On March 8 2021, International Women’s Day, President Barham Salih ratified the Yazidi Female Survivors Law, law enacted in the Iraqi Council of Representatives. This groundbreaking law mandates several critical reparations for survivors of ISIL crimes from Yazidi, Christian Turkmen and Shabak communities.

The Yazidi Survivors Law referred to as the YSL, includes compensation, rehabilitation, land, housing, continued education, employment, recognition of the genocide, criminal prosecutions of perpetrators, the search for those who remain missing, protection of witnesses and survivors and the establishment of a national day of remembrance on August 3. Two years before the Yazidi Female Survivors Law was passed, on March 28 2019, President Barham Salih´s office submitted a Yazidi Female Survivors bill to the Iraqi parliament for review and approval. This initial bill was of great importance in two ways.

First, it was already quite advanced and included various reparative measures. And second, it managed to mobilize a wide movement, including the involvement of Iraqi civil society and survivors, to push for modifications in passing this draft law in the Iraqi parliament.

Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights hosted the following conversation on behalf of the Coalition for Just Reparations (C4JR).

Read the episode transcript: https://jiyan.org/former-president-dr-barham-salih-on-shaping-the-yazidi-female-survivors-law-in-iraq/

Learn more about the Coalition for Just Reparations at www.c4jr.org

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