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Yazda Newly Appointed Executive Director Confirms Her Commitment to Advocate for Challenges and Needs in First Podcast to the Global Yazidi Community
Iraq, 16 July, 2024
A few months into her term as Executive Director, after being elected by Yazda’s board, Natia Navrouzov recorded a podcast to provide the communities Yazda serves as well as stakeholders with key updates and messages, building upon her journey of service to vulnerable and minority communities:
- Ongoing and worsening issues require continuous attention: Ten years after the start of the Yazidi Genocide, existential issues faced by the community are ongoing and are worsening, especially in light of the imminent end of the mandate of the UN investigative team (UNITAD) without a clear plan on how justice, accountability and exhumation processes in Iraq will proceed without UN support. 10 years after the beginning of the genocide, accountability for crimes committed by ISIL should remain a focus. This is why after the 10-year-mark, attention on the consequences of Da’esh / ISIL should remain a focus.
- Need for a comprehensive, inclusive, and strategic transitional justice process to address the Yazidi genocide: Iraq, KRG and the international community need to engage in consultations with the Yazidi community, as well as other affected communities, to address the root causes of the crimes committed, provide reparations for all the crimes committed, uncover the truth, and put in place concrete guarantees of “Never Again”. Yazda will publish in August a report on transitional justice for Yazidi survivors and their families, highlighting the key demands of around 500 Yazidis surveyed on this topic.
- Yazda’s institutional strategy for growth: As Yazda turns 10, its strategy and vision are being updated and expanded. As an increasingly women-led institution, Yazda is placing the needs of and support to Yazidi women and girls survivors who have been the primary victims of crimes of sexual and gender-based violence, at the center of its mission of service, while acknowledging that male survivors need equal attention and care. Strategically, Yazda will gradually shift its operations to Sinjar as people return back from the IDP camps, but remains committed to serving communities wherever they currently are based. Yazda remains committed to serving all groups affected by Da’esh / ISIL crimes, including Christians, Shias, Kakais, Shabaks, and others, notably by strengthening collaborative efforts with NGOs serving these communities and their needs. To achieve its objectives, Yazda will continue to collaborate with the Central Government of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the international community of allies and friends, including international agencies and embassies in Baghdad and Erbil.
- Need for funding and access to resources: Yazda calls upon governments to not decrease their aid for community-led and -centered projects as many challenges and gaps remain. Yazda currently has offices in both Duhok and Sinjar and provides a wide range of services which need to continue.
“Leading Yazda in such difficult times is a real challenge and I do not take this responsibility lightly. I wanted to record this podcast also for the community to get some answers, including on who I am and where I want to take Yazda in the coming years. Yazda remains an essential platform for the Yazidi community and we will continue to carry all its legacy but we also need support from all of our allies to be able to achieve our goals” Natia Navrouzov commented.
To listen to the podcast, please click
here.
For an Arabic version of the press release, please click here.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Farhad Ali, Media and Communication Officer
farhad.ali@yazda.org
About Yazda:
Yazda is a global community-led organization providing critical humanitarian assistance and promoting accountability and justice for the atrocities committed by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS, IS or by its Arabic acronym Da’esh, against the Yazidi community and other groups in Iraq.
Yazda was established in 2014, three weeks after the genocidal campaign commenced in Sinjar, northern Iraq, and was among the first organizations on the ground providing lifesaving assistance to survivors. Yazda was the first actor to document Yazidi survivor accounts of crimes committed by ISIL.
300 North 27th Street, Suite C. - Lincoln, Nebraska 68503, USA
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The release of this crucial report follows the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution to extend the mandate of the Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL ( UNITAD ) only until September 2024 ( UNSC resolution 2697/2023 ). The report reflects the concerns and recommendations of Iraqi NGOs and survivors' networks. Yazda, a member of the Coalition for Just Reparations ( C4JR ), joined an alliance of Iraqi NGOs in calling for comprehensive reparations for survivors of atrocity crimes perpetrated during the ISIL conflict in Iraq. In September 2023, prior to the passing of resolution 2697 by the UNSC, Yazda led the publication of a statement endorsed by 50 organizations expressing concerns about the imminent closure of UNITAD. Subsequently, within C4JR, Yazda facilitated consultations with NGOs online and in person, ensuring that their feedback was communicated to the UN, particularly in preparation for the UN Secretary-General's report released in January 2024 on Iraq’s request to receive UNITAD’s evidence. In parallel, Yazda consulted survivors’ networks, including Hope Givers, Survivors Voice Network (SVN), Speicher-1700 NGO, and the Yazidi Survivors Networks (YSN), incorporating their perspectives into the report. Natia Navrouzov, Executive Director at Yazda and co-author of the report, comments: “The report, especially its concrete recommendations, is a testament to the deep knowledge of Iraqi civil society on issues of justice and the lack thereof in Iraq. Iraqi organizations are the experts and should not be ignored. We advocated for the creation of UNITAD but were not involved in its termination. To this day, we have not been presented with a clear strategy from Iraq and the international community regarding the fate and more importantly, the use, of the evidence collected by UNITAD and what comes next. While UNITAD’s completion roadmap, due on 15 March 2024, may provide some answers, we were not meaningfully consulted on it either. Moving forward, we want to be part of the conversation and of the solution.” For the Arabic version of the Press Release, click here . For any inquiries, please contact info@yazda.org ### 300 North 27th Street, Suite C. - Lincoln, Nebraska 68503, USA info@yazda.org - www.yazda.org
22 January 2024 Ceremonies in Baghdad, Solagh and the three villages (Hardan, Kocho and Qney) On 22 January 2024, under the auspice of the Office of the Prime Minister and in the presence of Iraqi and international officials and Yazidi community members, a funeral will be held in Baghdad following the identification of 41 Yazidi victims from Hardan, Kocho and Qney. Following this national-wide ceremony, the remains of the victims will be taken to Sinjar where a local-led ceremony will be organized on 24 January 2024, at the recently inaugurated Yazidi Genocide Memorial in Solagh. During this ceremony, Yazidi religious rituals will be performed. The remains of the victims will be then handed over to their families to allow them to bury them in their respective villages of Hardan, Kocho and Qney. From 24 to 26 January 2024, mourning days will be observed in these three villages and members of the community will be able to visit and pay their respects. The return of the sixth batch of remains and ongoing exhumations The identification of the remains was carried out by the Iraqi Medico-Legal Department (MLD) of Iraqi Ministry of Health, with the assistance of the UN Investigative Team for Accountability of Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). The UN-supported exhumation process in Sinjar started in March 2019 and is ongoing. So far, around 60 mass graves have been exhumed and around 20 still need to be opened. The mass graves in Kocho and Solagh were the first ones to be exhumed from March 2019, followed by Hardan in February 2022 and Qney in June 2022 . This is believed to be the sixth batch of remains of Yazidi victims to be returned to Sinjar and a total of 41 victims were identified. Previously, remains have been returned mainly to Kocho and Solagh and the identification process is still ongoing. Support provided by Yazda and partners As for previous ceremonies, Yazda and other organizations will accompany Yazidi community members during this extremely sensitive time. Yazda has been coordinating the process over the past months with the national authorities and members of the community as well as partners from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNITAD and Nadia’s Initiative which will be present to provide support during the ceremonies. From its side, Yazda will deploy different teams to the burial sites. Yazda’s Case Managers will be present to provide psychological support and Yazda’s Mobile Medical Unit will provide medical assistance to the community where needed. Yazda’s Documentation Team will film the official speeches, report on the ceremonies and interview the authorities and partners, including members of the MLD and representatives of UNITAD and ICMP. The community will be invited to provide feedback on the process and report any concerns. Yazda’s Investigation Coordinator and focal point for the event, Ismail Qasim comments: “We have been supporting the process of exhumations over the past 5 years at least and it is far from being done. The crime scenes left by ISIL are countless and necessite joint efforts from all stakeholders involved, including internationals. Therefore, it is crucial that Iraq continues its collaboration with entities such as UNITAD to support the affected communities to recover the remains and bury them in a dignified way." Yazda presents its condolences to all the affected families as well as the wider Yazidi community and reiterates its commitment to work tirelessly in the pursuit of justice and the truth. For the Arabic version of the Press Release, click here .
Yazda welcomes the decision rendered on the 16 th January, 2024, by the Cour de Cassation, the French Supreme Court, confirming the indictment of Lafarge, now Holcim, for complicity in crimes against humanity. This decision echoes the landmark ruling in this case rendered in September 2021 , which held that any person can be indicted as an accomplice to crimes against humanity, if it knowingly provided support to the perpetrator of such crimes, even in the absence of intent to associate oneself with the commission of their crimes or to adhere to their criminal projects. With this new decision by the Cour de Cassation, the victims of the Syrian and Iraqi conflict are a step closer to justice for the horrors inflicted upon them by ISIS and other terror groups. This decision validates the gravity of the allegations against Lafarge and sends a strong signal that corporations must be held accountable for their actions, especially when they may contribute to crimes against humanity. “Yazda reiterates its commitment to seeking justice for the Yazidi community and other victims of ISIS. As a civil party in the Lafarge case, Yazda will continue to actively participate in the legal proceedings, in the pursuit of truth and accountability,” commented Natia Navrouzov, Legal Advocacy Director at Yazda. “This decision constitutes a significant milestone in these critically important proceedings, which will serve as a landmark for corporate accountability for international crimes. Despite numerous attempts by the defendants to obtain the dismissal of the charges of complicity of crimes against humanity on technicalities, we are now one step closer to having this case heard by a trial court and decided on its merits”, commented Luke Vidal, counsel for Yazda. For the Arabic version of the Press Release, click here . ### 300 North 27th Street, Suite C. - Lincoln, Nebraska 68503, USA info@yazda.org - www.yazda.org