| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraqi Forensic Medicine Department Returns 39 Yazidi Remains to Families After 2014 ISIS Massacre |
| 2023-06-27 |
| [Shafaq News] The Forensic Medicine Department of Iraq's Ministry of Health announced on Monday the handover of 39 cases of remains belonging to Yazidi victims who were killed by ISIS militants. The remains were returned to their families after undergoing laboratory testing and DNA examinations. In a statement, the department stated that a delegation from the mass graves department delivered the cases to the families at the Forensic Medicine Department in Nineveh Governorate. Dr. Shahd Aref Hamed Al-Sultan, the department's director, confirmed that the remains were matched in a laboratory. DNA examinations were conducted to establish their identities in coordination with the relatives. "All necessary data has been completed, and death certificate procedures are handed over with each case," Dr. Al-Sultan added. Sinjar has been the site of more than eighty mass graves, where thousands of Yazidis were killed and abducted during ISIS's invasion of the area in 2014. The systematic targeting and persecution of Yazidis by ISIS drew international outrage and prompted military interventions to counter the extremist group's brutal campaign in Iraq and Syria. Identifying the remains found in mass graves remains a challenging and complex task, requiring the expertise of forensic specialists and cooperation between government agencies and international organizations. Efforts to locate and exhume mass graves in Iraq continue as part of broader initiatives to document and prosecute those responsible for war crimes and human rights abuses committed during ISIS's reign of terror. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |