Status: 01/19/2023 1:45 p.m
In 2014, the terrorist militia “Islamic State” killed thousands of Yazidis in northern Iraq. The Bundestag has now recognized this as genocide. The deputies voted unanimously for the resolution presented by the traffic light groups and the Union.
The Bundestag has recognized the systematic persecution and murder of Yazidis in northern Iraq by the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS) as genocide. The deputies voted unanimously for the resolution presented jointly by the traffic light groups and the CDU/CSU.
The Bundestag is thus the first parliament of a large European state to recognize the atrocities committed against the Yazidis in 2014 as genocide. “The German Bundestag bows to the victims of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by IS,” the resolution reads.
The parliament recognizes that the crimes of the IS militia “are a matter of genocide within the meaning of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.
Not legally binding
The approved bill is not legally binding. However, the Bundestag is taking a clear historical position and is addressing political demands to the Federal Government. The factions of the Left and AfD, which were not involved in drafting the resolution, also voted in favor.
In 2014, the jihadist militia conquered the Sinjar Mountains in northern Iraq, where the Yazidis have lived for centuries. In its dominions in northern Iraq and Syria, the militia forced women and girls into slavery, recruited boys as child soldiers and killed thousands of men. Since then, thousands of Yazidis have fled the region.
More information coming soon.