Urgent need to prevent violence against Yazidis in Iraq

https://www.bariconnessa.it/news/sociale/ancora-atti-di-odio-contro-gli-yezidi-in-iraq/2664

Իրաքում եզդիների նկատմամբ բռնությունները կանխելու հրատապ անհրաժեշտություն կա: Կառլո Կոպպոլայի հոդված.

The NGO "'Sinjar' Yezidi National Union", expressed concern and deep concern for the life and safety of the Yezidis living in Iraq, sent a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), calling for condemning the incitement to hatred directed against the Yazidi people and developing strategic measures to stop it and strengthen the protection of the rights and safety of the Yazidis especially in Iraq.

Hamlet Smoyan, a member of the "Sinjar Yezidi National Union" from Armenia, made this announcement at a press conference held near the UN headquarters in Yerevan, stressing that in recent days a strong incitement to hatred against the Yezidis especially in Iraq has spread. After the first episodes of violence in the Iraqi refugee camps, panic has spread and families, with small children, women and defenseless elderly people are afraid that the Islamists will attack them again.

Smoyan noted that the development of events has shown that Shiite and Sunni Muslim clerics, without essential difference, in their propaganda actions call for the destruction of the Yezidi people, their religion, because Yazidism opposes Islam. "This has spread widely and many influencers have also called for the destruction of the Yazidis. Even in the city of Mosul in Iraq, a protest against our people was organized, as a result of which an atmosphere of panic developed in our refugee camp, people were trying to escape from the camp, thinking that they would be attacked.

Hamlet Smoyan reported that until recently there had been no adequate response to these events and only yesterday the spiritual representatives of the Shiite and Sunni Muslims met with the Yazidi clergy in an attempt to calm the situation.

"The reason for this new hatred is that the Iraqi authorities are trying to close the Yazidi refugee camp, and there is already a However, no action has been taken so far, there are people who would like to return to their homes in Sinjar, but they cannot, because there is no longer adequate infrastructure there," Smoyan said, noting that he had brought a letter addressed to the UN Secretary General to in this regard, in order to request the creation of mechanisms to curb the spread of such incitement to ethnic and religious hatred.

In particular, the letter addressed to the UN Secretary General refers to the increasing acts of incitement to violence that would also involve the authorities.

"The Yazidis, who have suffered one of the worst genocides in recent history, are once again facing the threat of discrimination and violence that could lead to a repetition of the tragic events of the past", who also stressed that the Yazidis are particularly alarmed by the information received from the commander of the Self-Defense Forces, Heydar Shasho, according to which members of the Islamic State terrorist group, responsible for the genocide of the Yazidis, could be released from prisons in Iraq, Syria and Turkey where they are being held.

The letter states that this event represents a huge threat to the security of the Yazidi population and other ethnic and religious minorities in the region.

"Furthermore, hate speech directed against Yazidis is spreading rapidly through various media, social networks and even public speeches of some influential people."

The letter calls on the UN Secretary-General to take urgent measures to prevent the spread of hate speech and to protect Yazidis from a possible new genocide.

"We call on the United Nations to condemn this hate speech and to develop strategic measures to stop it and strengthen the protection of the rights and security of the Yazidi people in Iraq," the letter reads.