UN Human Rights Commission of Inquiry Concludes ISIS is Committing Genocide Against Yazidis (June 16, 2016) [1]
On June 16, 2016, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic [3] released a report [4] concluding that the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) has committed genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Yazidis. These crimes are defined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide [5] and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court [6]. According to the report, ISIS has engaged in “killings; sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment and forcible transfer causing serious bodily and mental harm; the infliction of conditions of life that bring about a slow death; the imposition of measures to prevent Yazidi children from being born . . .; and the transfer of Yazidi children from their own families.” The Commission’s report is based on interviews with survivors, religious leaders, smugglers, activists, lawyers, medical personnel, and journalists, along with documentary material used for corroboration. The report notes that “[t]he public statements and conduct of ISIS and its fighters clearly demonstrate that ISIS intended to destroy the Yazidis.” The Commission—established in August 2011 to “investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law since March 2011 in the Syrian Arab Republic”—has called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court or to establish an ad-hoc tribunal with appropriate jurisdiction to try these crimes. The report underscores that ISIS still holds over 3,200 Yazidi women and children, making the genocide an on-going phenomenon.