Transitional justice in Iraq : justice and reconciliation for the Yazidi minority in Northern Iraq for crimes committed by ISIS

Abstract

This is an interdisciplinary analysis of how transitional justice tools can contribute to deliver justice and ensure reconciliation for the Yazidi community in Iraq. They became victims of ISIS‘ most cruel strategies of war including the systematic separation of families, destruction of villages, mass killings and rape as part of a genocide on an ethno-religious minority that was left defenceless by Iraqi and Kurdish military forces. Looking into the country‘s history and legal framework will help to indicate the specific needs of the victims and the limitations of the judicial and extra-judicial tools that are used in transitional justice processes. The analysis will focus on five pillars: Retributive justice, Restorative justice, Reconciliation initiatives, Reform and Remembering. The analysis aims at formulating recommendations on how to avoid impunity for the ISIS leaders and combatants who orchestrated or committed these crimes and how to start rebuilding and reconciling a community in a country that was unable to protect themselves from such atrocities.