Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and First United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Nadia Murad shared her story as a survivor of her imprisonment by the Islamic State group (ISIS) and her efforts to help other survivors rebuild their lives post-ISIS on the Center for the Arts mainstage Thursday night.
Murad began her presentation by recounting the ISIS invasion of Kocho, her home village in Iraq, 10 years ago.
“Thousands of Isis members, including many of our own neighbors, brutally attacked Yadizis, village by village, murdering thousands of men and elderly women,” Murad said. “Including six of my brothers and my mother.”
Murad refuses to consider them as just a statistic.
“Those are not just numbers,” Murad said. “Those were real people who were loved, who had families and dreams, who worked for generations to build a house and a community. They were human beings.”
Murad was “one of many lucky girls who managed to escape.” After she did, she found herself in displacement camps, often cramped with many other survivors. She realized that her survival carried a responsibility, which demanded that she tell her story.
“Thousands of survivors have chosen silence, including my own sisters, and while I understand and accept that, for me, silence is not an option,” Murad said.
She first got to tell her story at a displacement camp, when “60 Minutes,” a news program, came to interview survivors at one of the camps. Following the advice of one of her brothers, Murad covered her face for her own safety.
“I remember talking to them with my face covered, but I didn’t feel comfortable,” Murad said. “After that, I realized that my voice needed a face. Without my face, my story is not completed.”
With the support of Amal Clooney — an international human rights lawyer — Murad stood before the United Nations’ (UN) Security Council, calling for members of ISIS to be held accountable for the crimes they committed. Even though evidence was collected and thousands risked their lives to share their stories, the UN dismantled its investigative team.
Murad said that the UN “broke its promise.”
“I have lost more members of my own family to ISIS than the number of ISIS members who have been held accountable,” Murad said.
Undeterred, Murad founded “Nadia’s Initiative,” in 2018, an organization that advocated for survivors like Murad and to rebuild the damaged communities. Six years later, “Nadia’s Initiative” has been responsible for building 65 schools, a brand new hospital, 500 farms, a sporting complex for girls and much more in Iraq.
During the Q&A session, president and founding director of Project Mona’s House — Buffalo’s only home for human-trafficking victims — Kelly Diane Galloway asked Murad she had words of encouragement for those looking to rebuild their lives.
“Know that you’re not alone. Your story is different and your healing will be different…it’s a process.” Murad said.
“I think it is so important right now, as we see so much is going on in the world, that we never lose hope and to remember that not all is lost.”
Ricardo Castillo is the Editor-in-chief and can be reached at ricardo.castillo@ubspectrum.com
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
