schaake and Sophie in ‘t Veld (Netherlands, ALDE) added: “Together with 98 other colleagues, we ask the EU High Representative and Member States to officially recognise and call for the prosecution of this ongoing genocide.” “The European Parliament recognised this genocide and called for a safe return zone in February. We hope Nadia and Lamya will receive more attention with this prize.” Nadia Murad is UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Human Trafficking Survivors, and laureate of the Council of Europe Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2016. She addressed the UN Security Council in December 2015, asking world leaders to stop ISIS. For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211 Bruno Selun (Brussels), Kumquat Consult, bruno.selun@kumquat.eu +32 474 97 60 97

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—December 9, 2016 [NEW YORK] — Today the United Nations marks the second International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of the Crime. On this day, as we reflect on the legacy of genocide, yet again the international community is failing to take action in face of an ongoing genocide. ISIS is committing genocide, including through acts of rape and sexual slavery, against the Yazidi and other ethnic minorities, and the world must take immediate action to stop these atrocities. “We must learn the lessons of Rwanda and Yugoslavia and not wait to act until it is too late,” says Global Justice Center President, Janet Benshoof. “Genocide must be recognized and prosecuted while it is happening, not years after the fact.” After World War II, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations and has been ratified by 143 countries. As a result, the international community has a duty to act to prevent, suppress and punish genocide, even when where they are not directly affected by it. This duty is customary international law binding on all states, including the United States, countries in the EU, Iraq and Syria. In March, the United States recognized ISIS’s ongoing genocide and in June the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria concluded that ISIS’s crimes committed against the Yazidi constitute genocide, including through gendered non-killing crimes such as rape and sexual enslavement. “It is now time for other states, including the EU, to follow the example set by the United States and UN to recognize this genocide and begin taking actions to end it,” says Benshoof. “This includes rescuing the over 3,000 women and girls still in ISIS captivity.” “I was not raised to give speeches,” said Yazidi activist, Nadia Murad Basee who was held captive by ISIS. “Neither was I born to meet world leaders, nor to represent a cause so heavy, so difficult,” she said. But, she continued, she does, “so that one day we can look our abusers in the eye in a court in The Hague and tell the world what they have done to us,” she said. “So my community can heal. So I can be the last girl to come before you.” “There are strong international precedents on prosecuting genocide, including for rape as an act of genocide in Rwanda, that must be upheld,” says Benshoof. “Given the rise of nationalism around the world, the international community coming together to stop genocide and uphold the values of diversity and tolerance would send a strong and much needed message. The perpetrators of these atrocities should not be killed in counter-terrorism measures, they should be seen in court being held accountable for their crimes.” For more information contact: Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211