Today we remember the victims and honor the strength of the survivors of ISIS’s genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims. We also remember the Sunni Muslims, Kurds, and other minorities who were victims of ISIS crimes. ISIS killed and enslaved thousands of Yezidis. Over 2,600 Yezidi women and girls remain missing, and the identification and exhumation of mass graves continue. The survivors bear the painful scars of that experience to this day.
Our support to the communities that suffered this horrific tragedy is unwavering. It is incumbent upon us all to honor those we have lost and the brave survivors through action and a steadfast commitment to rebuild and restore these communities. Justice, accountability, and political inclusion is essential to ensuring that we isolate and defeat violent extremists like ISIS once and for all. We urge continued implementation of the Yezidi Survivors’ Law and full application of the security, reconstruction, and administrative provisions of the 2020 Sinjar Agreement, in consultation with the communities that call Sinjar home.
ISIS tried to tear apart the fabric of Iraq’s society through a violent campaign of hate and religious intolerance. The international community came together with Iraq to break ISIS’s grip on northern Iraq and Syria and begin to rebuild the communities ISIS persecuted. Today, a decade on from this horrific tragedy, Iraq has the opportunity to embark on a new path that leads to peace, stability, and prosperity for all of Iraq’s diverse communities. In doing so, Iraq can serve as an example of religious and ethnic inclusion for the rest of the region.
