The Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights and the Coalition for Just Reparations (C4JR) warmly congratulate Dr. Barham Salih on his appointment as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We take this opportunity to recall his pivotal role in advancing justice for survivors of ISIL crimes in Iraq, particularly through his leadership in the enactment of the Yazidi Female Survivors Law (YSL).
By exercising the President’s underutilised power of legislative initiative, President Salih and his associates drafted the initial version of the YSL and submitted it to the Iraqi Parliament on 28 March 2019. Following its adoption by the Iraqi Council of Representatives on 1 March 2021, President Salih ratified the law on 8 March 2021—International Women’s Day—formally bringing it into force.
The YSL represents a landmark step in addressing the legacy of ISIL’s atrocities against Yazidi, Christian, Turkmen, and Shabak communities. It formally recognises acts of genocide and establishes a framework for financial and non-financial reparations for survivors. By specifically addressing women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, Iraq became one of the first countries in the MENA region to acknowledge such crimes and pursue redress in line with international standards.
It should be recalled that the initial YSL text, introduced by the Iraqi Presidency, was already particularly progressive in scope. Namely, it extended beyond compensation to encompass a comprehensive set of material and symbolic reparative measures, including rehabilitation, land and housing, education, recognition of genocide, memorialization, the search for the missing, and a commitment to accountability. The draft also contained provisions aimed at improving the legal and social status of children born of wartime sexual violence. Furthermore, by drafting and submitting the bill, President Salih created space for meaningful engagement of survivors, civil society organizations, activists and the international community to strengthen the initial text, advocate for its adoption and survivor-centered implementation. Thus, the significance and positive impact of the initial YSL draft cannot be overstated, particularly given the largely symbolic role of the Head of State under Iraq’s 2005 Constitution.
Reflecting on his motivation to champion the YSL, President Salih stated:
“What motivated me was a sense of responsibility, was a sense of ethics. [Also the] fact that the victims of ISIS, especially the Yazidi girls who were abducted and treated the way that they were, represented the most extreme case of brutality, of man against women against fellow man. As a State of Iraq, as a Muslim, as a Kurd, as a President, as a human being, I felt that we really needed to act. To me, no amount of reparation, no amount of recognition could ever undo the injustice that befalls these people. I hope that this will be the beginning of a process by which we will not only provide reparation from the Iraqi state and the Iraqi authorities, which is a moral responsibility in so many ways towards our own citizens and our own people but also hopefully, the day will come when we are able to galvanize and mobilize serious international efforts [so that] whoever helped ISIS perpetrate these crimes, should pay for these crimes and should be paying reparation for the victims, Yazidis foremost among them, who really have suffered a terrible, terrible ordeal during that period”.
President Salih further reflects on his role in advancing reparations in the first episode of C4JR’s podcast series, “More Than Ink on Paper,” which aired on March 8, 2023, where he discusses accountability and justice for survivors of ISIL crimes.
For the latest updates on the implementation of the Yazidi Female Survivors Law, subscribe to the C4JR newsletter.
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