80,927 signatures have been collected in the scope of a campaign launched in May demanding the Swiss government’s recognition of the atrocities committed against the Yazidi community during the ISIS onslaught in Shengal (Sinjar) in August 2014.

Following a press statement in front of the Federal Assembly in Bern, a group of 50 people, including the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland MP Roger Nordman, Green Party MP Natalie Imboden and witnesses of ISIS savagery, submitted the signatures to the Federal Council Chancellery.

A statement on behalf of the group called for the atrocities against Yazidis to be recognized as a genocide. Referring to the UN reports that describe ISIS actions against the Yazidis as constituting genocide, the group pointed out that recognition of the Yazidi genocide would help prevent further massacres.

Federal Assembly members Fabian Molina, Mustafa Atıcı, Brigitte Crottaz, Laurence Fehlmann Rielle, Friedli Claudia, Barbara Gysi, Martin Landolt, Angelina Moser Tiana, Martina Munz, Jon Pult, Ursula Schneider Schüttel, Priska Seiller Graf, Lilian Studer, Nicolas Walder, Celine Widmer had submitted a motion to the Assembly on 15 June calling for the recognition of ISIS genocide against the Yazidi community.

The motion signed by 15 deputies referred to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic report and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) call upon member states to recognize the genocide, saying; “By recognizing this genocide, Switzerland will not only secure justice for the victims but also make an active commitment to criminal proceedings against perpetrators and fight against impunity in accordance with the essence of the international law. The recognition of Yazidi genocide will also help ensure that such a crime is never committed again.”