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Under Secretary Zeya’s Remarks at the Atlantic Council’s Yezidi Genocide and the Struggle for Recovery [1]

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Date: 2024-07

As delivered.

Good morning, friends and honored guests. It is a great honor for me to be with you on this solemn occasion – the remembrance of the tenth anniversary of ISIS’s horrific genocide. But before I begin, let me express my deep appreciation to the Atlantic Council, in particular Dr. Abbas Kadhim (CAH-d’heem), for organizing this important event. I would also like to recognize Pari Ibrahim (PAR-ee EE-brah-heem) and the Yezidi leaders who have joined us today. Thank you for being with us this morning. And thank you for your tireless efforts to care for survivors and deliver justice to those responsible for this tragedy.

Just three months ago, I stood at the foot of the beautiful and historic temple in Lalish, beside Prince Hazim at a deeply moving commemoration where we remembered the victims of ISIS. The women and girls forced into sexual slavery. The men, boys, and the elderly executed in mass graves. The thousands killed and the over 2,600 who remain missing.

We remembered how Yezidis fled their homes to escape the targeted campaign of killing, sexual violence, and enslavement. We recalled that it was ISIS – with a diabolical campaign of hatred and violence – that tried to tear apart the fabric of Iraq’s society by pitting tribes and communities against one another.

But while we remember the lives lost, we also honor the strength, resilience, and determination of the survivors. As you know, hundreds of thousands of Yezidis are still displaced. Others have permanently left Iraq. Yezidis around the world bear the scars of that genocidal massacre. Today we remember their suffering. But the best way we can honor those we lost, is to care for survivors and deliver justice to those responsible for this tragedy. And most importantly, we must unite in common resolve to ensure this atrocity never happens again.

To that end, I am here today to assure you that U.S. support to the Yezidi community is long-term and unwavering. That’s why I traveled from Baghdad to Erbil in May, engaging leaders of the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to urge justice for the victims.

I stressed the U.S. commitment to supporting both government and grassroots efforts to deliver justice to survivors, and to help them heal. Just last week, Secretary Blinken conveyed the same message during a listening session with Yezidi civil society leaders.

Alongside the United States, you have international support as well. Since 2016, when the U. S government recognized as “genocide” the crimes against the Yezidi community, other countries have joined us in recognizing the genocide: Armenia, Belgium, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

A decade has passed since ISIS perpetrated this genocide. And a decade later, Iraq is seeking a new path. One that repairs divisions and leads to peace, stability, and prosperity – and sews the fabric of Iraqi society back together. And a decade later, Yezidis are leading the way, rebuilding and showing the region that religious and ethnic inclusion is possible. We strongly support these efforts, but we know that so much more work still needs to be done.

This is why the United States has long encouraged the Iraqi federal government and KRG to make meaningful and overdue progress after taking the important step of signing the Sinjar Agreement in October 2020. We’ve urged both parties to continue this critical work, and to more closely consult Sinjar stakeholders in implementing the security, administration, and reconstruction elements of the agreement.

The people of Sinjar have suffered for too long at the hands of competing political interests from outside their community. Working hand in hand with these Sinjar communities is the only way for the government of Iraq and KRG to ensure that the district’s leadership works on behalf of those who live there.

It is equally essential for federal police and Iraqi security forces to lead the effort to bring security to Sinjar, including through support to the local police force as called for under the Sinjar Agreement. To this end, we hope recruitment and training of this local force will be finalized soon.

Meanwhile, the activities of militia groups in Sinjar and the Ninewa Plain continue to negatively impact communities’ stability, preventing the return of internally displaced persons and stifling local economic development. Progress in resolving security deficits on the ground in Sinjar is therefore a necessary and urgent step to strengthen Iraq’s security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

These vital efforts are part of a broader mission supporting the recovery of Iraq’s diverse and pluralistic society in the wake of ISIS’s campaign of destruction.

The Yezidi homeland is a sacred place in the hearts of Yezidis wherever they reside. However, persistent security and reconstruction challenges in the area ensure that hundreds of thousands remain displaced. The United States is committed to enabling survivors and all displaced persons to enjoy safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable returns to their homeland. But make no mistake, such conditions do not yet exist.

So what are we doing about it?

To date, the United States has provided more than $500 million to support Yezidi and other ISIS survivors and advance religious and ethnic pluralism in Iraq to help heal and restore these communities. The voluntary return grants program we support through IOM has enabled thousands of Yezidis to successfully return and reintegrate into their home communities. While we continue to press for improving the conditions necessary for return, we also support the needs of those that cannot yet return home. This fiscal year alone, the United States is providing over $114 million in humanitarian assistance for hundreds of thousands of displaced and vulnerable Iraqis. We are proud to be Iraq’s leading humanitarian donor.

In looking toward more durable solutions, we welcomed Prime Minister Sudani’s announcement in March of significant investments in new infrastructure and development projects in Sinjar, including two new hospital projects, 47 schools, and the establishment of Sinjar University. We also hope to see continued and expedited action from the federal government to fund efforts to rebuild the community, which is equally essential for ensuring the safe return of displaced Yezidis. I shared this message personally with Prime Minister Sudani during my Baghdad visit.

The United States also continues to support and advocate for thousands of Sinjaris in formalizing land and home ownership through the Yezidi Land Decree. As of June, 1,500 property deeds were issued to Sinjar families, finally recognizing property rights that had been denied for over 47 years.

We welcome this progress. The impact of improving local governance, community security, and infrastructure reconstruction, and reintegrating the population cannot be overstated. But the full renewal of Iraq’s diverse communities can only be achieved through justice and accountability. We will continue to work with the Government of Iraq and the UN to ensure that UNITAD can wind down its operations in an orderly manner, that the evidence it has collected and processed is properly and sensitively preserved for future use, and that interested parties can continue investigations after its September departure.

We have also urged greater collaboration between the Iraqi government and UNITAD to continue protection measures for witnesses and victims who bravely provided their testimony and evidence.

Just as the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS worked with Iraq security forces to break ISIS’s violent grip on Iraq, we will continue to seek justice for ISIS’s barbarity and crimes against humanity, in partnership with Iraq and our partners around the world.

In addition to justice for the victims, it is time to demonstrate concrete progress in addressing survivors’ concerns. We recognize the importance of the Yezidi Survivors Law, passed by Iraq’s Council of Representatives in 2021 as an important step to addressing the needs of the multifaith survivors. And while hundreds of survivors are receiving care and recompense, more are still waiting and are in dire need of support. We continue to support the crucial work of the government’s Survivors Affairs Directorate to fully implement this law, including the provision of health and psychosocial services, to ensure that survivors can live full and productive lives in peace.

Ten years after ISIS’s unconscionable genocide, the path forward is clear. Doubling down on local governance and security; support to reconstruction and reintegration efforts; and the delivery of justice and accountability are essential to build resilience among the Yezidi community and ensure that ISIS and its successors never again threaten Iraq. It is incumbent upon us all to honor those we have lost – including courageous American, Iraqi, and Coalition service members who gave their lives to defeat ISIS – and the brave survivors among us through action, partnership, and a steadfast commitment to the pledge to rebuild and restore. Ten years after the unthinkable occurred, I look forward to galvanizing our work together supporting the survivors and fostering a stronger peace and a democratic, inclusive, and sovereign Iraq.

Thank you.

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[1] Url: https://www.state.gov/under-secretary-zeyas-remarks-at-the-atlantic-councils-yezidi-genocide-and-the-struggle-for-recovery/

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