Documentation of persecution and efforts for accountability
The 2014 ISIS assault on Sinjar caused massive loss of life, kidnappings, and displacement among the Yazidi community, reshaping the demographic profile of the minority both in Iraq and across the diaspora. Recent surveys and displacement studies quantify the mortality, kidnapping, and long‑term population shifts that continue to affect Yazidi society.
ISIS’s 2014‑2017 campaign forced thousands of Yazidis from Sheikhan to flee, dramatically reshaping ritual life, pilgrimage, and community cohesion. While sacred sites were damaged and festivals curtailed, the community responded with intensified worship, new symbolic spaces, and a resilient reconstruction of tradition.
This article outlines the procedural route by which evidence gathered by the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) can be transferred, assessed and ultimately used to launch investigations and prosecutions before the International Criminal Court. It details each legal milestone, from evidence preservation to preliminary examinations, and highlights the challenges and opportunities that arise after UNITAD’s mandate ended in 2024.
Satellite imagery and GIS have become essential tools for locating and documenting the mass graves of Yazidis killed by ISIL. Combining remote sensing with survivor testimony, these technologies support forensic investigations, legal accountability, and memory work.
Over the past hundred years the Yazidi community has endured repeated waves of violence that have dramatically altered mortality rates and shortened life expectancy. Scholarly surveys, especially the 2017 retrospective household study, reveal thousands of deaths and kidnappings during the 2014 ISIS onslaught, while earlier conflicts left deep demographic scars that continue to shape health outcomes today.
The Kocho massacre, perpetrated by ISIS in August 2014, has been invoked in several international judicial proceedings, most notably before the International Criminal Court. This article surveys the cases that have cited Kocho as factual evidence, outlining legal arguments, scholarly debates, and the broader significance for genocide jurisprudence.
Following the UN and Iraqi Parliament’s recognition of the ISIS‑led atrocities as genocide, Yazidi survivors have been granted a suite of legal remedies, including the Yazidi Female Survivors Law, compensation programmes, psychosocial support, and avenues for criminal accountability. This article surveys the domestic and international mechanisms that constitute those remedies.
The 2007 Qahtaniyah car bombings killed hundreds of Yazidis and sparked a complex web of domestic and international legal responses. This article surveys the investigations, the limited prosecutions in Iraq, and the role of international mechanisms—including the UN‑backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon as a precedent—for pursuing accountability.
The 2026 Yazidi Truth Commission, convened in Germany, seeks accountability for the 2014 ISIS genocide. Compared with other truth commissions, it blends community‑driven testimony with a non‑transitional legal framework, raising new questions about legitimacy, scope, and impact.
This article examines the legal mechanisms—both international and Iraqi national—that aim to locate and account for missing Yazidis after the Islamic State genocide. It outlines court cases, legislative frameworks, and the role of civil‑society actors in pursuing justice and truth.