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| Yazidi women who escaped from Isis win EU human rights prize | Yazidi women who escaped from Isis win EU human rights prize |
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| Two Yazidi women who survived sexual enslavement by Islamic State before escaping and becoming advocates for their people in Iraq have won the EU’s Sakharov human rights prize. | Two Yazidi women who survived sexual enslavement by Islamic State before escaping and becoming advocates for their people in Iraq have won the EU’s Sakharov human rights prize. |
| Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar were abducted along with other Yazidi women in August 2014 when their home village of Kocho in northern Iraq was attacked by Isis jihadis. | Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar were abducted along with other Yazidi women in August 2014 when their home village of Kocho in northern Iraq was attacked by Isis jihadis. |
| The annual Sakharov prize for freedom of thought, established in 1988, is named after the Soviet physicist and outspoken dissident Andrei Sakharov and is awarded to “individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to the fight for human rights across the globe”. | The annual Sakharov prize for freedom of thought, established in 1988, is named after the Soviet physicist and outspoken dissident Andrei Sakharov and is awarded to “individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to the fight for human rights across the globe”. |
| Last year the prize was awarded to Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger and activist sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam. In 2012 the award was shared by two Iranians, human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and celebrated film-maker Jafar Panahi, leading to Sotoudeh’s release from prison. | Last year the prize was awarded to Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger and activist sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam. In 2012 the award was shared by two Iranians, human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and celebrated film-maker Jafar Panahi, leading to Sotoudeh’s release from prison. |
| Among the 2016 finalists were the Turkish journalist Can Dündar and the Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzemilev. | Among the 2016 finalists were the Turkish journalist Can Dündar and the Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzemilev. |
| The EU described Murad and Aji Bashar as “public advocates for the Yazidi community in Iraq, a religious minority that has been the subject of a genocidal campaign by IS militants.” | The EU described Murad and Aji Bashar as “public advocates for the Yazidi community in Iraq, a religious minority that has been the subject of a genocidal campaign by IS militants.” |
| Murad won the Council of Europe’s Václav Havel human rights prize earlier this month. | Murad won the Council of Europe’s Václav Havel human rights prize earlier this month. |
| In 2014 she was captured alongside her sisters and lost six brothers and her mother, as Isis jihadis killed the village’s men and any women considered too old to be sexually exploited. | In 2014 she was captured alongside her sisters and lost six brothers and her mother, as Isis jihadis killed the village’s men and any women considered too old to be sexually exploited. |
| A family helped her to escape from her captors and she went to Germany. A year later she addressed the UN security council and became the goodwill ambassador for the UN office on drugs and crime. | |
| Aji Bashar, whose brother and father were killed by Isis, was used as a sex slave by the militants and forced to make bombs and suicide vests. | Aji Bashar, whose brother and father were killed by Isis, was used as a sex slave by the militants and forced to make bombs and suicide vests. |
| “Aji Bashar tried to flee several times before finally escaping in April with the help of her family, who paid local smugglers,” an EU statement said. She eventually went to Germany, where she received medical care and joined her surviving siblings. | “Aji Bashar tried to flee several times before finally escaping in April with the help of her family, who paid local smugglers,” an EU statement said. She eventually went to Germany, where she received medical care and joined her surviving siblings. |
| “Since her recovery Aji Bashar has been active in raising awareness of the plight of the Yazidi community and continues to help women and children who were victims of IS enslavement and atrocities.” | “Since her recovery Aji Bashar has been active in raising awareness of the plight of the Yazidi community and continues to help women and children who were victims of IS enslavement and atrocities.” |
| Although some Yazidis have been rescued, the majority of those taken by Isis are still being held, with about 3,600 mostly women and children missing. | |
| Hundreds were thought to be captive in Mosul, but activists and their families fear Isis will transport them to Syria as a broad coalition of anti-Isis forces pushes towards the group’s main Iraqi stronghold. | |
| Those who have escaped mostly did so with the help of Yazidi smugglers and a local “underground railway”, and Yazidis resent the lack of support from the international community and fellow Iraqis. | |
| More than two years after the genocidal Isis attacks on their homeland, hundreds of thousands are still living in refugee camps because they fear it is not safe to return home even to villages that have been freed from Isis control. Many of the villages are anyway still in ruins, with few services. | |
| Khider Domle, academic and activist based in Dohuk, said: “It’s another major recognition for them to get this kind of prize. As activists and members of the Yazidi community, we really welcome this. It will help our cause to be more recognised in the world.” | |
| Yazda, an NGO that supports the Yazidi community in Iraq, congratulated Murad and Aji Bashar on their award and urged the west not to ignore the plight of Yazidis still in captivity. | Yazda, an NGO that supports the Yazidi community in Iraq, congratulated Murad and Aji Bashar on their award and urged the west not to ignore the plight of Yazidis still in captivity. |
| “This occasion is a meaningful moment for the Yazidi community worldwide to celebrate,” it said. “However, Yazda sincerely hopes that in addition to this substantial acknowledgment of Nadia and Lamiya’s work, the international community will turn more attention to the thousands of Yazidi women and children still in captivity, the thousands of Yazidi men whose whereabouts remain unknown to their families, and to the hundreds of thousands of Yazidis who remain displaced in Iraq and elsewhere and are unable to return to their homelands and begin rebuilding their lives.” | “This occasion is a meaningful moment for the Yazidi community worldwide to celebrate,” it said. “However, Yazda sincerely hopes that in addition to this substantial acknowledgment of Nadia and Lamiya’s work, the international community will turn more attention to the thousands of Yazidi women and children still in captivity, the thousands of Yazidi men whose whereabouts remain unknown to their families, and to the hundreds of thousands of Yazidis who remain displaced in Iraq and elsewhere and are unable to return to their homelands and begin rebuilding their lives.” |