A young Yazidi man who was reunited with his extended family on Sunday after spending more than a decade in Islamic State (ISIS) captivity, told Rudaw earlier this week that the extremist group banned him and other captives from speaking in their mother tongue, Kurdish.
“They wouldn't allow us to speak our language, Kurdish. They also forced us to speak Arabic,” Rawand N.H., who is no longer able to speak Kurdish, said in an interview on Tuesday.
Speaking fluent Arabic, Rawand said ISIS forced him and other Yazidi captives to perform prayers, recite the Quran and do other Islamic practices. Those who did not follow the rules would be punished, including having their feet whipped with a stick.
Rawand, now 18, was rescued from ISIS captivity in the Syrian city of Raqqa by the Office of Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
Officials and his uncle say 77 members of Rawand’s extended family were abducted by ISIS when the group attacked Shingal in 2014. Thirty-nine of them remain unaccounted for.
Rawand said he was never happier than the moment when he saw his family members after nearly 11 years of ISIS captivity.
The following is the transcript of the interview with Rawand:
Rudaw: Rawand, welcome back. How were you freed?
Rawand N.H.: The way I was rescued from ISIS was that a person came and took me to his family, as if they adopted me. I stayed with them for about seven years. The search for me began and they learned I was alive. I told someone, who in turn passed the news to another, and someone from there contacted me and learned I was alive. He told me: ‘Don't worry, you have nothing to do with anything. I'll get you to your relatives.’ At first I didn't believe him, I told him: ‘You're lying.’ But after he called my uncle and talked to him, I recognized my uncle and he recognized me. I said: ‘Thank God.’ After that I came with him and stayed with him for about a month, then he brought me to my relatives.
Do you remember the day ISIS attacked Khansour [and captured you]?
I remember we were in our house. We were several families together. They came and took us. When they took us, they put us in a school, I don't know where it was. After the school, they moved us and separated each of us from the other.
When was the last time you saw your parents and siblings?
The last time I saw my father and siblings they were all together, but I don't remember the details well when that was.
In Khansour or somewhere else?
No, it wasn't in Khansour. After they took us from Khansour and put us in a school, we stayed together for a while, then they separated them from us.
You don't remember where it was?
No, honestly, I don't remember the areas.
Tell us about the rest of your story. After Khansour where did they take you, for example Mosul?
After they took us from Khansour, they isolated the fathers, separated the young men, and separated children our age. My brother and I were together, and they took us separately. They taught us prayer and Quran recitation. You had to learn, and if you didn't, they would beat you. They kept moving us from place to place, until the [Iraqi] state surrounded them. Then they no longer knew where to take us. That man came and took me. He took me to his family and I stayed with them for about seven years. After seven years, I said I want my family.
Did you participate in any training or battles?
No, no battles, no training because I was a child.
So they didn't ask you to participate in training and battles?
No, they only took the older ones for training and other things. I was young, so they didn't take me. I was about nine or ten years old then. They said I couldn't.
Do you remember how many years you stayed in Iraq before they took you to Syria?
No, I just guess I was in Iraq for about ten years, something like that.
During that period, did you see any other Yazidi youth in Iraq or Syria?
We were many, we were in a mosque, and our number was very large.
And after that…
After that, everyone went in a different direction. One escaped, another fled, I don't know what. And this person came and took me, as if he adopted me.
Do you remember who was the last Yazidi youth you saw?
The last person I saw was my brother.
Your brother? Is he older or younger than you?
Older than me.
Where was that? Do you know where?
I don't know, I don't remember. He came, I saw him and he saw me and left. I don't know where he went.
When you were with ISIS, did you have any information about your family? Where they were and where they went?
No, they wouldn't tell me. They would take us to the mosque and house and leave us.
Do you remember them beating you once for something specific that still hurts in your memory?
Something specific, if I was a little late for prayer, they would whip our feet, meaning they would beat us with sticks.
With sticks?
Yes.
This was the punishment for being late to prayer?
Yes.
What were the other punishments and what were their reasons?
It was mostly beatings and things like that. If you didn't follow their rules, you would be beaten.
How were their rules, were they only about prayer or other things?
Prayer, Quran recitation, study, then training.
Was the punishment only with sticks or other things?
No, all punishments were with sticks.
Only with sticks?
Yes, those who were with me, I knew what happened to them, but the others who were separated from us I don't know anything about them.
How many times were you punished? Was the beating strong or light?
By God, how many times shall I count for you. I was punished about five or six times. They wouldn't allow us to speak our language, Kurdish. They also forced us to speak Arabic.
So you didn't speak Kurdish for more than ten years?
Yes, I haven't spoken Kurdish for ten years.
Do you know some Kurdish words now?
Yes, I'm learning bit by bit, like "bashi?” (How are you?). “Hale ta?" (Are you fine?).
During the period you were in Iraq or Syria, was there anyone who spoke Kurdish with you?
Never. If you spoke Kurdish with your friend in the mosque, they would beat you.
So the Kurdish language was forbidden?
Speaking Kurdish was forbidden.
Was there a punishment for speaking Kurdish?
Yes, there was a punishment.
When you returned and saw your relatives, they were all happy. How did you feel?
Thank God, in these 11 years of my life, this is the first time I felt all this happiness.
Do you miss your parents and siblings? Are they in your memory?
I don't remember my parents very clearly, but my uncle is like my father, and my aunt is like my mother. Thank God, my cousins are still here, thank God.
Do you now have any information about your family?
No, I have no information.
Who told you that your parents and siblings are missing?
Here they told me that my siblings and parents are missing like me.
Before you returned, did you have any information about them?
No, before I came here, many people like me were waiting.
When coalition planes came and bombed the area, what did you do?
They would tell us don't be afraid, don't be afraid. But there was a bombing. They would move us from house to house. We could feel the situation. Sometimes they would manipulate our minds and go blow themselves up.
How did you feel when someone told you: ‘I know your relatives and family and I came to rescue you’?
My feeling was that I should go with him, but at first we had to communicate to make sure he was an acquaintance and not someone else who wanted to kidnap me.
