Yazidi MP Daxil: 25,000 girls abducted by ISIS gangs to be raped, sold for $150

Yazidi MP Daxil: 25,000 girls abducted by ISIS gangs to be raped, sold for $150. (DN).

Iraq's only ethnic Êzidî (Yazidi) member of parliament says that the human rights situation in her country is "deteriorating," with Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) gang militants kidnapping, raping, and selling Êzidî women.

"They are still without any shelter. They are sleeping on the streets. The situation is not good and the winter is advancing, and it's raining, actually, in Iraq now. So the situation is deteriorating," legislator Viyan Daxil told RFE/RL in an October 8 telephone interview from Iraq's Kurdish region. Daxil, who has been cited by U.S. President Barack Obama, was named the winner of the 2014 Anna Politkovskaya Award on October 6 by the organization Reach All Women in War. The award, named after the murdered Russian journalist, honors women working to help those trapped in conflict.

'Êzidî women are targeted' 

The lawmaker, who is currently recovering from injuries she suffered in an August 12 helicopter crash on Mount Shengal (Sinjar) in South Kurdistan, said that while ISIS militants have forced Christian women from their homes, Êzidî women often suffer worse fates. "Only Êzidî women are kidnapped. We don't know, actually, why exactly the Êzidî women are targeted," she said.

'They are taken to be raped, and they are selling them $150 for a girl' 

MP Daxil says that of the more than 500,000 Êzidis in Iraq, some 25,000 Êzidî girls have been abducted by ISIS militants. "We don't know exactly where all of them are, but some are kept at various prisons here, still in Iraq, and some have been taken to Syria, and some are in Mosul," she said. "They are taken to be raped, and they are selling them -- $150 for a girl." 

Call on international community to save women and children 

Daxil called on the international community to step in to help the plight of the Kurdish religious and ethnic minority that has faced religious persecution for centuries and that has been dubbed "devil worshippers" by some Muslims. 

"I ask every government -- not only here -- to take some action to save these people here because the situation is really bad. What is happening here cannot be solved by the Iraqi government only," she said. Daxil gained international attention in August after making an impassioned plea to the Iraqi parliament about Êzidîs trapped on Mount Sinjar, which was surrounded at the time by ISIS militants. She called it genocide.

'I am speaking here in the name of humanity' 

"My family is being butchered, just like all Iraqis are being killed. … And today, the Êzidîs are being slaughtered. Brothers, away from all the political disputes, we want humanitarian solidarity. I am speaking here in the name of humanity. Save us! Save us!" she told lawmakers on August 5. The speaker of parliament interrupted her speech, while others shushed her emotional address, after which she collapsed.

'Ten-year-old Êzidî girls are being raped' 

Daxil broke both legs and several ribs in an August 12 helicopter crash on Mount Sinjar. The pilot of the aircraft, which was carrying about 35 people, was killed in the accident, while "New York Times" reporter Alissa Rubin was injured. Daxil said that she plans to return to parliament once she is fully healed.

She also asked Western Muslim women who are supporting ISIS militants -- an estimated 30 of whom have actually traveled to Iraq or Syria -- to look at what the group, which is also known as ISIS, is doing to Êzidî women.

"Every girl in the West who is supporting ISIS should put herself in any local girl's shoes and see what she has gone through. Twelve-year-old girls are being raped. Ten-year-old girls are being raped. I would like to ask women supporting ISIS, if she was in their situation, what would she feel. If she was from your family, what would you feel?" Daxil said.

"This girl could be your daughter, she could be your sister, she could be your neighbor,” she continued.

“Would you be totally comfortable if someone raped your daughter, or your sister, or your neighbor?" Hmmm......Dantes Hell has nine circles, time to add a Tenth one for ISIS Followers.

Interview conducted by Freshta Jalalzai of RFE/RL's Radio Free Aghanistan in Prague and written by RFE/RL correspondent Luke Johnson in Washington.