A Community in Crisis: The Systematic Genocide of the Yazidis by ISIS and the Global Response

The Yazidi genocide carried out by ISIS in 2014 stands as one of the most severe humanitarian crises we've faced in the 21st century. This paper delves into the brutal campaign of extermination, sexual slavery, forced conversion, and cultural destruction aimed at the Yazidi community, an ethno-religious minority mainly found in northern Iraq and Syria. Through a much misunderstood religion, Yazidis were branded as "devil worshippers" and became targets of wholesale massacres, abduction, and atrocities. While men and boys were massacred on a mass scale, women and girls were reduced to sexual slavery, and boys were indoctrinated and trained for warfares. The attack was directed with genocidal intent, as described in Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention. This paper furthermore exposes an insufficient, often sensationalized global media and humanitarian response, largely focusing on sexual violence to the detriment of broader community suffering. By affording attention from the UN and the International Bar Association, the paper also stresses the importance of victim-centered justice, due process, and institutional reform. It also highlights the continued insecurity of the Yazidi diaspora in Europe due to the repatriation of ISIS fighters and ongoing discrimination, adding to their trauma. The study thus ends with a call to a Proposition of a full-scale transitional justice system based on truth, reparations, and rehabilitation, inviting the international community to meet its moral and legal obligations to ensure that "never again" is not just an empty phrase but a promise secured in prevention of persecuted communities going forward.