UK formally decides that IS attacks on Yazidis in Iraq were genocide

A UN report found an IS offensive in August 2014 ‘sought to destroy the Yazidis’ through killing, slavery, torture and forcible transfer.

Yazidis protested in London over the treatment of their people by IS in Iraq (Delara Shakib/PA)

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Ben Hatton1 August 2023

Acts by the so-called Islamic State (IS) against the Yazidi people in 2014 have formally been determined by the UK Government as “genocide”.

IS held large areas of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014 when the terrorist group attacked the Yazidi religious minority.

The House of Commons in 2016 called on the Government to formally declare that IS was committing genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and other ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.

The Government has said determinations of genocide should be made by “competent courts”, and linked what it described as a formal acknowledgement that acts of genocide had been committed by IS against Yazidis in 2014 to a finding from the German Federal Court of Justice.

The Yazidi population suffered immensely at the hands of Daesh nine years ago and the repercussions are still felt to this day

Lord Ahmad, Foreign Office minister

Earlier this year, the final court of appeal in Germany confirmed a conviction against an IS member for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against Yazidis in Iraq.

UN investigators have claimed to have found clear evidence that genocide was committed by IS against the Yazidi religious group.

A UN report in 2016 found an IS offensive against the group which began in August 2014 “sought to destroy the Yazidis”, with killings and “sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment and forcible transfer”.

More than 5,000 people were reportedly killed by IS, which is also known as Daesh.

Foreign Office minister Lord Ahmad said: “The Yazidi population suffered immensely at the hands of Daesh nine years ago and the repercussions are still felt to this day.

“Justice and accountability are key for those whose lives have been devastated.

“Today, we have made the historic acknowledgement that acts of genocide were committed against the Yazidi people.

“This determination only strengthens our commitment to ensuring that they receive the compensation owed to them and are able to access meaningful justice.

“The UK will continue to play a leading role in eradicating Daesh, including through rebuilding communities affected by its terrorism and leading global efforts against its poisonous propaganda.”

He made the announcement ahead of events marking the nine-year anniversary of atrocities committed by IS against the Yazidi people.