A public ceremony will be held at the Ezidi Genocide Memorial in Solagh, Sinjar District, on Monday, 3 August 2026, marking 12 years since ISIS launched its genocidal campaign against the Ezidi people.
The ceremony will begin at 10:00 and is open to the public. Ezidis, survivors, families of victims, local residents and supporters are invited to attend and honour those who were killed, abducted and displaced during the genocide.
On 3 August 2014, ISIS attacked Sinjar with the declared intention of destroying the Ezidi people. Thousands were murdered, more than 6,000 women and children were abducted and enslaved, and hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes. Many abducted Ezidis remain missing, while survivors continue to demand justice, accountability, adequate services and the safe reconstruction of Sinjar.
The commemoration will take place at one of Sinjar’s most important memorial sites. The Ezidi Genocide Memorial was built in Solagh, close to the site known as the Grave of the Mothers, where ISIS murdered dozens of older Ezidi women during the genocide. Nadia Murad’s mother was among those killed there.
The memorial complex was developed by Nadia’s Initiative in partnership with the International Organization for Migration in Iraq and funded by the United States Agency for International Development. Its design was prepared through consultations with survivors, returned and displaced Ezidis, local residents and an Ezidi architect.
Inaugurated on 18 October 2023, the complex was the first memorial project of its size and scope in Sinjar. It provides survivors and families with a permanent place to mourn those who were killed and to preserve their memory for future generations. It also serves an educational purpose by documenting the scale of the genocide and reminding visitors of the consequences of hatred, religious extremism and the failure to protect targeted populations.
For families whose relatives remain missing or whose remains have not been identified and returned, the memorial carries particular importance. It offers a physical place for remembrance in the absence of individual graves and keeps attention on the continuing search for the missing.
The annual commemoration is not only an occasion to mourn. It is also a renewed demand for the prosecution of those responsible, the recovery of missing Ezidis, proper support for survivors and serious action to rebuild Sinjar and enable displaced families to return safely.
Twelve years after the genocide began, justice remains incomplete. The public ceremony will honour the dead and the survivors while insisting that the crimes committed against the Ezidi people must neither be forgotten nor treated as a closed chapter.
Event details
Date: Monday, 3 August 2026
Time: 10:00
Location: Ezidi Genocide Memorial, Solagh, Sinjar District
Attendance: Open to the public
