YouSaid · the spoken record

Murad

lines on the record

19

first

2019-04-23

most recent

2022-04-13

sittings or episodes

2

sources

un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

1. “Each person in this Chamber has the power to make that a reality, but only if they choose to act. Everywhere I go, I meet survivors of sexual violence who bravely tell their stories in the face of stigma, shame and even physical danger. If women who have suffered such immense loss and incredible pain can find the strength to not only rebuild their lives, but help their families, communities and entire countries, surely the rest of the world can find the strength to take meaningful steps to end sexual violence in conflict. As survivors, we look to those, the leaders, in this Chamber to act with the same courage that we have shown. Survivors do not want pity; we want justice.”

   2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

2. “But, too often, survivors who speak out face shame, stigma and a lack of transparency about how their testimonies will, or will not, be used, or the likely outcomes. That is why I look forward to joining Lord Ahmad tomorrow to officially announce the Murad Code, a set of guidelines intended to change norms around how journalists, investigators and anyone tasked with documenting and investigating conflict-related sexual violence interacts with survivors. Those guidelines were shaped by feedback from survivors around the globe and aim to promote greater respect, understanding, transparency and healing. In conclusion, accountability can be a crucial component of prevention, but only if it includes meaningful justice, the services and support that survivors need and the ultimate goal of advancing global gender equity.”

   2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

3. “Compounding factors, such as race, religion, class and access to health care, education and employment, require different solutions. Survivors know best what they need to heal and recover, so why not ask them? At Nadia’s Initiative, the organization that I founded, every day we see that the most effective work is community- led and survivor-centred and takes a holistic approach. The work that is being done to help survivors must be done hand in hand with them. It is not just the act of listening that matters. How one listens, the way in which one communicates with survivors and what one does with the information that one collects — all those things matter, too. Documenting sexual violence is crucial to accountability and prevention.”

   2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

4. “It is not enough to talk about accountability and prevention in times of crisis. We need long-term commitments to advancing global gender equity because gender equity is key to democracy. That means combating gender bias and stereotypes everywhere that they occur: in homes and families, as well as our education systems. It means recognizing that what is true in times of conflict is true in times of peace. If we want strong, stable communities, we must listen to women. To be very clear, when I say that we should listen to women, I do not mean it in some abstract way. I mean that policymakers should leave the halls of power and go out into affected communities to ask women what they need. One solution will not work for everyone. Throughout the world, different socioeconomic and political circumstances impact women’s rights.”

   2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

5. “Eight years after ISIS’s genocide, survivors who returned to Sinjar are still struggling to recover in the face of political disputes between Baghdad and Erbil, with militia groups vying for control of our homeland. The Security Council should send a special envoy to end the suffering of Yazidis in Iraq. Member States have a moral responsibility not to abandon genocide survivors. That brings me to my third point. Every time that we see a new conflict, there is an outpouring of thoughts and prayers. But, as I know from personal experience, a few days, or even a week, in the news cycle does nothing to address the systemic challenges that women face. That is true from Iraq and Ethiopia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Ukraine and to conflict zones everywhere.”

   2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

6. “Reparations and recognition are an essential part of justice. That is why I co-founded the Global Survivors Fund with my friend and colleague, Dr. Denis Mukwege, to provide interim reparations to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. After all, to survivors, reparations are not some theoretical idea or a topic for legal debate; they are the difference between going hungry and having enough food to put on the table, between sustaining lifelong injuries and accessing reproductive health care and between being cast out of our communities and being able to put a roof over our heads. Through that project, we want survivors to know that we stand with them, and that they are not alone.”

   2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

7. “What message will it send if Member States let the perpetrators of sexual violence continue to enjoy immunity? If States want to establish deterrence and assure Yazidi women and survivors everywhere that the international community stands with us, they can no longer delay justice. We have the evidence; all we need is the political will. Accountability means that those who perpetrate violence should face consequences for their actions. But it cannot stop there. Victims are not to blame for sexual violence. Yet, too often, we are left to piece our lives back together on our own, abandoned by Governments and the international community, which failed in their mandate to protect the basic human rights of all people. Survivors need solidarity and tangible support to empower them and provide a path to recovery.”

   2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

8. “We are called brave, but the courage we really want to see is from leaders in a position to do something, whether they are Heads of State, States Members of the United Nations or corporate leaders. We need more than moral outrage. We need action. To those assembled in the Chamber, I say that now is the time to put ISIS on trial for genocide and sexual violence, refer the case to the International Criminal Court or establish a hybrid court by treaty to prosecute ISIS crimes. In the meantime, other nations should follow Germany’s example and use the principle of universal jurisdiction to try war criminals for the atrocities they commit, including sexual violence. Those trials must proceed with transparency for survivors, who deserve their day in court.”

   2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

9. “That historic verdict is an important step, but as I stand before the Council today, my question is: what next? ISIS led a systemic campaign of sexual violence to destroy Yazidi women and the Yazidi community. The United Nations has condemned the group’s actions as genocide. The United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has collected reams of evidence documenting the atrocities that ISIS committed against women and girls. Other terrorist groups and oppressive regimes have watched as ISIS members openly brag about enslaving Yazidi women and girls, while facing few, if any, consequences on the world stage. As survivors of sexual violence, it is not easy for us to tell our stories, but we do it to prevent what happened to us from happening to others.”

   2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

10. “However, the nightmare continues even now, eight years later, for more than 2,800 women and children who are still living in captivity and enduring sexual violence at the hands of ISIS. We are here today to discuss accountability, not only in the aftermath of conflict-related sexual violence but, just as important, as a tool for preventing such violence from occurring in the first place. In particular, there are three aspects of accountability that I would like to highlight: justice, support for survivors and a commitment to gender equity in the long term. The pursuit of justice is one of the most visible forms of accountability. Last year, a German court convicted an ISIS member of genocide. It was the first time that had ever happened anywhere in the world.”

    2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

11. “History shows that whenever armed conflict erupts anywhere in the world, rape and brutality follow. We are seeing that in Ukraine as we speak, with reports of sexual violence that should alarm us all. Sexual violence is not a side effect of conflict. It is a tactic of war as old as time. Groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) understand the destabilizing effect of gender- based violence, and so must we. ISIS began targeting my Yazidi community in 2014. Thousands of Yazidis were massacred. Others fled on foot, facing thirst, starvation and blistering temperatures. In addition to the murders, ISIS captured more than 6,000 Yazidi women and children. Women and girls like me, my nieces and my sisters were sold and raped. Those of us who survived were considered lucky.”

    2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

12. “Ms. Murad: I, too, thank Ambassador Woodward and the United Kingdom for organizing this important debate as one of their signature events and for inviting me to brief the Council today. We are gathered at a moment of global instability — a moment shaped by a pandemic, a war and a climate crisis. In times like these, issues that affect women and girls, such as conflict-related sexual violence, tend to be pushed aside, as if they were somehow secondary to the real issues. The truth is that these are precisely the moments when protecting, supporting and investing in women and girls should be urgent priorities. For every setback our societies face, women and girls are forced to take 10 steps backward. That is particularly true in times of conflict.”

    2022-04-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9016 (2022) · source

13. “I would like to once again thank the German delegation for having organized this important meeting, as well as the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten. Earlier, I asked that all members of the Security Council vote in favour of resolution 2467 (2019), which supports all victims of sexual violence. As a victim myself, I believe that the resolution is a step in the right direction. The adoption of the resolution must now be followed by practical steps in order to achieve radical changes on the ground. I stand together with male and female survivors throughout the world in saying that we depend on all present here in the Chamber to uphold this resolution. Impunity is no longer an option. All programmes and initiatives must focus on survivors as their basis.”

    2019-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8514 (2019) · source

14. “Lastly, the Security Council's adoption of resolution 2379 (2017), establishing an investigative team to investigate crimes committed by Da'esh, support accountability and achieve justice for the victims, was a step in the right direction, even if it came late. We hope that the Council will continue to support Mr. Karim Khan and the United Nations Investigative Team for the Promotion of Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL in Iraq as they continue to collect evidence. It is also the duty of the Council and the international community to draft a resolution that guarantees full support for the victims of sexual violence, including on the material, psychological and health fronts.”

    2019-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8514 (2019) · source

15. “We make statements at the United Nations, but there have been no practical measures, such as reconstructing our regions, bringing perpetrators to justice or returning victims and displaced persons to their homes. We need serious action on the ground, not slogans. We were hoping that our testimonies would bring members of Da'esh to justice. But thousands of them are still free today and thousands more have been detained but not tried. What we are demanding today is that the perpetrators of genocide and those who used Yezidi women as a weapon of war be brought to justice. They must be brought before a specialized international tribunal and prosecuted for perpetrating genocide and crimes of sexual violence against women and children. That would send a message to others and help to prevent similar crimes in future.”

    2019-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8514 (2019) · source

16. “My Yezidi women colleagues who were subjected to sexual violence at the hands of Da'esh broke the barrier of silence, stigma and fear and told their stories openly, in the hope that this would bring them justice and support and encourage the international community to put an end to such crimes. However, so far not a single person has been tried for sexual enslavement crimes against Yezidi women, and more than 350,000 Yazidis are still displaced in camps. That is nearly 80 per cent of Iraq's Yezidi population. Almost five years after the genocide of my people occurred in front of the international community, no serious steps have been taken to save those who are left.”

    2019-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8514 (2019) · source

17. “We have repeatedly demanded that the international community, States and Governments establish a working group to save Yezidi women and children, but to no avail. Our appeals fell on deaf ears. The result has been our collective failure. We know very well that these women have been subjected to sexual violence and have been bought and sold by Da'esh in Iraq and Syria. What is stopping us from saving them? Thousands of victims and survivors are living today in deplorable conditions in displacement camps, traumatized and suffering from the sexual violence that was inflicted on them. What I want to say is that while there are some steps that we can take to prevent crimes of sexual violence, when we do not prevent them we must shoulder our responsibility to act by providing every possible support to those who have faced sexual violence.”

    2019-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8514 (2019) · source

18. “The genocide against Yezidis is still ongoing, and the social fabric of an entire community has been torn to shreds. Da'esh has crushed the hopes and aspirations of entire generations and has prevented us from practicing our customs and traditions. It has forced the people who survived the genocide to live in camps without the most basic means of subsistence. There are dozens of mass graves across our entire region. Yezidi women were captured and sold as slaves and used as a weapon against our community. Having been unable - or to be more accurate, having failed to protect women and children from sexual slavery and a small minority population from genocide - we, as an international community and as human beings, should take on the responsibility of rescuing and freeing those who have been missing since 2014 and are still in captivity.”

    2019-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8514 (2019) · source

19. “At the outset, I would like to thank the Secretary-General, the Government of Germany and you, Mr. President, its Minister for Foreign Affairs, as well as the members of the Council, for giving me the opportunity to participate in this important open debate on the crimes of sexual violence committed against women all over the world, which have become a dangerous problem that requires all of us to respond and find solutions to. I am happy that today the Council has decided to discuss the issue, which concerns us all. When we speak about systematic sexual violence crimes in modern times, we cannot fail to discuss what Da'esh did to Yezidi women in Iraq and Syria, enslaving thousands of Yezidi women and girls in front of local and international communities while no one intervened to stop them.”

    2019-04-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8514 (2019) · source