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Page 1 of 4  Yazidi child
The attacks were aimed at intimidate Ezidis in Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are in huge danger.
Result of DI campaign: The president of Kurdistan region in Iraq
promised on August 28, 2007 to do his best to provide protection for Ezidis. A
pro-term committee has been set up to follow up the case.
Name: Several
hundreds of thousands of civilians
Sex: Males
& females
Authorities: Iraqi
/ Kurdish
Category: Concern
about the civilian's safety, health and condition
Picture: 
The
case:
Four truck bombs
were detonated on Tuesday 14 August 2007 in Kar Izir area, 35 km south of Sinjar, and at
the Siba Sheikh Khidr housing compound, killing and injuring more than 800
people. The exact number of the casualties is not clear yet. Many injured are
in critical condition.
Iraqi government security
forces are in charge in that area. The Iraqi army said: this was one of the worst incidents of its kind in
the four-year-old war. The bombs have reduced
dozens of houses to rubble. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq called the attacks an "abominable
crime aimed at widening the sectarian and ethnic divide in Iraq."
The bombings targeted the Ezidis, a vulnerable religious minority,
members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish sect whose followers are generally situated in Kurdistan region.
More than two tons of explosives were used in
the bloody explosions.
The major motives
behind the attacks are religious, ethnic, and racial; in addition there are possible
hidden political motives as well. The attacks were aimed to intimidate Ezidis.
Inhabitants from neighbouring villages had already threatening them, and over
the past weeks the threats from extremist groups were also increased. This incident gives rise to
new risks and threat for Iraq's
Ethnic Minorities.
Facts:
- Some 350,000 Ezidis
live in villages around Mosul, 405 km north of Baghdad.
- Sinjar district, 120 km to the northwest of Mosul, is inhabited by
the Ezidis.
- Ezidis are ethnic
Kurds, and most live near Mosul, with
communities in Syria, Turkey, Iran,
Armenia, Georgia
and Russia.
-
There are hundreds
of thousand of Ezidis, estimates of their population size vary, partially due
to some minority tradition of secrecy about their religious beliefs and number simply to get chance to survive.
DI Demands:
Defend International call on Iraq's president, Iraq's
Prime Minister, the president of Kurdistan region in Iraq and the head of Kurdistan
Regional government to provide protection for Ezidis, whose members continue
to face terrorist threats and some of the most inhumane treatments. DI
campaign:
Please copy
the following appeals to the authorities. Please add your
signature and address and send them to arrive as soon as possible.
With thanks
and appreciation
Defend
International Heman kempin bi Kurdi نفس الحملة
بالعربية
ـــــــــــــــــ President Jalal Talabani
Baghdad, Iraq
E-mail:
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Your Excellency,
Herby I am expressing my concern to learn that
the Ezidis in Sinjar district have been attacked and the crimes against them
are organized which means they are in huge danger.
There is no time anymore to postpone coordination
between the central government in Baghdad and
the Kurdistan Regional government to cover the security vacuum in the areas of
Sinjar and Mosul. The principle that civilians must be protected
lies at the heart of the International Law of Armed Conflict. I urge you to do everything
necessary to protect Ezidis.
I hope for your urgent attention to this
matter.
Respectfully yours,
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