No pardon for genocide: Yazidi MP slams Iraq’s Amnesty Law

Shafaq News/ The Yazidi community is still concerned over the country’s General Amnesty Law as it could lead to the release of ISIS members involved in crimes against Yazidis, Iraqi lawmaker Vian Dakhil revealed on Tuesday.

During a panel discussion on the sidelines of the First International Scientific Conference on Yazidis at the University of Duhok, Dakhil noted the Sinjar Agreement has yet to be implemented due to what she described as “a political will in Baghdad that opposes it,” adding that “the Yazidi file and Sinjar are not considered a priority by the federal government.”

“Yazidi lawmakers in parliament had called for the establishment of a reconstruction fund for Sinjar, but while billions of dinars were allocated to a similar fund for Dhi Qar, only a minimal amount was assigned to Sinjar,” she pointed out.

The MP also indicated she had submitted a draft law to the Iraqi parliament recognizing the atrocities committed against Yazidis as genocide. Still, the legislation has not been passed, and the federal government has yet to officially recognize the events as genocide.

Dakhil also expressed further concern that the recently passed amnesty law was approved despite opposition from Yazidi lawmakers. “The law was passed based on the principle of majority imposing its will on the minority,” she said.

On January 21, Iraq’s Council of Representatives passed several controversial laws, including amendments to the General Amnesty Law, the Personal Status Law, and the Restitution Law.

ISIS seized Sinjar and its surrounding areas—home to a predominantly Yazidi population—on August 3, 2014, committing mass killings of men and abducting more than 5,000 women and girls, many of whom were enslaved. Many survivors have been freed over the years, but many remain missing.