It was Aug. 3, 2014, when hundreds of thousands of lives changed forever for the Yazidi people living in northern Iraq.

ISIL militants attacked and captured the city of Sinjar and surrounding areas, forcing 50,000 Yazidis to flee to nearby mountains, only to face death by starvation, dehydration and ISIL gunfire.

That month, 7,000 Yazidis were slaughtered in a genocide, while many young women and children were sold into sexual slavery.

Friday afternoon, four years after the genocide began, roughly 100 Yazidi Calgarians who fled the hardship held a demonstration in front of City Hall calling on the Canadian government’s help.

“All these people are ISIL survivors,” said Ghazi Hasso, a member of the Yazidi community who came to Canada after the attacks.

“There’s not a single person here who has not been affected by ISIL. There are many people here that have half of their family missing — their parents, children missing, husband missing, wife missing, all sort of family. These are traumatized people.

“We still have 3,000 or so (Yazidi people) in captivity in the hands of ISIL.”

Demonstrators could be seen carrying photographs of missing loved ones as they marched around City Hall chanting “stop ISIS! Save our women! Stop genocide!”

“You can imagine losing your cat or something. You would worry about it, but people have lost most of their family; you can imagine what they are going through,” Hasso said.

“There’s not a single minute that goes by where we don’t think about the family members lost and our women and children.”

The genocide continues to this day, as hundreds of thousands of Yazidi are displaced in camps and makeshift shelters in northern Iraq.

Shreen Kengo is one of the few lucky enough to escape the war-torn area.

Through a translator, she said her mother, brother and sister were captured. Her mother and sister were recently bought out of the slavery, but they are still uncertain of her brother’s fate.

“ISIS came to our areas and they attacked us because we are Yazidi — either you turn to Islam, or you will die,” she said of the threats the militant group made.

“Many, many people got killed because they refuse to become Muslim. They killed the older women, and any woman not good enough for them to be married or sold into sexual slavery were killed. They sold the young women around nine years old or younger on the market.”

Kengo said she was sold six times over 21/2 years.

“We were sold from one person to another — something you would not do to another human being,” she said.

“You were just considered property. It’s hard for me being alone here — I have no family.”

Hasso urged people who want to help to contact their member of Parliament and request they help in reuniting the Yazidi people with their families.

zlaing@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @zjlaing </s> OTTAWA — Canada’s foreign ministry says it has opened a communication channel with the Kurdish jailers of Canadian children and their families in Syria, but hasn’t been able to secure their release because of the volatile security situation.

The response Tuesday from Global Affairs Canada comes after a Toronto-based organization called on the government to come to the aid of Canadian infants and children being held in Syria.

The Canadians detained by Kurdish authorities in Syrian territory include nine families and more than 10 children, including some who were taken to Syria at young ages and others who were born there, said Alexandra Bain, the director of Families Against Violent Extremism.

Bain said the children are facing the outbreak of disease and a harsh winter and the Canadian government has a duty to protect its citizens. She said they live on a diet of rice and pasta and there are no diapers or milk for the infants.

Bain said her group and another British-based volunteer organization want to foot the cost of getting the Canadians out of a war zone and are willing to do the necessary work on the ground, but that the government has to help them.

The group includes Jack Letts, the British-raised son of a Canadian father and British mother, who has been dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by the U.K. media. His father, John, joined Bains on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, calling for the release of the Canadians. He branded as “fake news” the reports of his son’s being a terrorist, and laid the blame at the foot of a British journalist, whose use of the moniker stuck.

Bain and Letts were in Ottawa and met with senior consular officials at Global Affairs to plead their case.

“Canadian diplomats have established a communications channel with local Kurdish authorities in order to verify the whereabouts and well-being of Canadian citizens,” said Stefano Maron, a department spokesman.

“The government of Canada is engaged in these cases and is providing assistance, to the limited extent possible.”

A Canadian government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation, said even if it were possible for them to leave Syria, the detainees “would most likely be detained by authorities and face serious charges in neighbouring countries.”

John Letts told the Hill press conference that he thinks his son, Jack, is innocent and that he needs treatment for various illnesses contracted while in prison. He says his son was never involved in the violence perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS or Daesh.

“I want everyone here to know what we know: that Jack worked with others in the religious opposition to ISIS in Raqqa (the city the Islamic State claimed as its capital), that he condemned ISIS on social media, and that he wants to spend the rest of his life living peacefully and bearing witness against ISIS,” Letts said.

Letts says that by saying that publicly he is violating British court orders that could get him thrown in jail when he returns to the country.

He and his wife, Sally Lane, were charged by British police in 2016 with funding terrorism after they tried to send their son money to get their son out of Syria.

Letts said previously that his son’s Kurdish jailers are willing to hand his son over to Canadian authorities. He also maintains Global Affairs Canada told the family for months that it was working to get their son released but that the department recently decided it’s too dangerous.

“It obviously has something to do with the upcoming election,” Letts said Tuesday. “We have fairly good evidence of the British having cracked the whip and said you have to toe the line — no one breaks the line of letting people back — and I think Canada is responding to that.”

Earlier this month, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer criticized the Trudeau government over reports that consular officials initiated contact with Letts, whom Scheer described as a “known jihadi fighter.”

Bain said all those imprisoned in Syria should be vetted by Canadian authorities and it is possible some should face charges for their activities abroad.

“They were all captured and detained in a war zone, and they must be thoroughly investigated by Canada’s security services and some will undoubtedly face justice.” </s> In the wake of Global News reporting on Canadian extremist fighters, an opposition motion tabled in the House of Commons that called on the federal government to bring legal recourse to these individuals was approved by MPs in a vote of 280 to one on Tuesday night.

The motion asks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal government to put forth a plan to impose legal consequences on returning extremist fighters.

WATCH: Captured Canadian ISIS fighter says ‘executioner’ in infamous ISIS video is Canadian

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel introduced the motion and the Liberals supported it reluctantly, despite disagreeing with some of its content.

“To date this government under Justin Trudeau has failed to take action, and Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives are calling on the prime minister to immediately table a plan to serve justice to anyone who left our country to fight with this terrorist organization,” Rempel told reporters in Ottawa ahead of the vote.

READ MORE: Tories table motion calling for government strategy on returning ISIS members

The motion also asks the government to support other initiatives, including a bill that will be tabled by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party that seeks to strip returning extremist fighters of a wide range of benefits, services and other privileges in the province.

Global News previously reported that the Canadian Consulate has been in touch with several citizens who’ve been detained by Kurdish forces in Syria over allegations of terrorist activity.

WATCH: What should Ottawa do with captured Canadian ISIS fighters?

U.S.-backed Kurdish forces are holding at least three Canadians accused of being ISIS fighters, three Canadian wives of ISIS foreign fighters and seven children. Based on Global’s reporting, Kurdish forces want Ottawa to take back at least a dozen Canadian ISIS fighters, along with the women and children they’re holding.

During Question Period last week, Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer pressed Trudeau on his justification for “proactively reaching out” to British national Jack Letts – who is a Canadian citizen through his father and suspected of terrorist activities – and “inviting” him to come to Canada.

WATCH: Andrew Scheer on Canada’s returning ISIS fighters

As per the motion, the federal government has 45 days to put forth an plan to impose legal consequences on anyone who travelled abroad to engage in terrorist activities or genocide

More to come. </s> OTTAWA — Canadian infants and children being held in Syria deserve the federal government’s help to get them out before winter comes, says a group representing them here.

The Canadians detained by Kurdish authorities in Syrian territory include nine families and more than 10 children, including some who were taken to Syria at young ages and others who were born there, said Alexandra Bain, the director of Families Against Violent Extremism.

Bain said the children are facing the outbreak of disease and a harsh winter and the Canadian government has a duty to protect its citizens. She said they live on a diet of rice and pasta and there are no diapers or milk for the infants.

Bain said her group and another volunteer organization want to foot the cost of getting these Canadians out of a war zone and are willing to do the necessary work on the ground, but that the government has to help them.

All those imprisoned in Syria should be vetted by Canadian authorities and it is possible some should face charges for their activities abroad, she added.

“They were all captured and detained in a war zone, and they must be thoroughly investigated by Canada’s security services and some will undoubtedly face justice,” said Bain.

Global News has reported that at least 13 Canadians — three alleged terrorists, their wives and children — are currently being detained in Syria.

The group includes Jack Letts, the British-raised son of a Canadian father and British mother, who has been dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by the U.K. media. His father, John, joined Bains on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, calling for the release of the Canadians. He branded as “fake news” the reports of his son’s being a terrorist, and laid the blame at the foot of a British journalist, whose use of the moniker stuck.

John Letts told the Hill press conference that he thinks his son is innocent and that he needs treatment for various illnesses contracted while in prison. He says his son was never involved in the violence perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS or Daesh.

“I want everyone here to know what we know: that Jack worked with others in the religious opposition to ISIS in Raqqa (the city the Islamic State claimed as its capital), that he condemned ISIS on social media, and that he wants to spend the rest of his life living peacefully and bearing witness against ISIS,” Letts said.

In a previous letter to Canadian MPs, Letts wrote that his son is a “naive young person who went to Syria hoping to help create a peaceful, utopian Muslim state” and who wound up trapped when Islamic terrorists took control of exit points.

Letts says that by saying that publicly he is violating British court orders that could get him thrown in jail when he returns to the country.

He and his wife, Sally Lane, were charged by British police in 2016 with funding terrorism after they tried to send their son money. In his letter, Letts wrote that the money was to pay “people smugglers,” who they believed had the only way to get their son out of Syria.

Letts said in his letter that his son’s Kurdish jailers have stated publicly that they’re willing to hand his son over to Canadian authorities. He also maintains Global Affairs Canada told the family for months that it was working to get their son released but that the department recently decided it’s too dangerous.

“It obviously has something to do with the upcoming election,” Letts said Tuesday. “We have fairly good evidence of the British having cracked the whip and said you have to toe the line — no one breaks the line of letting people back — and I think Canada is responding to that.”

Earlier this month, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer criticized the Trudeau government over reports that consular officials initiated contact with Letts, whom Scheer described as a “known jihadi fighter.” </s> For the first several months, the messages suggested Canada was willing, even eager, to get Jack Letts out of a Kurdish prison in northern Syria.

Global Affairs Canada discussed possible routes for moving the former resident out of ISIL-controlled Raqqa after his release. They asked the joint British-Canadian citizen’s jailers to provide him medical help, and said they were “extremely concerned” by reports he had been tortured.

“We are working diligently on your son’s file,” consular officials insisted to Letts’ U.K.-based parents.

Then earlier this year, the diplomats’ tone changed abruptly, the same officials saying their hands were tied by a lack of Canadian presence in Syria. Their ability to help the Muslim convert dubbed “Jihadi Jack” by British media was “extremely limited,” they now said.

The change in tone amid a 16-month exchange of emails — copies of which were obtained by the National Post — has left parents John Letts and Sally Lane deeply frustrated — and wondering if outside powers have gotten to the Canadian government.
• Parents of alleged ISIL member ‘Jihadi Jack’ plead with Canadian MPs to help free him from Syria
• Britain’s ‘Jihadi Jack’ could end up in Canadian hands after months in the custody of Kurdish militias

Clive Stafford Smith, a prominent human-rights lawyer helping the family, said a senior Canadian political source told him the UK government had asked Ottawa “to do nothing (about Letts) without British consent.”

“As a British citizen myself, I have to apologize to the Canadian people for that kind of paternalism, and encourage you not to bow to British pressure,” Stafford Smith said Monday by email.

Global Affairs spokesman Stefano Maron did not respond to a question about possible U.K. intervention. But he said the security situation on the ground in Syria — even the relatively peaceful Kurdish-controlled enclave where Letts and others Canadians are being held — makes it difficult to provide them much assistance.

Diplomats have, however, set up a “communications channel” with Kurdish authorities to verify “the whereabouts and well-being of Canadian citizens,” he said.

The fate of Canadians linked to ISIL is also a politically volatile issue, with the Liberals accused of being too hesitant to repatriate and charge ex-fighters.

The opposition Conservatives say the government should, in fact, do nothing more on the Letts case, unless it collects enough evidence to prosecute him.

“We don’t want Jack Letts in Canada,” MP Pierre Paul-Hus, the Tories’ public safety critic, said Monday. “And I think a majority of Canadians feel the same way.”

Jack Letts, who grew up in Oxford but is a joint citizen like the rest of his family, travelled to the Middle East in 2014 after converting to Islam. He lived in ISIL-controlled Iraq, married a woman there, then ended up in Raqqa, Syria, the de-facto capital of the short-lived ISIL caliphate.

His parents say he never joined the Islamic State, came to vehemently oppose it, and eventually escaped Raqqa, only to be captured by the Kurdish forces who worked with a U.S.-led military coalition to defeat ISIL.

A British newspaper had called him Jihadi Jack, and the name stuck, evoking images of other Western ISIL members videotaped taking part in atrocities. There appears to be no evidence that Letts himself committed any violent acts. But he and his parents have said he would be willing to face prosecution and even prison in Canada if a case against him emerged.

Meanwhile, his organic-farmer father and book-editor mother now face charges themselves of attempting to fund terrorism, after trying to send their son the equivalent of $2,900 he said he needed to escape Raqqa.

In his limited communication with the outside world, Letts has indicated he is in deteriorating physical and mental health, kept in harsh, crowded conditions.

With the British government refusing to help, the parents turned to Canada last year. John Letts grew up near Chatham, Ont., and Sally Lane’s family moved to Ontario when she was a child, but the couple moved back to England after meeting here.

Global Affairs officials did note from the start that working in the semi-autonomous Kurdish area of Rojava would be difficult. But they promised to do their best to at least get Letts to a third country, his prison being almost on the border with Turkey, a NATO member.

“Once in Turkey and if he decides to go to Canada, we will try to assist him with this,” Andrew Carroll, a consular case management officer, emailed in July 2017.

Government officials sounded even more co-operative in phone calls, making it clear “that we were working to the same goal,” John Letts said in an interview.

But the tide had turned by the time he and Stafford Smith — one of the first lawyers certified to represent prisoners at the U.S. government’s Guantanamo Bay facility — met face-to-face with Global Affairs employees in Ottawa this April.

“I have to say that I have never been to a more dispiriting meeting in the 35 years I have done this work,” Stafford Smith said in a letter afterward to one of the GAC officials.

The parents say the standard Canadian response now — “there have been no Canadian officials in Syria since 2012. Our ability to provide consular assistance in Syria is extremely limited” — is strikingly similar to what British authorities have long told them.

Letts believes the British are worried about the impact on the parents’ terrorism-funding case if Letts gets out and makes it clear he’s no terrorist.

“I think it would scupper our trial,” said the father. “It’s better to keep Jack in there, completely unable to speak to anyone.” </s> OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is refusing to weigh in on a Kurdish independence referendum in Iraq, saying he appreciated that other countries held their tongues during Quebec's referendums.

Iraqi Kurds are expected to vote overwhelmingly in favour of seeking their own country during a controversial referendum today.

Many oppose the vote, including the U.S., the European Union and Turkey, as well as Iraq's central government in Baghdad, which claims some of the same oil-rich territory as the Kurds.

Canadian officials have said they support a united Iraq, but otherwise refuse to comment on whether the referendum should be held or how Canada will react to an independence vote. </s> The father of a British-Canadian dual national held by Kurds in Syria pleaded Tuesday for Ottawa's help to rescue him and at least 18 other Canadians, amid concerns that some of them pose a security risk.

Jack Letts, 23, has been held in Syria for 18 months, his father John told reporters in Ottawa.

"I need your help to save my son's life," said Letts, who appeared at a press conference with Alexandra Bain, director of Families Against Violent Extremism.

They said nine Canadians, including the younger Letts, as well as at least 10 of their children -- some taken to Syria, some born in the war zone -- are currently being held by Kurdish authorities on Syrian soil.

Bain said they face a cold winter ahead, are given little to eat, are not provided an education and tuberculosis has started to spread in the camps.

"These people need to be brought home to Canada and they need to be brought home now," Bain said.

The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said it will not risk sending officials to Syria to negotiate for their release, citing security concerns.

Ottawa has also raised concerns about the collection of evidence in conflict zones to prosecute returnees under Canadian terrorism laws.

"We are aware of Canadian citizens being detained in Syria," foreign ministry spokesman Stefano Maron told AFP.

"Given the security situation on the ground, the government of Canada's ability to provide consular assistance in any part of Syria is extremely limited," he said.

"Canada is engaged in these cases and is providing assistance, to the limited extent possible," including verifying their "whereabouts and well-being," Maron added.

The families of detainees and their supporters were to meet later Tuesday with senior Canadian foreign ministry officials to pitch their proposal for a brokered return.

Letts and Bain said the human rights organization Reprieve would travel to camps in northern Syria to help facilitate their return, but only if Canada agrees to supply the returnees with travel documents.

To alleviate public concerns about repatriating Canadians with possible terror links, Bain said returnees would agree to "voluntary security arrangements," without elaborating on the terms.

Reprieve has previously helped repatriate an American from Syria under similar circumstances, Bain noted.

The reason for Letts' presence in Syria is somewhat unclear.

British media have suggested he is fighting for extremist groups, but his father said he was "not a violent jihadist" though he might have been "naive and wrong" to go to Syria.

Canadian officials had been trying to secure Letts' return home but suddenly halted their efforts in May, the father said.

"They just said there's nothing we can do because it's too dangerous," he told reporters, holding back tears.

The father suggested pressure on Canada from Britain, which has refused to take Jack back, or the upcoming Canadian election in 2019 may have factored into the decision. </s> The political debate over what to do with Canadians who were part of the so-called Islamic State returned to Parliament on Monday, with the Conservatives demanding a federal strategy on the matter.

An opposition motion to be tabled in the afternoon called on the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to put forward a plan within 45 days for bringing to justice those who fought with ISIS.

MP Michelle Rempel was to introduce the motion, which urges the government to acknowledge that anyone who travelled abroad to take part in terrorism or genocide should face legal consequences.

WATCH: Canadian ISIS fighter captured in northern Syria says he wants to return to Canada

The government should examine legal reforms that ensure the courts have access to evidence against terror suspects, while also providing adequate resources to security agencies to monitor them, it said.

In particular, the government should encourage greater use of peace bonds that place conditions on terror suspects through electronic monitoring and restrictions on their social media use, according to the motion.

It also asked the government to support initiatives such as the one proposed over the weekend by Ontario Premier Doug Ford to cut off returning terrorist group members from provincial social programs.

READ MORE: Ontario PCs will table bill to strip returning extremist fighters of license, benefits

The federal government has come under pressure over its handling of terrorist fighters in the wake of a series of Global News reports about Canadians captured in Syria over allegations they had been involved in ISIS.

One of them, Muhammad Ali, said in an interview he had served in an ISIS sniper unit. On social media, the Mississauga resident had also encouraged others to join ISIS or attack Canada.

Global News has confirmed that U.S.-backed Kurdish forces are holding at least three Canadians accused of being ISIS fighters, three Canadian wives of ISIS foreign fighters and seven children.

All want to return to Canada and the Syrian Democratic Forces, who are holding them, want to hand them over to the Canadian government. But none have yet been charged, raising questions about what will happen upon their return.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has said anyone involved in terrorism would be investigated. “We will collect evidence and where that evidence is appropriate, we will lay charges to the full extent of the law.”

READ MORE: Goodale says Canadian ISIS fighters will face consequences, officials won’t be put in danger to help

But the opposition motion, brought forward jointly by Rempel, the immigration critic, and public safety critic Pierre Paul-Hus, said the current procedure for bringing perpetrators of atrocities to justice was slow and failed victims.

WATCH: Mike Armstrong looks at why Kurdish officials are worried about foreign fighters and what Canada is prepared to do about it

It quoted Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, an Iraqi Yazidi kidnapped by ISIS, who has written about her wish to see all ISIS members put on trial like Nazis following the Second World War.

Rather than trying to reintegrate returning terrorists back into Canadian society, the government should prosecute those who fought with ISIS or participated in any terror activities, the motion said.

It also asked the government to recognize that ISIS committed atrocities against ethnic and religious minorities, notably Yazidis, Iraqi Christians, Coptic Christians and Shias. </s> Canada’s Kurdish allies in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq are being accused of war crimes by destroying large numbers of Arab homes, and sometimes entire villages, as they reclaim territory from the jihadist group, a major human rights group says.

It says hundreds of Arab Iraqi homes have been destroyed by the ethnically distinct Kurds in Iraq. Kurdish leaders are pledging a referendum on independence from Iraq.

Human Rights Watch, in a report released Sunday, is calling on Western allies of the Kurds including Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom to publicly speak out and seek an end to what are violations of international law.

All these countries provide military assistance to the Kurds as they wage war to rout Islamic State from the region. In Canada’s case, the aid includes as many as 210 special forces soldiers acting as military advisers in the fight, which currently includes liberating the city of Mosul, the last remaining Islamic State stronghold in Iraq.

“The destruction, which took place after [Kurdish] peshmerga forces routed Islamic State fighters, targeted Arab homes while leaving Kurdish homes intact,” Human Rights Watch said.

Read more: Canadian forces providing crucial support in battle to recapture Mosul

Explainer: A guide to the battle of Mosul, and why it matters in the war against Islamic State

Interactive: Untangling the Middle East: A guide to the region’s shifting relationships

The Kurds, a distinct ethnic group in Iraq, already have considerable autonomy within the northern reaches of the beleaguered Mideast country that was overrun by Islamic State fighters in 2014. It’s expected the Kurdistan Regional Government will seek to consolidate its power base in the region when the fight against Islamic State subsides.

The Kurdish leadership is vowing to hold a referendum on independence from Iraq.

The 80-page report, titled Marked with an X: Iraqi Kurdish Forces’ Destruction of Villages, Homes in Conflict with ISIS, analyzed the demolition of homes over the 20 months leading up to May 2016.

All these incidents took place in the outer limits of the Kurdistan government’s control – disputed areas known as the Kirkuk and Nineveh governorates, areas that are nominally under the control of the Iraqi leadership in Baghdad but are in reality under Kurdish control.

Human Rights Watch says the Kurds have carried out “unlawful demolitions” of Arab buildings and homes in 17 villages and towns in Kirkuk and four in Nineveh governorate over the period studied. In many of these cases, the group says, “In village after village in Kirkuk and Nineveh, [Kurdistan Regional Government] security forces destroyed Arab homes – but not those belonging to Kurds – for no legitimate military purpose,” Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch says.

The destruction of Arab homes will discourage Arab Iraqis displaced by the Islamic State invasion in 2014 from returning to live in these disputed regions. That will leave them more ethnically Kurdish and make it easier for the Kurds to make the case they should be granted full control over these areas.

The report is based on field visits by Human Rights Watch researchers, more than 120 interviews with witnesses and officials, and extensive analysis of satellite imagery. Human Rights Watch said it closely examined home demolitions in 17 villages in Kirkuk governorate and four in Nineveh governorate, and travelled through other destroyed villages in Nineveh, close to the Syrian border.

It says there were a further 62 villages that researchers were unable to visit but where satellite imagery provides evidence of destruction after Kurdish security forces recaptured them.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) blamed the destroyed homes on Islamic State bombs left over after the jihadists retreated. The Kurds said they had to detonate the explosives to rid the region of these hazards. It also said the destruction was caused by aerial bombardment by the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State.

Human Rights Watch says that this excuse does not make sense. It says the destruction in question often took place after the Kurdish peshmerga forces had taken over.

The group also says the bomb-clearing rationale is weak.

“The KRG’s claims regarding the need to destroy homes to defuse improvised explosive devices in villages they captured from ISIS does not stand up to scrutiny. For example, in villages in Nineveh governorate visited by Human Rights Watch researchers, it appears that the KRG destroyed only Arab homes while leaving Kurdish ones intact.”

The group said researchers found demolished Arab buildings in towns such as Bardiya, Iraq next to intact Kurdish buildings, and the intact Kurdish part of Hamad Agha village.

Human Rights Watch said it appears the Kurds also plan to prevent displaced Arab Iraqis from returning to their villages in these disputed areas.

“KRG President Masoud Barzani told Human Rights Watch in July 2016 that the KRG would not allow Sunni Arabs to return to villages that had been ‘Arabized’ by former President Saddam Hussein. He said these were, in his view, rightfully Kurdish lands. Such territorial claims lend credence to the belief of many Arabs that KRG security forces may have carried out demolitions for the purpose of preventing or dissuading Arabs from returning there.”

Human Rights Watch said the laws of war prevent the Kurds from doing what they have done.

“Central to the laws of war is the principle of distinction, which requires parties to a conflict to distinguish at all times between military and civilian objectives. Civilian objects may not be the target of attack unless they are being used for military purposes. The parties to an armed conflict have a duty to spare the civilian population and civilian objects from the effects of hostilities and to minimize damage to civilian objects.”

The group says Western allies appear to be staying silent on the matter.

It noted governments of several countries in the international coalition against Islamic State, including the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Canada have supported the Kurds with military hardware and training. Some carry out joint military operations with KRG forces.

“No officials of these countries have publicly spoken out about the need for the KRG to end unlawful building demolitions in violation of the laws of war and international human rights law and to hold those responsible to account.”
Yazidi demonstrators at Calgary City Hall in Calgary, Alberta call for the Canadian government to help with efforts to reunite family members in Canada who fled the genocide perpetrated by ISIL in 2014 with those still living in Iraq.