The shortfalls of Yazidi Survivors Law
What is YSL?
Yazidi Female Survivors Law (YSL) was adopted on 1 March 2021. The law established an administrative reparation program, allowing survivors of the Yazidi genocide of 2014 to seek compensation for harm caused by the genocide. This includes government efforts to locate those remaining in Da’esh captivity, the cooperation of authorities in identifying bodies in mass graves and guaranteeing liability for those guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Tangible compensation comprises a monthly salary and a plot of land. Additionally, access to healthcare, employment and education was to be provided.[1]
Though judicial processes are often more concrete and clearer whilst assuring compliance due to their legally binding nature, they also tend to be expensive and lengthy.[2] Therefore, a non-judicial program is vital for restoring the victim’s rights as it allows for an alternative pathway to accessing reparations and simplifies evidentiary thresholds which may be difficult to understand and are often defined too narrowly to cover all who require the remedies.[3] This is especially important when the victims are vulnerable, as Yazidis often are due to continued discrimination, persecution and seclusion in the Kurdistan region and Iraqi society. [4] Thus, YSL was welcomed by multiple international and regional NGOs.
Why is the law inadequate?
As of February 2024, 1,651 survivors of Da’esh’s crimes, primarily Yazidis, were approved by the relevant institutions of the Iraqi government in Baghdad to receive payments under YSL. As most survivors live in poverty in post-conflict affected areas or camps, the monthly payments may have a significantly positive impact on many survivors’ lives. However, reaching stability is drastically limited by Iraqi legislation prohibiting dual salaries which also hinders survivors’ ability to attain priority status in public sector employment.[5] [6] Yazidis have also highlighted the need to establish an appropriate and transparent screening mechanism to uncover and sanction the submitters of false and forged applications through which financial gain is sought at the expense of survivors.[7]
Other issues include the decision passed in 2023 by the government in Baghdad, requiring applicants to file a judicial complaint to be eligible for reparations under YSL. This additional requirement is unfitting with the nature and rationale of a non-judicial process which is supposed to surpass the difficulties created by a judicial process.[8] As a result, the agency of victims to decide whether to bring cases has been undermined and remedies under YSL have been rendered extremely challenging for Yazidi survivors to obtain, with many finding even reporting the crimes difficult as they are unsure whether cases should be reported to the authorities in Kurdistan or Baghdad. Moreover, multiple statements have been made describing harassment and stigmatisation Yazidis have faced when filing criminal complaints to the judiciary.[9] Hence, key protections offered by a non-judicial process have been completely nullified.
Additionally, the new requirement entails Yazidis to depict abuse in court, creating a risk of re-traumatisation. This is especially so for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) as these crimes are frequently committed without witnesses and leave little evidence behind unless investigated immediately. Indeed, perpetrators of such crimes notoriously enjoy an exceptional amount of impunity due to underreporting in fear of a traumatic judicial hearing, and the difficulty of collecting evidence for lengthy proceedings.[10] This is counterproductive to the reparations process, which is supposed to prevent and protect from further harm.
In addition to these difficulties in obtaining remedies under YSL, the law is fundamentally lacking as it does not recognise many victims who also require remedies. The law lays out those who are eligible for remedies in Article 2. It largely recognises female and child victims of kidnappings, as well as the survivors of mass killings perpetrated by Da’esh.[11] With this, categories of victims, such as survivors of conflict-related sexual violence who are not women or girls, children born of conflict-related sexual violence, as well as survivors of crimes committed by non-Da’esh related armed state and non-state actors active during the same timeframe are completely ignored, leaving them with no avenue for reparations.[12]
These issues with YSL must be solved to ensure that the Yazidi community’s survival will no longer be under constant threat, allowing them to resume the practice of their long-standing traditions which the closed, primarily oral community is heavily reliant on. The reparations that YSL has the potential to provide can give the Yazidi community resources to rebuild culturally significant sites once again and recreate stable roots in their land which they can pass down to generations to come. This would also help Yazidi refugees reunite with their people and customs.
About the Author
Meriam Holmström has volunteered for YLN since 2021. She holds an LLM in Transnational Law from King’s College London. In the past, she has written for organisations such as Lawyers Without Borders King’s College London division and the European Law Students’ Association.
Sources
[1] “Joint Statement on the Implementation of the Yazidi Survivors Law” Human Right Watch (14.4.2023) https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/14/joint-statement-implementation-yazidi-survivors-law
[2] Alvarez Rubio, Juan Jose, and Katerina Yiannibas, Human Rights in Business : Removal of Barriers to Access to Justice in the European Union (Routledge 2017)
[3] “Joint Statement on the Implementation of the Yazidi Survivors Law” Human Right Watch (14.4.2023) https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/14/joint-statement-implementation-yazidi-survivors-law
[4] Fréderike Geerdink, “Helpt deze nieuwe wet de vervolgde Jezidi’s? Amnesty International Netherlands (3.4.2023) https://www.amnesty.nl/wordt-vervolgd/helpt-deze-nieuwe-wet-de-vervolgde-jezidis
[5] Mairéad Smith, “More than “Ink on Paper”: Taking Stock Three Years After the Adoption of the Yazidi [Female] Survivors Law” Coalition for Just Reparations (2024)
[6] Unified Pension Law No. 9 of 2014, Article 21.11 states “The pensioner may not be paid more than a single pension earned in accordance with more than one law and may choose, for one time only, the better pension,” accessible at: https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/2014/en/122533 and Article 38 which outlines exemptions to dual salary to include beneficiaries of the Martyrs Foundation Law No. 3 of 2006, as amended; Political Prisoners Institution Law No. 4 of 2006; and Law No. 20 of 2009 on Compensating those Affected by War Operations, Military Mistakes, and Terrorist Operations. See also Unified Retirement Law Article 10.9 of 2015 Amended by Law No. 26 of 2019 states “All legal texts that allow for the combination of two or more salaries are cancelled, except for political prisoners, families of martyrs, and victims of terrorism, according to the laws in force.” See also Civil Service Law No. 24 of 1960, Article 53 states “The employee is not entitled to receive two salaries for two jobs at the same time or allowances for committee or work that are considered part of his job duties,” accessible at: https://iraqld.e-sjc-services.iq/LoadLawBook.as- px?page=6&SC=311020059759549&BookID=3589.
[7] Mairéad Smith, “More than “Ink on Paper”: Taking Stock Three Years After the Adoption of the Yazidi [Female] Survivors Law” Coalition for Just Reparations (2024)
[8] “Joint Statement on the Implementation of the Yazidi Survivors Law” Human Right Watch (14.4.2023) https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/14/joint-statement-implementation-yazidi-survivors-law
[9] Ibid.
[10] Clare McGlynn, “Feminism, Rape and the Search for Justice.” Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, vol. 31, no. 4, 2011, pp. 825–42
[11] Iraq Law No.8 of 2021 - Yazidi Female Survivors Law, Article 2
[12] “Mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence; the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; the Special Rapporteur on minority issues; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences and the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls” (15 September 2022) AL IRQ 3/2022, 3