Iraqi Yazidi girls abducted by IS endured horror
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
46 minutes ago
BAGHDAD (AP) — Women and girls from Iraq's Yazidi minority
endured horrors at the hands of Islamic State group extremists after
they were taken as slaves last summer, leaving them deeply traumatized,
an international watchdog group said in a report issued on Tuesday.
The Amnesty International report based on
interviews with over 40 former captives who were among hundreds of women
and girls from the Yazidi religious minority captured by IS fighters in
early August when the militants overran their hometown of Sinjar.
Hundreds were killed in the attack, and tens of thousands were either
stranded in nearby Mount Sinjar or fled mostly to the Kurdish-held parts
of northern Iraq.
The London-based group said the captives, including girls aged 10-12, faced torture, rape, forced marriage and were "sold" or given as "gifts" to IS fighters or their supporters in militant-held areas in Iraq and Syria. Often, captives were forced to convert to Islam.
"Hundreds of Yazidi women and girls have had their lives shattered by the horrors of sexual violence and sexual slavery in IS captivity," Amnesty's Senior Crisis Response Adviser Donatella Rovera said in a statement.
"Many of those held as sexual slaves are children — girls aged 14, 15 or even younger," Rovera added.
Fearful of rape, some captives committed suicide — like the 19-year old Jilan, according to her brother and one of the 20 girls who were with her.
"One day we were given clothes that looked like dance costumes and were told to bathe and wear those clothes," said the girl quoted in the report. "Jilan killed herself in the bathroom. She cut her wrists and hanged herself. She was very beautiful; I think she knew she was going to be taken away by a man and that is why she killed herself," added the girl, who was among those who later escaped.
It was unclear how many Yazidi women were abducted, but Iraq's Human Rights Ministry put the number in the "hundreds." Amnesty reports said the number is "possibly thousands."
The Yazidis are a centuries-old religious minority viewed as apostates by extremists in Iraq. They have suffered religious persecution for generations because of their beliefs, which include some elements similar to Christianity, Judaism and other ancient religions. Many Muslims consider them devil worshippers, an accusation that Yazidis strongly dispute.
The London-based group said the captives, including girls aged 10-12, faced torture, rape, forced marriage and were "sold" or given as "gifts" to IS fighters or their supporters in militant-held areas in Iraq and Syria. Often, captives were forced to convert to Islam.
"Hundreds of Yazidi women and girls have had their lives shattered by the horrors of sexual violence and sexual slavery in IS captivity," Amnesty's Senior Crisis Response Adviser Donatella Rovera said in a statement.
"Many of those held as sexual slaves are children — girls aged 14, 15 or even younger," Rovera added.
Fearful of rape, some captives committed suicide — like the 19-year old Jilan, according to her brother and one of the 20 girls who were with her.
"One day we were given clothes that looked like dance costumes and were told to bathe and wear those clothes," said the girl quoted in the report. "Jilan killed herself in the bathroom. She cut her wrists and hanged herself. She was very beautiful; I think she knew she was going to be taken away by a man and that is why she killed herself," added the girl, who was among those who later escaped.
It was unclear how many Yazidi women were abducted, but Iraq's Human Rights Ministry put the number in the "hundreds." Amnesty reports said the number is "possibly thousands."
The Yazidis are a centuries-old religious minority viewed as apostates by extremists in Iraq. They have suffered religious persecution for generations because of their beliefs, which include some elements similar to Christianity, Judaism and other ancient religions. Many Muslims consider them devil worshippers, an accusation that Yazidis strongly dispute.
The June
onslaught by IS stunned Iraqi security forces and the military, which
melted away and withdrew as the extremists advanced, capturing key
cities and towns in the country's north. The militants also targeted
Iraq's indigenous religious minorities, including Christians and
Yazidis, forcing tens of thousands from their homes.
Since then,
the Islamic State has carved out a self-styled caliphate in the large
area straddling the Iraqi-Syrian border that it now controls.
Alarmed
with their advance, the United States launched airstrikes in early
August on the militant-held areas in Iraq, in an effort to help the
Iraqi forces repel the growing militant threat. Since then, some
progress has been made on the ground by government forces, Kurdish
fighters and Shiite militias.
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