http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39762790

[center]Dozens of Yazidis enslaved by IS in Iraq now free[/center]


Yazidis gather to celebrate New Year in Dohuk, 18 April 2017



The 36 liberated Yazidis were taken to Dohuk in Kurdish northern Iraq

Thirty-six members of the Yazidi religious minority are free after nearly three years in the hands of so-called Islamic State (IS), the UN says.
They have been taken to UN centres in Dohuk in Kurdish northern Iraq.

It is unclear whether they escaped in Iraq or were freed, as the UN declined to give more information to avoid jeopardising future releases.
IS killed and enslaved thousands of Yazidis after seizing the northern town of Sinjar in 2014.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces regained control in 2015 but many Yazidis were held captive by IS elsewhere as the group took over large swathes of northern Iraq.

The 36 survivors include men, women and children who were enslaved, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Nadia Murad was held captive as a sex slave - she tells the BBC's Hardtalk how she escaped

BBC: How did you manage to escape?

Nadia Murad: The first time I tried to escape I was with the
first man who raped me and treated me badly.

I thought to myself "I must run away" although I didn't believe I would succeed.
Daesh militants were everywhere in Mosul. I tried to escape through a window but I was
immediately caught by one of the guards who put me in a room.

Under their [ISIS] rules a captured woman becomes a spoil of war if she is caught trying
to escape. She is put in a cell and raped by all the men in that compound. I was gang raped
- they call this practice sexual Jihad.

Afterwards I couldn't even think of trying to escape again. The final man I stayed with in
Mosul lived alone. When he decided to sell me on he went to get me some clothes. He told me to
wash myself and get ready to be sold to someone else. Even though I thought it was impossible I
managed to leave the compound. I called at a house, a Muslim family with no connection to Daesh [ISIS]
lived there.

I asked them for help. I said to them that my brother would give them whatever they wanted in return.
The family told me that they did not support Daesh [ISIS] and had no connection with them.
They gave me all the help they could. They gave me a black abaya and an Islamic ID
and then they took me to the border.

BBC: And that allowed you to escape and get out.

Nadia: Yes, the family allowed me to escape.

BBC: There are many women who've been held who killed themselves out of desparation.
Was it something that at the time you thought?

Nadia: Being in the hands of Daesh (ISIS) we felt as if we had already died.
Most people die once in their lifetime but we were dying every hour.
Our hearts were constantly full of fear as we had no idea when they would come for us.

I have never thought of killing myself, either before or after I was captured by Daesh (ISIS),
it has never occurred to me. I believe that everyone should accept what god has given them,
regardless of whether they are poor or have suffered injustice, we must all endure it.
We should be content with what god has given us. But still many girls committed suicide, one
was from my village.

They reached Dohuk two nights ago where they are being housed in centres established by the UN Population Fund.

There, they are being reunited with family members and offered care including clothing and medical and psychological aid, the UN said.
The women and children are being cared for at dedicated service points set up by the UNPF, and will be referred for more specialised treatment.
The UNFP's humanitarian co-ordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, said the UN was going to do "everything possible" for the rescued Yazidi.
"What these women and girls have endured is unimaginable," she said.

Who are the Yazidis?

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~ Centuries-old religious sect found in northern Iraq, Syria and the Caucasus.

~ Religion incorporates elements of many faiths, including Zoroastrianism.

~Principal divine figure, Malak Taus (Peacock Angel), is the supreme angel of the seven angels who ruled the universe after it was created by God.

~Many Muslims and other groups incorrectly view Yazidis as devil worshippers.

~There are estimated to be about 500,000 Yazidis worldwide, most living in Iraq's Nineveh plains.

In August 2007 jihadists attacked Yazidi villages in Nineveh, killing between 400 and 700 people.


The UN - which has accused IS of committing genocide against the Yazidi - estimates that 1,500 women and girls are still being held and could be suffering protracted sexual abuse.

A UN report released last year said the extremists had subjected captured Yazidis to the "most horrific of atrocities", killing or enslaving thousands, warning IS aimed to completely erase their way of life.


In March. lawyer Amal Clooney urged the UN to back a UK-led investigation into the crimes committed by IS.

IS has been under increasing pressure in Iraq, losing much of the territory it seized in 2014.

Iraqi forces have recaptured most the city of Mosul from IS, but they are still trying to push the group out of the Old City district in the west.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-28686607

Who, What, Why: Who are the Yazidis?

Among the many victims of the advance of The Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East are a group of up to 50,000 Yazidis, who are trapped in the mountains in northwest Iraq without food or water. Author Diana Darke explains who these mysterious religious adherents are.
Suddenly thrust into the limelight by their plight, the Yazidis will not welcome the glare of international attention. On account of their unusual beliefs, they are often unjustly referred to as "devil worshippers", and have traditionally held themselves apart in small communities mainly scattered across northwest Iraq, northwest Syria and southeast Turkey.

Estimating their current numbers is difficult, with figures ranging from 70,000 to 500,000. Feared, vilified and persecuted, there is no doubt the population has dwindled considerably over the course of the past century. Like other minority religions of the region, such as the Druze and the Alawis, it is not possible to convert to Yazidism, only to be born into it.

The ongoing persecution in their heartland of the Mt Sinjar region west of Mosul is based on a misunderstanding of their name. Sunni extremists, such as IS, believe it derives from Yazid ibn Muawiya (647-683), the deeply unpopular second caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. Modern research, however, has clarified that the name is nothing to do with the loose-living Yazid, or the Persian city of Yazd, but is taken from the modern Persian "ized", which means angel or deity. The name Izidis simply means "worshippers of god", which is how Yazidis describe themselves.

Celebrating New YearImage copyrightROBERT LEUTHEUSER

Their own name for themselves is Daasin (plural Dawaaseen), which is taken from the name of an old Nestorian - the Ancient Church of the East - diocese, for many of their beliefs are derived from Christianity. They revere both the Bible and the Koran, but much of their own tradition is oral. Due in part to its secrecy, there have been misunderstandings that the complex Yazidi faith is linked to Zoroastrianism with a light/dark duality and even sun worship. Recent scholarship, however, has shown that although their shrines are often decorated with the sun and that graves point east towards the sunrise, they share many elements with Christianity and Islam.

Children are baptised with consecrated water by a pir (priest). At weddings he breaks bread and gives one half to the bride and the other to the groom. The bride, dressed in red, visits Christian churches. In December, Yazidis fast for three days, before drinking wine with the pir. On 15-20 September there is an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Sheikh Adi at Lalesh north of Mosul, where they carry out ritual ablutions in the river. They also practise sacrifice of animals and circumcision.

Their supreme being is known as Yasdan. He is considered to be on such an elevated level that he cannot be worshipped directly. He is considered a passive force, the Creator of the world, not the preserver. Seven great spirits emanate from him of which the greatest is the Peacock Angel known as Malak Taus - active executor of the divine will. The peacock in early Christianity was a symbol of immortality, because its flesh does not appear to decay. Malak Taus is considered God's alter ego, inseparable from Him, and to that extent Yazidism is monotheistic.

Yazidis pray to Malak Taus five times a day. His other name is Shaytan, which is Arabic for devil, and this has led to the Yazidis being mislabeled as "devil-worshippers". The Yazidis believe that souls pass into successive bodily forms (transmigration) and that gradual purification is possible through continual rebirth, making Hell redundant. The worst possible fate for a Yazidi is to be expelled from his community, as this means their soul can never progress. Conversion to another religion is, therefore, out of the question.
In remote areas of southeast Turkey towards the Syrian and Iraqi borders, their once-abandoned villages are starting to come back to life, with new houses being built by the communities themselves. Many Yazidis are returning from exile now that the Turkish government leaves them undisturbed. Despite centuries of persecution the Yazidis have never abandoned their faith, testimony to their remarkable sense of identity and strength of character. If they are driven from Iraq and Syria by IS extremists, the likelihood is that more will settle in southeast Turkey where they are left to live out their beliefs in peace.

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