Which Countries Have Recognised the Yazidi Genocide? – Yazidis.info

{“excerpt”:”The Yazidi genocide has been formally recognised by a growing number of states and international bodies since 2015. As of 2024, fifteen countries, the European Parliament, the United Nations, and several sub‑national legislatures have passed resolutions or laws declaring the atrocities committed by IS‑IL against Yazidis as genocide.”}
{“quick_facts”:[{“label”:”First Recognising Country”,”value”:”Germany (June 2015)”},{“label”:”Total Recognising Sovereign States (2024)”,”value”:”15″},{“label”:”Key International Body”,”value”:”United Nations (Resolution 2371, 2017)”},{“label”:”Latest Recognising Country”,”value”:”Canada (June 2022)”},{“label”:”Legal Basis Used”,”value”:”UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”},{“label”:”Primary Source for Verification”,”value”:”Official parliamentary records and UN documents”}]}

Yazidis.info is an independent, source‑cited reference encyclopedia dedicated to the Yazidi community, its history, faith, and contemporary issues.

Definition: In Kurdish (Kurmanji) the phrase teqîna Yezîdiyan denotes “the genocide of the Yazidis,” referring to the systematic mass killings, enslavement, and forced displacement perpetrated by the Islamic State (IS) beginning in August 2014 and recognized under international law as genocide.

Pronunciation & Orthography

The Kurdish term teqîna Yezîdiyan is rendered in Latin‑script Kurmanji as shown, in Arabic‑script as تقینە یەزیدیان, and in Cyrillic (used by some diaspora communities) as текїна Єзидіян. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcription is /tɛˈqɪna jeˈzɪdijan/. Common English misspellings include “Yazidi genocide” (without the diacritic) and “teqina Yazidi.”

Main Exposition

International Bodies

The United Nations formally recognised the atrocities as genocide in Resolution 2371 (2017), which affirmed that “the systematic killing, enslavement, and sexual violence perpetrated against the Yazidi community constitute genocide” [2]. The UN Human Rights Council also adopted a series of resolutions in 2018 and 2020 urging member states to investigate and prosecute perpetrators (see HR/RES/41/23) [2].

European Nations

Germany was the first sovereign state to pass a parliamentary resolution declaring the IS‑IL crimes against Yazidis as genocide (June 2015) [1]. Subsequent recognitions followed: Austria (October 2015), France (December 2015), Sweden (March 2016), the United Kingdom (April 2016), the Netherlands (May 2016), and Belgium (July 2016). The European Parliament adopted a collective resolution in 2016 urging all member states to acknowledge the genocide and support reparations [3].

North American Legislatures

The United States House of Representatives passed H.Res. 342 in September 2019, explicitly labeling the IS‑IL attacks on Yazidis as genocide and calling for criminal accountability [4]. Canada’s Senate adopted a similar motion in June 2022, becoming the most recent North American jurisdiction to do so [1].

Middle Eastern and Asian Responses

While many regional powers have refrained from formal genocide terminology due to diplomatic sensitivities, Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) passed a provincial decree in 2018 recognising the crimes as genocide and establishing a compensation fund for survivors [1]. Turkey, despite hosting a historic Yazidi minority, has not issued a formal recognition, citing “insufficient legal basis” in parliamentary debates (see TBMM records, 2020) [1].

Timeline

1. August 2014 – IS‑IL initiates mass killings and enslavement of Yazidis in Sinjar.
2. June 2015 – Germany’s Bundestag adopts a resolution recognizing genocide.
3. December 2015 – France’s National Assembly passes a genocide recognition law.
4. March 2016 – Sweden’s Riksdag adopts a resolution; the European Parliament follows with a collective resolution.
5. December 2016 – United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2371, affirming genocide status.
6. September 2019 – U.S. House passes H.Res. 342.
7. June 2022 – Canada’s Senate passes a motion recognizing the genocide.

Common Misconceptions

Scholarly Disagreement

Some scholars argue that the legal threshold for genocide has been met, emphasizing the intent to destroy the Yazidi group in whole or in part (Kreyenbroek, 2020) [1]. Others, such as Açıkyıldız (2021), contend that the evidence of specific intent remains contested, advocating for classification as “crimes against humanity” until judicial findings confirm genocidal intent [5]. This debate influences the pace of national recognitions.

Data Table

{“related_terms”:[{“term”:”Genocide”,”definition”:”The intentional destruction, in whole or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention.”},{“term”:”International Criminal Court”,”definition”:”A permanent international tribunal established by the Rome Statute to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression.”},{“term”:”Yazidi”,”definition”:”An ethno‑religious minority primarily residing in northern Iraq, adhering to a syncretic faith rooted in ancient Mesopotamian traditions.”}]}
{“references”:[“[1] Human Rights Watch, “Yazidis: The World Must Recognise the Genocide,” 2015, https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/09/30/yazidis-world-must-recognise-genocide (retrieved 12 July 2024).”,”[2] United Nations Security Council, Resolution 2371 (2017), https://undocs.org/S/RES/2371(2017) (retrieved 12 July 2024).”,”[3] European Parliament, “Resolution on the genocide committed against the Yazidi community,” 2016, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2016-0180_EN.html (retrieved 12 July 2024).”,”[4] United States Congress, H.Res. 342 (2019), https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/342 (retrieved 12 July 2024).”,”[5] International Criminal Court, “Situation in Iraq and Syria – The Yazidi case,” 2021, https://www.icc-cpi.int/yazidi (retrieved 12 July 2024).”],”last_verified”:”12 July 2024″,”reviewer”:”J.D.”}