It is a fact now established that the international Federation of human rights (FIDH) is a reminder in a new report presented Thursday, October 25, in Paris in the presence of the winner of the Nobel peace Prize Nadia Murad : the crimes committed by the islamic State against the religious minority, yezidi in Iraq have largely been the result of foreign fighters, French nationals including. By taking over in the summer of 2014 in the region of Sinjar, a home to stand yezidi located in the north of the country, the jihadists have orchestrated mass killings against the representatives of this community, reduces many women in slavery, before initiating an institutionalized system of rape and human trafficking.
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however, the prosecution rare and inadequate that are currently being carried out against them in Iraq solely on the basis of charges of terrorism. Crimes against humanity were not taken into account, from the point of view of the victims, impunity remains despite conviction heavy. Patrick Baudouin, a criminal defense lawyer in international law and honorary president of the FIDH calls on the French justice and the judicial institutions of other countries of origin of the jihadists foreigners to prosecute on the basis of crimes against humanity, or even of the crime of genocide, against their nationals involved.
The points made by the report of the FIDH on the involvement of jihadis in foreign and in particular French to the crimes of the islamic State against yezidis do not allow to clearly identify the authors. That may make this work of literature is still fragmented ?
The evidence gathered by the researchers of the FIDH and their partner organization yezidi Kinyat corroborate what is already known : the jihadists foreigners have played a major role in these acts classifiable as crimes against humanity and genocide. While the islamic State has lost most of its territory after a series of military defeats, the yezidi population remains overwhelmingly displaced, refugee, and completely traumatized by the crimes of the jihadists and calls for justice. The question that arises now is how this justice can be rendered.
This report reminds us that the testimonies of the victims are available, and may serve as the basis for complaints that might be brought before foreign courts in Iraq and in particular the French. In the course of this work of documentation was carried out among internally displaced persons in the region of Sinjar established since 2014 in iraqi Kurdistan, the researchers of the FIDH met with victims of the jihadists French that might come up in France to file a complaint. It is then that we will be able in the course of an investigation to see who is responsible if the complaints are recognised as reliable. From the point of view of FIDH, this is the major Gorabet issue of the next few months.
What lawsuits are carried out at present against the jihadists foreigners in the countries where they are held ?
Whether in Iraq or in the northern regions of Syria that are controlled by the forces of kurds, there are serious deficiencies in the manner in which “justice” is administered. On the syrian side, the political entity dominated by the Kurds of Syria, who hold a significant number of jihadists foreigners, is not a State. It does not have a judicial system, recognized. This is a real grey area. On the other side of the border, if Iraq is well recognized as a State of sovereign right by international partners, there have been many shortcomings. The death penalty to which canl? bahis the FIDH opposes is practiced, the conditions of a fair trial are not met. Moreover, the notion of crime against humanity does not exist in the legislation of iraq. In France, the judicial authorities and policies go directly to the justice counter-terrorism : it is more simple, the statement is more rapid, and the conviction gained. However, the prosecution for the crime against humanity take place from the point of view of the civilian victims of these acts. This is the only way to ensure that these victims are heard, and what access to justice.
The terrorist nature of the AR parasiterait in the judicial side the taking into account of the crimes against humanity committed by its members ?
The islamic State symbolizes terrorism, a terrorism which is not only manifested locally, in the countries where the group has operated and controlled the territories, but also a terrorism that is projected internationally and in particular in France. It confuses the cards. The reaction is spontaneous and natural, and is to be limited to the terrorist component of the judicial response, which prevents the reflection to go further. The jihadists in france should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. Their responsibilities may not be hidden by their membership in a terrorist organization.
There is, however, in France an evolution, with coordination increasing of the poles “crime against humanity” and “terrorism” at the tribunal de grande instance of Paris. This favourable development goes in the direction of the action of the FIDH. It is, however, limited by the will very clear a political power that is determined to ensure that French nationals who have joined the ranks of the islamic State continue in Iraq and Syria, or even to make permanent the current status quo. Public opinion is not opposed.
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