European Parliament President Martin Schulz announced in plenary session on Thursday 27 October that the Conference of the Presidents of the political groups had awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of thought to Nadia Murad Basee Taha and Lamiya Aji Bashar, two young Yezidi women, survivors of so-called Islamic State (Da’esh) enslavement.
The prize will be officially awarded in Strasbourg on 14 December. Other finalists were Turkish journalist Can Dündar and Tatar rights activist Mustafa Dzhemilev (see EUROPE 11643).
The two women, now refugees in Europe, speak out about the atrocities they endured and speak up for the women who have been humiliated, enslaved and forced into sexual slavery by Da’esh, Schulz said. Hailing their courage, he said that by awarding them the Sakharov prize, the Parliament was “demonstrating that their fight has not been in vain and that we are prepared to step up to the plate to help them in their fight against the hardship and brutality perpetrated by this so-called Islamic state”. He called on the European institutions to mobilise all available means to oppose Da’esh.
Several groups within the Parliament have also issued press releases giving their reactions to the announcement. Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the ALDE Group which nominated the two young Yezidis, said he was “proud” that the Sakharov Prize had been awarded to them. “Nadia and Lamiya are inspirational women, who have shown incredible bravery and humanity in the face of despicable brutality”, he stated. The chair of Parliament’s human rights sub-committee, Elena Valenciano (S&D, Spain), highlighted that this year’s prize had gone “to the most vulnerable, persecuted and forsaken ones: thousands of Yezidi women have suffered and continue to suffer the terror, extreme cruelty and barbarity of Da’esh”. In awarding this prize, “the Parliament gives a voice to all women and girls who are the first victims in cases of conflict and also to all religious and ethnic minorities who are victims of genocide”, she went on to say. These women “show tremendous resilience and courage by acting as a mouthpiece for victims of slavery and human trafficking”¸ stated Mark Demesmaeker (ECR, Belgium). For the Greens/EFA Group, joint leader Rebecca Harms (Germany) said that Nadia Muyrad Basee and Lamiya Aji Bashar gave a voice to all women who are the victims of sexual violence.
European Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas, too, congratulated the two young women on behalf of the president and college of commissioners.
In a press release, Nadia Murad Basee said about this prize that “this acknowledgement of the suffering of Yezidi women and the Yezidi people is a profound message to the ISIS terrorist group that their criminal inhumanity is condemned and their victims are honored by the free world”.
Nadia Murad Basee and Lamiya Aji Bashar succeed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi (see EUROPE 11421). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)