Interactive Story Map
StoryMap Link [https://arcg.is/inLi1]
Global Rights Compliance (GRC) and the Free Yezidi Foundation (FYF) for the last 25 months have, with the generous support of the United States Department of Global Criminal Justice, been engaged in a project entitled “Promoting Accountability in Iraq and Syria for Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, and War Crimes.”
Since 2014 there has been extensive documentation on how ISIS perpetrated the Yezidi genocide. However, prior to 2022 there had been insufficient professional, accountability-focused investigations into the genocidal attack against Yezidis from five villages: Tel Qasab, Tel Banat, Tel Azir, Gerzerik, and Siba Sheikh Khidr.
This unique 25-month investigation sought to change that. Using its extensive local knowledge, FYF identified the five villages and interviewed survivors with critical evidence, many of whom had never been interviewed before.
GRC and FYF have conducted over 100 interviews; produced over 200 person of interest files; tasked and analyzed over 80 open-source information (OSIF) requests; produced 9 perpetrator dossiers and reached nearly 7000 survivors.
GRC and FYF’s work has led to tangible progress on the identification and prosecution of ISIS perpetrators of atrocities. It has contributed to structural crime scene analysis and laid the groundwork for prosecutions. The preparation of perpetrator dossiers has been shared with UNITAD, and other international justice mechanisms and prosecuting authorities.
In addition to the investigative and accountability outcomes, there was also a pedagogical component of the Project. An Active Learning Study (ALS) was developed to identify critical lessons learned. Here we publish for the first time an interactive Story Map which charts the journey of the investigative techniques and showcases the core open-source intelligence (OSINT) capabilities used to identify alleged perpetrators and their known locations in Europe and elsewhere.
This Project has sought to improve the methodology of comparable investigations and improve the capabilities of locating perpetrators and make recommendations as to how CSOs might increase their capabilities through a more systematic process, less reliant on chance. It is hoped that this study will help develop good practices for ongoing investigations into atrocity crimes and foster a greater transparency and skill-sharing ethos amongst CSOs.
The Project has been implemented by Global Rights Compliance and the Free Yezidi Foundation. Global Rights Compliance is a not-for-profit specializing in international humanitarian, criminal, and human rights law to address and alleviate acute humanitarian need. GRC operates in conflict-affected and high-risk areas around the world.
The Free Yezidi Foundation (FYF) supports the Yezidi community in the aftermath of the 2014 Yezidi Genocide. FYF promotes the rights and well-being of Yezidis in Iraq and the diaspora, with an emphasis on women’s empowerment, the pursuit of justice, and helping the community rebuild through trauma treatment, education, training, and economic development. FYF is currently one of few internationally recognized links between prosecuting bodies and Yezidi survivors, working closely with UN mechanisms (IIIM and UNITAD) and war crimes units in jurisdictions outside Iraq.
The Arc-GIS StoryMap and the OSINT investigative outputs of the Project have been led by Intelligence Management Services Ltd (IMSL), a specialist OSINT consultancy with a strong background in providing consulting and training services to military intelligence, law enforcement, the private sector, and NGO.
This study/report/audio/visual/other information/media product (specify) is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State. The contents are the responsibility of GRC and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of State or the United States Government.