The association Voice of Ezidis, co-founded in Paris in 2019 by survivors of the 2014 genocide perpetrated by the so-called Islamic State, is committed to the support of the Ezidi community, both in France, where some refugee families have fled since the beginning of the genocide, and in Iraq, where a lot of Ezidis still reside. Voice of Ezidis defends the rights of the Ezidi people and advocates for the awareness and recognition of the genocide it endured in 2014.
What is a Genocide?
Genocide was first recognised as a crime under international law in 1946 by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/96-I). It was codified as an independent crime in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention). The Convention has been ratified by 149 States (as of January 2018).
Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
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Killing members of the group;
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Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
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Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
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Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
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Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
A long history of genocides:
This list is done by alphabetical order and is not exhaustive

AFRICAN
AMERICANS
1600s - 1964
(Civil Rights Act) but considered ongoing due to the systemic racism and mass incarceration in the USA.
Perpetrator: US
ALEVIS
1400s - ongoing
Turkey refusing to recognize Alevism and Alevis are still victims of exaction & discrimination
Perpetrators: Ottoman Empire/ Turkey

ALGERIANS
1830 - 1962
During the French colonial rule, more than 1.5 million Algerians were killed and countless were tortured and abused.
Perpetrator: France

ARMENIANS
1915 - 1923
Attempt at annihilation against the Armenian community living in the Empire
Perpetrator: Ottoman Empire

ASSYRIANS
1915 - ongoing
Part of the Ottoman ethnic cleansing campaign and subjects to violence and exaction ever since.
Perpetrator: Ottoman Empire, Govs and ISIS

BAHA'I
1906 - ongoing
Baha'i

BOSNIAKS
1992 - 1995
Ethnic cleansing campaign to destroy the Muslim population of Bosnia
Perpetrator: Republika Srpska

CAMBODIANS
1975 - 1979
Systematic persecutions and killings of civilians who opposed the regime.
Perpetrator: Khmer Rouge regime

CONGOLESES
1885 - 1908
The King Leopold II of Belgium used the land for his own use and mutilated, tortured and killed 15 millions people.
Perpetrator: Belgium
DARFOURIS
2003 - 2009
Sudanese Civil War, millions of Darfouris were forced to flee and thousands were killed
Perpetrator: Sudanese Government
EAST
TIMORESES
1975 - 1999
"Pacification campaigns" during the Indonesian invasion of East Timor
Perpetrator: Indonesian Government

EZIDIS
2014 - ongoing
After centuries of oppression because of their faith, Ezidis endured a last attempt at annihilation
Perpetrator: ISIS

JEWISH
PEOPLE
1941 - 1945
After centuries of oppression, Jewish people were methodically killed and erased from Europe.
Perpetrator: Nazi Germany and allies

KURDS
1986 - 1989
Constant discrimination and assimilation campaigns by the Saddam Hussein regime
Perpetrator: Iraqi Government
MAYAN
PEOPLES
1978 - 1986
Always subject to discrimination, the Mayan peoples were systematically killed and their villages destroyed
Perpetrator: Guatemala
NATIVE
AMERICANS
1492 - ongoing
Systematic massacres, tortures and land occupation that continues to this day.
Perpetrators: USA, Canada, United Kingdom

HEREROS
NAMAQUAS
1904 - 1908
After a rebellion against the German colonial rule, Hereros and Namaquas were massacred and put into concentration camps
Perpetrator: Germany
PALESTINIANS
1948 - ongoing
Palestinians have been forced to flee their home as their land is colonized and they are being erase from their land.
Perpetrator: Israël

RHOYINGAS
2016 - ongoing
Thousands of Rohingya were killed in a will to cleanse the country from this Muslim community.
Perpetrator: Myanmar
ROMA
PEOPLE
1935 - 1945
The goal was to ethnically cleanse once and for all Europe from Roma people.
Perpetrator: Nazi Germany and allies

SOUTH
SOUDANESE
2013 - 2020
Sudanese Civil War where the governmental forces attacked and tortured civilians by thousands.
Perpetrator: Sudanese Government

TAMILS
1983 - 2009
Tamils have been victims of racist pogroms, state violence, killings and military occupation.
Perpetrator: Sri Lanka

TIBETANS
1950 - ongoing
Tibetans faced assimilation programs from China to erase their identity, and thousands have fled
Perpetrator: China

TURKMENS
2014 - ongoing
Turkmen were among the minorities that were victim of ISIS genocidal campaign to cleanse its territory
Perpetrator: ISIS

TUTSIS
1994
The Rwanda Civil War was followed by the brutal killings of a million of Tutsi mass tortures and rapes.
Perpetrator: Hutu Gov.

UKRAINIANS
1932-1933
Man-made famine orchestrated by Staline with restriction of movement and confiscation of food.
Perpetrator: USSR

ZOROASTRIANS
600s - ongoing
Zoroastrians have been victims of persecutions throughout History due to their religion.
Perpetrators: Caliphates, Iran, Iraq
For the 6th commemoration of the Ezidi genocide (the 3rd of August 2020), we were join by several communities who suffered a genocide.
Together, we demand real actions to the international community!