Call for UN to intervene for Êzîdî women

2015-03-18 10:21:32

NEWS CENTER (DİHA) - A Change.org signature campaign is calling on the UN to intervene to free Êzîdî women in Daesh captivity. It calls for the rapists and all governments who have supported and permitted their activity to be tried in international criminal courts.

According to official figures, around 7,000 women and children are still in the hands of Daesh gangs. After Daesh attacked the Êzîdî city of Shengal in August, they kidnapped thousands of women. Escaped women report being sold in "slave markets" set up across Iraq, Syria and as far afield as the Gulf countries. The campaign says that what is truly shameful is not just Daesh's actions but the lack of any international action whatsoever on behalf of the women. The signature, campaign, titled "Have You Heard the Screams of the Êzidi Women Who Escaped from ISIS Slave Markets?" was started by a group of women.

"Why doesn’t the world’s public opinion, particularly the United Nations, follow a more effective ISIS policy while women and children are sold in slave markets in the 21st century?" asks the campaign text. The signature campaign calls for the governments of all countries in which women are sold to also be tried as war criminals. It notes that regional powers have openly encouraged and supported Daesh gangs, and are just as guilty in the current situation as the gangs themselves.

(cm/nt)