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Recognition - Where are we now ? 

"The [UNITAD] team has established a detailed account of the atrocities committed against the Yazidis. Thousands of statements have been taken by the Team, or obtained from the Iraqi authorities or from the KRG, or from NGOs. We have combined that with analysis of computers and phone records, cell-side evidence, forensic analysis, facial recognition, and I am able to announce that based on independent and impartial investigations – complied with international standards and UN best practice – that there is clear and convincing evidence that the crimes against the [Ezidi] people clearly constituted genocide."

Mr. Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, QC Special Adviser and former Head of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh / Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Briefing10 May 2021

So far, 15 parliaments, governments or international institutions have recognized the 2014  Ezidi genocide.

On January 27, 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution declaring that the Islamic State organisation had committed acts of genocide and other serious crimes punishable under international law.

On February 4, 2016, The European Parliament passed a resolution highlighting that the Islamic State organisation has committed genocide against the country's ethnic and religious minorities.

On March 4, 2016, the United States House of the Representatives voted to recognize the atrocities perpetrated by the Islamic State against Christians, Ezidis and other minority groups in Irak as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. This was then confirmed by a statement from Secretary of State John Kerry, on March 17, who declared those acts constitued a genocide.

On April 20, 2016, the United Kingdom House of the Commons voted to qualify the acts of the Islamic State against religious minorities in Irak as a genocide.

On June 16, 2016, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Dion, defined the crimes of the Islamic State organisation as genocide before the House of Commons on 16 June 2016.

On December 6, 2016, Senate, followed, on December 8, by National Assembly, of France, voted for the recognition of the genocide against the Ezidis. 

On March 23, 2017, the Scottish Parliament recognised and condemned the genocide perpetrated against the Ezidis and called on the UK to ask the Security Council for an investigation by the International Criminal Court.

In 2016, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Syria recognised that "genocide is taking place". However, no vote has yet been taken on the subject in the UN General Assembly.

On January, 16, 2018, the Armenian Parliament recognised and condemned the genocide.

On February, 26, 2018, the Australian parliament recognised that the crimes perpetrated by the Islamic State against the Ezidis were war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On November 29, 2019, the Portuguese parliament recognised the genocide against the Ezidis after a unanimous vote.

On November 30, 2021, finally, an Iraqi member of the Islamic State was found guilty of genocide and sentenced to life by a court in Frankfurt, Germany. 

These above-listed are great achievements; but they are not enough. Now is time for a wide international recognition of the 2014 genocide against Ezidis.
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