A Decade of Impunity: Finding Justice for the Yazidi Women Victims of the Islamic State
Abstract:
We have just marked the ten-year anniversary of the Islamic State’s invasion of Sinjar and the start of their crusade of violence against the Yazidi people, and yet very little has been done to achieve justice for this community. Instead, the horrific and inhumane treatment of the Yazidis who suffered at the hands of IS has seemingly faded from public consciousness. The survivors of these atrocities and their community have not, however, given up their desire to see the perpetrators of these crimes brought to justice, and the international community has the capability to aid them in this goal. Given that we have seen very few prosecutions of IS perpetrators within existing international and domestic criminal justice systems, there needs to be an impetus to reinvigorate global dedication to bringing these perpetrators to justice. This Article will analyze whether a people’s tribunal could serve as that much-needed stimulus and potentially even achieve a form of interim justice for these women.
The crimes that IS has committed against the Yazidi people have been characterized as violent and systematic. Although the entire population were victims of horrible crimes, this Article focuses specifically on the female victims. While the entire group was targeted because of their religion, the Yazidi women were targeted for both their religion and gender, causing them to be “doubly victimized.” These women were victims of intersectional discrimination in its most extreme and violent form, providing further reason for why the global community should support their call for justice.
Recommended Citation: Leah Calabro, A Decade of Impunity: Finding Justice for the Yazidi Women Victims of the Islamic State, 48 Fordham Int'l L.J. 1 (2024).