A complaint has been filed against Türkiye before the United Nations Human Rights Committee on behalf of four Iraqi citizens, all Yazidi, regarding airstrikes carried out by the Turkish airforce against a civilian hospital, the Sikenye Medical Clinic, in Sinjar, Iraq. The airstrikes in August 2021 resulted in the killing of eight civilians and severely injured many others.
The complaint was lodged by the Accountability Unit and Women for Justice, a female-led Yazidi NGO, with the assistance of a team of international lawyers, including Soraya Bauwens of 1MCB Chambers, and Tatyana Eatwell and Aarif Abraham of Doughty Street Chambers.
It is the first complaint of its kind to be brought before an international body on the issue of Turkish airstrikes against the Yazidi, and follows a two-year investigation. There have been no formal investigations into the airstrikes, or accountability for the killing and serious injury to civilians.
Air strikes by the Turkish air force in Sinjar are ongoing, resulting in continuing insecurity in the region and hampering the return of survivors of the Yazidi genocide to their homeland.
News of the complaint has been widely reported on, including in The Guardian and on Radio 4 Today.
More information about the complaint can be found here.
Soraya was a contributing author to the 2022 report launched in the UK Parliament on ‘State Responsibility and the Yazidi Genocide’ by the Yazidi Justice Committee, available here.
