Iraq: DNA Tests Identify 22 Victims of Sinjar Massacre

Iraq: DNA Tests Identify 22 Victims of Sinjar Massacre
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Iraq’s Forensic Medicine Department in Baghdad has announced the identification of 22 victims of the 2014 Sinjar (Shingal) massacre committed by ISIS, following the completion of DNA testing on remains exhumed from mass graves.

The identification is part of ongoing efforts to uncover and examine mass graves left behind by the genocide against the Yazidi community, thousands of whom were killed after ISIS overran the region in the summer of 2014, following the withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Many victims were buried in scattered sites, some of which remain unopened to this day.

According to official data, 55 of the 93 discovered mass graves have so far been excavated, yielding 750 sets of remains. Of these, 485 bodies remain unidentified and are undergoing DNA analysis at the forensic department. The latest results confirmed the identities of 22 victims — 4 women and 18 men.

The remains will be handed over to families in Mosul on August 12, with an official ceremony planned the following day to honor the victims and rebury them according to Yazidi funeral rites. The reburial is intended to restore dignity to the victims and provide closure to their families.

Local and international organizations have welcomed the identifications but continue to call for sustained efforts to achieve justice and accountability for the genocide. Families of the victims stress that full recognition of the crimes and disclosure of the fate of the missing remain essential steps toward healing and reconciliation.