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http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/04/14/iraq-isis-escapees-describe-systematic-rape
Iraq – The Yezidi Girls Who Escaped ISIS – Lives Changed Forever
- Interview
By
Amy Braunschweiner
Last August, the world watched in horror as the extremist armed
group Islamic State, also known as ISIS, attacked Iraq’s Yezidi community.
Thousands fled without food or water into the nearby Sinjar mountains, but ISIS
fighters waylaid many, executing men and abducting thousands of people, mainly
women and children. Rumors of forced marriage and enslavement of Yezidi girls and
women swirled, and were later confirmed as a trickle of women and girls – now
numbering into the hundreds – escaped. Human Rights Watch researchers Samer Muscati and Rothna Begum interviewed 20 of
these women and girls and shared their findings with Amy Braunschweiger.
Who are the Yezidis?
+
A
displaced Yezidi girl living outside Dohuk, northern Iraq.
© 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch
April 15, 2015 -
Samer: The Yezidis live in Iraq’s Nineveh province on land claimed by
both the Kurdistan regional government and the Iraqi central government. They
practice an ancient monotheistic religion, and Yezidis say they have been persecuted
for hundreds of years because many consider them “heretics.” Violent
attacks against Yezidis by Sunni Arab extremists escalated after the US-led
invasion of Iraq in 2003. On August 14, 2007, four simultaneous truck bombings
killed more than 300 Yezidis and wounded more than 700 in Sinjar district
communities. Some Yezidi activists also faced intimidation and threats
from Kurdistan government forces. Kurdistan authorities consider Yezidis to be
Kurds and, therefore, Yezidi lands part of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Thousands of Yezidi families have fled to Syria, Jordan, and elsewhere. Since
2003, but before the latest attack by ISIS, their numbers in Iraq had dropped
from about 700,000 to 500,000. There are probably fewer now.
No one knows how many
Yezidis have been killed
by ISIS – they’re still uncovering mass graves. Very little information comes
out of ISIS-controlled areas. Every family has been affected, has had a husband
or son killed, a daughter abducted, or has had to flee. We visited informal
settlements and the main camp, Khanke, near Dohuk, which houses more than
18,000 Yazidis, mainly from around the city of Sinjar, about a two-and-a-half
hour drive away. The Yezidis are living in a virtual sea of displaced person
tents and nearby unfinished buildings, which lack doors and heat, perched on
windswept hills. The views from the hilltops are stunning on a sunny day,
but there’s little to protect the people there from the cold.
In the
camps you interviewed women and girls who escaped ISIS and made their way back
home. What happened to them at the hands of ISIS?
Rothna: We heard stories of
abuse ranging from being forced to wait on ISIS members hand and foot, to
beatings, rape, electric shocks, forced
marriage, and sexual slavery.
Samer: One girl said ISIS
members, wanting to find out who “desecrated” their Quran, handcuffed and
blindfolded her and two other girls, beat them with a cable, and then fired a
gunshot into the air. Apparently, the girl told us, one of the many cats in the
house had ripped the Quran.
Most of the girls we
spoke with said they were transferred from one place to another, ultimately
living in big houses or halls with between 5 and 60 other girls. During the
course of the day, ISIS fighters would come in, pick a girl to take, and if she
refused, she’d be slapped or beaten.
What
happened to these girls when they returned home, especially considering the
moral weight placed on their virginity?
Rothna: Virginity is a huge
issue across the region. There is a stigma attached to the abducted women
because they could have experienced sexual violence from the ISIS fighters –
and it extends to their families. We know that in conflicts around the world,
communities retaliate against women who are victims of sexual violence. Husbands
leave wives, families abandon daughters. One of our biggest concerns was, would
these women be treated violently after returning home?
That’s not what we found
– in part thanks to the Yezidi religious leader, Baba Sheikh, who instructed
the community to welcome back and not harm those who were abducted, forced to
convert, or raped. Because of this, most families have welcomed back their
female relatives. We didn’t interview Baba Sheikh, but we spoke with another
religious leader, Baba Chawish. He welcomed us, and spoke calmly and with
dignity, despite the chaos surrounding him. He told us how, over centuries,
Yezidis have had to flee numerous attacks. This was just another crisis, he
said, and his goal was to keep the community together as much as possible and,
frankly, to survive.
The families we met just
wanted to be reunited. They already had so many family members killed or
abducted by ISIS, they just want their families back.
How are
these girls doing?
Samer: It’s difficult for
them, they’ve endured terrible abuses. For me, the hardest part was when they
talked about their missing parents, or about how ISIS men separated them from
their sister, and where could she be? It’s terrible to be a young girl and be abducted
and endure horrific abuses, but then to also lose your family on top of that?
One of the most common sentiments I heard was that their biggest wish is to be
reunited with their families, as they don’t know how to be whole without them.
As a group, these were
among the worst cases I have ever documented for Human Rights Watch, and that
says a lot as I’ve documented a wide range of abuses for years in war-plagued
Iraq – everything from torture in secret prisons to abuses against people
displaced by the fighting.
One 12-year-old girl
really stood out to me. Her shy disposition reminded me of my 12-year old
cousin. The man who abducted her told her not to worry, that he’d treat her as
he’d treat his own daughter. Then he drugged her and she woke up to see blood
between her legs.
Was it
difficult getting the girls to share their experiences? Samer, was the fact
that you are an Iraqi Arab man an impediment?
It wasn’t helpful – many
of the ISIS fighters there are Iraqi Arabs. But we worked with local activists
who already knew the women and girls, which put everyone at ease. We are also
extremely sensitive and careful not to re-traumatize survivors.
Had any
of these girls become pregnant?
Rothna: We spoke to one who was
pregnant at the time she escaped, but there are others that we heard of, and
there will be more cases as more women and girls escape. Abortion is illegal in
Iraq, but it’s allowed in certain circumstances, such as when a woman’s life is
at risk. The law should be interpreted to cover cases of pregnancy as a result
of rape. If the women choose to have the children, there should be a plan for
them to keep the baby or not.
Now
that they’ve returned to their community, what would you like to see for these
girls?
Rothna: We want everyone who
comes back to receive adequate medical and psychosocial treatment, as well as
schooling for girls and employment skills training for women.
Additionally, doctors
need to be better trained in examining women who have been sexually assaulted.
The purpose of the examinations needs to be explained to the women and girls to
get informed consent from them, and doctors should ask for consent both before
and during the examination. Otherwise, the exams could be harmful and
humiliating for women and girls, and make them feel like they have no control
over their bodies – which is what they felt when they were abducted by ISIS.
Samer: We also found some
nongovernmental organizations and journalists with no experience interviewing
trauma victims documenting their stories. Some recorded their statements on
video, which leads to the risk of them being identified publicly.
Rothna: One girl I spoke with,
we call her “Noor,” seemed so much better adjusted than the others – despite
being the only child left in her family. She smiled, joked around with us, and
talked to us about her future. But she had an awful story. She was abducted at
15, and after being moved from place to place she lived in a house with other
girls who were forcibly married off or sold one-by-one. She and a friend
attempted suicide together – she showed me the scars on her wrists – but an
ISIS member caught them and stopped them. When her friend was picked to be
taken by an ISIS member, the girl begged the men to take her too, so she could
stay with her friend. They agreed and took both girls to another house. There,
two other men told them, “You are sold to us.” They then beat and raped them
for five days until they escaped, breaking through the door while the men were
away fighting.
When she first came to
the camp, she looked like a ghost, people told us. She was reunited with her
parents, who were traumatized after their only son, Noor’s brother, was
executed in front of them. But Noor had her parents’ support. She said that
she’d been to the hospital a few times, is receiving regular counseling, and is
taking a sewing class. Her friend that she escaped with lives in a separate
camp, and her father has taken her there to visit. Sometimes NGO activists take
her out of the camp for social activities like going to the mall. She says she
still has nightmares, but she’s healing. She’s going to be someone who can
identify herself as a survivor, not just as a victim.
In some
ways, Noor has come back to life.
Yes. And life in general
is taking shape in the camps. You can see market stalls selling chewing gum,
and you see the lengths people have to go to make these tents feel like home
with rugs and pillows. Keeping their spaces clean. They’d survived the winter
and were dealing with cold rains. It’s likely they’ll be there for months or
even years to come.
Why
haven’t all the girls received the same type of treatment as Noor?
Rothna: Of the 300 women and
girls who have returned, only 100 have been identified by health authorities.
The other 200 or so, their families likely don’t know these services are
available. People need to get the word out.
The Yezidi camps are in
Iraqi Kurdistan, and they are protected by Kurdistan’s forces. The local
Kurdistan officials we spoke with have been trying to help get women and girls
treatment and to aid those who escaped to return home safely. They told us that
they want expert help in handling rape cases and trauma, and they need expert
assistance and training, particularly in psychotherapy. They want to know how
to help.
Samer: The Yezidis stopped
dominating the news six months ago, but the crisis still exists. Needs are
going unmet. And there is an enormous number of people that need help –
especially as more and more women and girls escape ISIS.