Kurdish Doctor Testifies to the Horrors of ISIS

Dr. Nemam Ghafouri was born in a cave in Iraq on Christmas Day in 1968 to a Kurdish-Muslim refugee family.  Forced to flee to Iran due to the ongoing persecution of Kurds in Iraq, the Ghafouri family continued to fall victim of persecution in Iran due to their Kurdish ethnicity and their friendly relationship with the Christian community.  Eventually, the family settled in Sweden where Dr. Ghafouri received her medical training.  Her own history of persecution led Dr. Ghafouri to develop deep sympathy for the Christian and Yazidi communities of the Middle East, which is why she decided to return to her homeland to help the Yazidi community after learning of their slaughter at the hands of ISIS.  At the International Christian Concern Conference of 2016 Dr. Ghafouri described the how so many have had to endure the Horrors of ISIS.  

After her family fled Iraq, Dr. Ghafouri's mother prayed that nobody else would ever have to go through what their family went through, and yet since they fled, three more genocides have occurred in the region.  Sadly, the Yazidis are not strangers to Genocide.  They have faced it on 74 occasions.  The previous three were at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.  During those genocides, the Ottoman soldiers wore blue uniforms, so to this day, Yazidis don't where blue.  Though they are a peaceful and tolerant community, their faith, which is distinct from all others in the region, have made them an open target to radical Jihadists who see them as "Infidels."  When ISIS came through, they singled out the Yazidi for annihilation.  

ISIS often killed Yazidi men on the spot, but the women endured a fate worse than death.  Dr. Ghafouri testified how Yazidi children as young as 9 were sold off as sex slaves.  She met one 10-year old girl who was purchased, raped 19 times, and forced to marry a 43-year-old terrorist.  She was bought back from him by humanitarians for $3700.  She spoke with the family who had their 9-year-old daughter impregnated by an ISIS militant.  She ultimately died as a result of her pregnancy as her body was incapable of bearing the baby.  ISIS often raped children to death, at times in the presence of their captive parents.  Some abducted women tried to avoid being raped by not showering.  They went for months without bathing because they knew that if they did, the militants would rape them.  However, after five months they had to bathe because they could no longer stand their own stench.  The second they finished, ISIS militants raped them.  

Artwork done by Yazidi Refugees

The Yazidis not only faced murderous militants, but a hostile community.  Arabs society in the region has long been indoctrinated with a hatred for Christians, Yazidis, and Kurds.  They're taught that the Kurds are the spawn of a woman who was raped by Satan.  Some Yazidis who were raped went to hospitals for treatment only to be raped by members of the hospital staff.  The tragic reality though is that nobody, not even Arabs, were safe from ISIS.  The ISIS militants killed anybody that they perceived as being their enemies, often in barbaric fashion.  Dr. Ghafouri told us about one particularly horrible incident that happened to an Arab family.  "ISIS took a young Arab boy captive after accusing him of being an enemy.  A few days later his mother came to plead for mercy.  ISIS invited his mother inside.  She pleaded with them that he was a good Arab and a good Muslim, that he was not their enemy.  They invited his mother inside and made a show of generosity, giving her a meal and some tea.   After eating, she asked if she could see her son.  They laughed in her face and replied 'You have just enjoyed him!'"

Working in conjunction with Joint Help for Kurdistan, Dr. Ghafouri has worked to try and bring a measure of relief to so many refugees.  She has helped provide refugees, particularly Yazidi refugees, with water, shelter, and medical care.  She also helped build a bakery that helped to feed over 18,000 people.  Dr. Ghafouri also helped provide trauma counseling to the refugees, some of whom lost their entire families to ISIS.  Dr. Ghafouri serves to remind us that even in the darkest of times, there is always light.

Source:

The International Christian Concern Conference of 2016.