Four Yezidis from northern Iraq are attending today’s commemoration of the genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia.
Like the Bosnian Muslims in the 1990s, the Yezidi community in Iraq have been victims of a massacre and other horrible human rights abuses, including murder, rape, kidnapping and expulsion. The visit gives Bosnian Muslims and Iraqis the chance to exchange stories and learn from one another.
Four men and two women, all active in peace committees in Northern Iraq, are visiting Eastern Bosnia. Much of their home province of Ninewa was taken over by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) in 2014. Yezidis in Ninewa (Sinjar) in particular were victims of systematic abuse, recognized by the United Nations as genocide.
Truth and Justice
Today the annual commemoration of the genocide in Srebrenica which in July 1995 cost the lives of more than 8,000 Bosnians is taking place. This year, 22 years after the genocide, the recently recovered remains of about 50 victims will be laid the rest at the cemetery at Potocari. A commemoration is also being held today in The Hague.
PAX active
PAX has been involved in the region since before the war broke out in what was then Yugoslavia. PAX supports the campaign for truth and justice of the survivors of Srebrenica, and takes an active part in the public and political debate regarding Srebrenica in the Netherlands. The peacebuilding organization has supported legal cases against the Dutch government and has organized meetings between survivors and members of Dutchbat. This past February, PAX joined with the Potocari Memorial Centre and the Camp Westerbork Memorial Centre in opening an exhibit in the former Dutchbat compound.
Yezidi Massacre
In northern Iraq, the massacres in Ninewa by the hands of ISIS in 2014 will be commemorated on 3 August. One of the participants of the visit to Srebrenica is organizing the commemoration. Ceremonies will take place in Irbil, Bagdad and Basra. A group of Yezidi women will walk in a silent march holding candles. The members of the Iraqi delegation to Srebrenica are part of PAX´s peacebuilding programme in northern Iraq geared toward restoring trust between citizens and governing authorities, and between communities divided by years of conflict