We, the Ezidi People of Shingal:
Having survived the Genocide of August 3, 2014, the greatest ferman and gravest existential threat in our history;
Witnessing our survivors being scattered to the four corners of the earth;
Recalling that this catastrophe has been recognized as genocide by the United Nations since 2016 and by other nation states in the years thereafter;
Considering that the International Community pledged to work toward our recovery and the stabilization of our homeland to guarantee our future protection and the prevention of any future genocide, but has instead funded our life in displacement while failing to undertake the effort necessary to achieve a lasting solution for the security and stability of Shingal;
Watching our children grow up in conditions of displacement for more than a decade;
Suffering for years the further indignity and injustice of blockade policies implemented by co-perpetrators of our genocide, designed to inhibit our return to our homeland, to discourage us from reclaiming our homes, to prevent us from rebuilding, and to humiliate us as we endeavored to visit our mass graves and our holy temples;
Discouraged as this Kurdish political faction has coercively and forcibly imposed its custodianship upon us;
Disheartened as the International Community has legitimized these co-perpetrators of our genocide and has sought to return our homeland to their control through the Sinjar Agreement, which was drafted apart from our knowledge and without the involvement of a single person from our community and then imposed upon us entirely against our will;
Observing that despite the world’s pledges to make our homeland safe, our sacred mountain of Shingal continues to be bombarded by Turkish airstrikes, killing civilians, children, and Ezidi fighters;
Aware that repeated explosive waves of hate speech in Iraq and in the Kurdistan Region demonstrate that the possibility for future genocides remains a very real risk;
Wearied by the absence of official administration in Shingal for nearly eleven years and now targeted with new government policies that restrict the access of humanitarian organizations and outside visitors, measures that obstruct reconstruction and sever our contact with our supportive partners, effectively converting our beloved homeland into a massive restricted military zone;
Remaining in critical need—more than a decade following the beginning of this ferman—for a lasting solution that returns agency for our governance and security to our own hand:
We now call for the formation of an International Commission that will undertake, through official agreement with Baghdad, an investigation and effort for the founding and establishment of an autonomous region in Shingal.
1) This Commission must function from the outset according to a working principle that no co-perpetrator of our genocide can ever be allowed any role—military or administrative—in the future of our homeland Shingal.
It is on this basis that we reject the Sinjar Agreement, as its adoption would represent the first step in a gradual process to return us to the status quo that existed the day before the genocide began.
2) An autonomous region created in the Shingal region would be developed on the basis of Article 116, Article 117.2, Article 119, Article 120, and Article 121.5 of the Iraqi Constitution, which allow for the creation of new regions within the Iraqi federal system. An autonomous region in Shingal would constitute such an entity within the Iraqi federal system.
3) The purpose of the creation of this autonomous region is to ensure that our region, which has been our homeland for many centuries, can be served by nonpartisan security and administration, overseen by the children of the mountain who have sprung from its soil and therefore carry a true commitment for its protection, and guaranteeing that it will never again be abandoned and left defenseless against slaughter and enslavement when threats emerge.
Postulations regarding a future administrative framework have involved various terminologies, such as governorate, “self-administration,” “local administration,” “autonomous region,” “semi-autonomous region,” and so forth. Contention over definitions or the most ideal type of administrative entity should not be invoked as justification to avoid launching the International Commission whose purview would include the exploration of the reasonable options and possibilities. Our assumption is that an autonomous region, rather than merely a breakaway governorate from the Nineveh Governorate, will be necessary to preclude the infiltration of external parties who would seek to politicize and control our homeland, as was the case in the decade prior to the ferman and which played a direct role in producing the conditions of helplessness and defenselessness that put our people in harm’s way and allowed the genocide to occur.
4) As the authorities of our country lack the incentives, expertise, and will to resolve the dilemmas facing Shingal on their own, it is necessary for an International Commission to play a supportive role in assisting Baghdad in fulfilling its responsibilities toward us.
We do not consider the work of the Commission to be foreign meddling in our country’s affairs; the genocide was in part an outcome of Western intervention in this country and until our homeland is stabilized, the obligation of Western powers to fulfill their promises regarding the survival of our people remains unsettled.
a) The Commission should be established through a consensual agreement with Baghdad, whereby Baghdad sanctions the operation of the Commission in Shingal. This agreement could be conducted between Baghdad and the United Nations, between Baghdad and a single nation-state partner, or between Baghdad and a coalition of international partners.
b) The agreement should include Baghdad’s pledge to honor the framework designed by the Commission as binding.
5) All fighters and personnel who served and sacrificed for the defense of Shingal over the past decade must have a place in the depoliticized force of the new security framework developed for the autonomous region. This includes those who served in the YBŞ, the Ezidi Hashd al-Sha‘bi, the Ezidi Peshmerga, the HPÊ, and the smaller independent fighter groups.
We are grateful to the International Community for its past support and to those fellow Iraqis who have stood by us, but our struggle remains existential. With one united voice we have presented a solution in this petition. This solution requires a serious undertaking, but it is necessary if we are to recover, endure, and thrive. We need the world to fulfill the many promises it made to us in the aftermath of the ferman of 2014. Daʿsh attempted to eradicate our people and giving up on us would be their victory. The Ezidis must not be forgotten.
We the undersigned present this petition July 2025:
So far, this petition has been signed by a wide spectrum of Ezidi society and key actors from Shingal, including religious, civil society, political, and military leaders. Their support reflects a united demand for justice, dignity, and a lasting solution for Shingal. The process of gathering endorsements and public support is ongoing.
We hope that the majority of our people will support this historic and first-of-its-kind initiative. You have an opportunity to influence the future with your voice. Join us in affirming the above message by adding your name below. If you would like to contribute or support in other ways, please contact us—your involvement matters.