The Executive Director of the Free Yezidis Foundation, Pari Ibrahim, delivered a speech at the conference before The Hague Court. Pari in her speech touched upon the problems of repatriation of ISIS criminals.

You can read more about the speech of Pari Ibrahim below or go to the parcel:  https://www.freeyezidi.org/wp-content/uploads/FYF_speech_justice-Nov-2021.pdf

"Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I'm glad you're here today. I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in this important event, I would like to emphasize the important role of the ICC Chief Prosecutor, Mr. Khan, and the newly appointed head of UNITAD, Mr. Ritcher, in promoting justice and accountability after the Yazidi genocide.

The plight of the Yezidi community is generations deep and continues. Survivors of the Yezidi Genocide committed by Daesh return with damaged bodies and pain in their souls. I have personally spent time with many survivors – not only to pursue justice or trauma treatment, but to sit, talk, and help them find some reason to wake up in the morning. I cannot overstate the trauma that survivors bear. This has a serious impact on justice and accountability, as survivors are essential witnesses and victims to crimes.

Turning to criminal cases, I think it is necessary to begin with Germany. We are all grateful to the German war crimes office and the quiet, dignified work of Mr. Ritscher to advance those cases. But I must highlight how the main cases arose. Omaima A. returned to Germany after participating in ISIS atrocities and settled in Hamburg as though nothing had happened. It was only after a journalist found her cell phone that her atrocities were revealed. It was by chance, and otherwise, she would not have faced justice. It is similar for Jennifer W. and Taha A. J. in their sickening murder of a five-year-old Yezidi child, chained to a fence to die in the heat. Jennifer W. revealed this crime to someone she thought was a fellow Daesh supporter but was in fact an FBI informant. While we are grateful to the FBI, it is impossible to escape the reality that this evidence was collected by good luck. Take a moment to consider: how many Daesh members have committed atrocities in Syria and Iraq, only to return home to France, Belgium, the UK, Germany, and Netherlands? We cannot rely on random cell phones or lucky informant intercepts for prosecuting genocide.

Take a moment to think: how many members of ISIS terrorists committed atrocities in Syria and Iraq, and then returned home to France, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands as if nothing had happened? We cannot rely on random mobile phones or successful interceptions of informants.

This brings me to an assessment of national jurisdictions handling the Daesh crimes. From the Yezidi perspective, it is difficult to feel too pleased. Foreign members were a key functional part of the Daesh machinery. For this reason, the Free Yezidi Foundation co-submitted an Article 15 Communication to the former ICC Prosecutor in 2015 specifically outlining the role of foreign ISIS members – those from countries who are Rome Statute signatories. Ideally those states would be prosecuting returning Daesh members for the atrocities that they have committed. But in reality, local prosecutors from these countries have neither the resources nor the capacity to collect evidence and charge individuals with these offences. The prosecutions don’t happen. We will continue to urge the ICC to consider a preliminary investigation into the thousands of Daesh members from Rome Statute signatory states or consider other solutions to help remedy the massive gap in accountability in the aftermath of the Yezidi Genocide.

There are no prosecutions. We will continue to urge the ICC to consider the possibility of a preliminary investigation into thousands of ISIS members from signatory States of the Rome Statute, or to consider other solutions that will help address the huge accountability gap after the Yazidi Genocide.

Efforts to repatriate Daesh members from Al-Hol and elsewhere are ongoing. We understand that no one should be deprived of liberty without trial. However, during this process, one female Iraqi ISIS member was interviewed by the media. She explained how much she loved Daesh, that her husband and brother are Daesh, and that her husband bought and raped a Yezidi woman. She had no regrets whatsoever. Let me be clear: the Daesh ideology is far from dead. She is now back in Iraq, and our community must live as neighbors with these people. What did she do as a Daesh member? Should she just rejoin Iraqi society with impunity? In places like Syria and Iraq, where basic rights and welfare are trampled every day, we worry that the rights of Daesh members and adherents, coupled with impunity for their crimes, will once again put our community at existential risk. It is essential that perpetrators’ rights do not override the rights of the surviving community.»

Appeal to the Hague Court:

«Ladies & Gentlemen,

A genocide was committed. The Netherlands Parliament here in the Hague has joined many others in recognizing the genocide. But where is the justice? Parliamentary declarations and UN recognition, while critical, do not put perpetrators behind bars. We put our hope in justice, law, and order. But can justice overcome the strength of hatred, sexual violence, and aggression? Sometimes I feel that we in the civilized world are losing. I am very frustrated personally, as a woman, and as a member of an ethnic religious minority. We Yezidis are dismayed to sometimes see mountains of sympathy for Daesh members, especially female Daesh members. These are the people who brought forth the money, resources, and manpower that contributed to the genocide of our people. And afterward the foreign Daesh members – male and female – just came home. This was a sort of perverse holiday, a vacation, where they joined a terror organization and contributed to mass executions, sexual slave trade, and other crimes. We therefore implore those justice ministries around the world to take this seriously.

However, progress is being made and we sense that the tide may be turning. The strength of justice and truth gains momentum. From the first days, we insisted with Mr. Khan and Mr. Ritscher that this cannot be an exercise of creating records for a library or for history – these investigations must be compiled for the purpose of building cases and putting perpetrators in jail. I know that we all agree on that. The slow trickle of cases, beginning in Germany, is a start. The data compiled by UNITAD may lead to successful indictments. The investigations and evidence gathered by Yezidi civil society can lead the way forward.

Perpetrators can hide now, but we are making steps towards justice. Information is gathered and evidence shared regularly. Daesh perpetrators will one day get that knock on their door for what they did to the Yezidi people. It may take many years, but accountability is coming. Thank you all for joining us today, and for caring about justice for the Yezidi community.»