Najwa Khudeda, a Yezidi girl, was abducted by ISIS militants in August 2014 when they invaded Shingal and the surrounding areas in the Nineveh plains. In her captivity Khudeda was given away as a present to ISIS leaders and at times sold to ordinary militants. They all treated her badly. They used her as a sex slave, servant, cook and cleaner. They beat her and constantly threatened to resell her to someone else.
Khudeda is now free, but she wants those who abducted and sold her brought to justice. She says she’ll forever remember their faces and names and she wants the Iraqi government to look for these men who may be hiding among their tribes.
Rudaw: How did you fall into ISIS hands? Where did they take you?
Najwa Khudeda: We were in our village when we were captured on August 15, 2014. We were 15 people. They took my father and three of my brothers somewhere, and my mother, sisters, sister-in-law and myself somewhere else. Then they separated the elderly from us and took them somewhere else. They took us to Kocho School, then to the institute. Later, they took us to Tal Afar and different Shiite villages. They separated those who were single and took us to Mosul. Eventually, they took us to Syria. I was being moved from place to place. I was sold six to seven times. They assaulted us and did everything against us.
Who did they sell you to?
They initially gave me to an Iraqi man named Abu Yahya. He was Hardani.
How long did you stay with him?
I stayed with him for one year and two months.I was then sold to someone named Abu Khatab from Rawa. I stayed with him four months then they gave me to Abu Walid, another Rawi man who kept me another two months.
Did the men you were sold to have their own families?
Yes, they even had children. But they didn’t take me to their homes. They kept me in their headquarters and made me work there.
Did you know how much money they got for you?
I was given to a Sheikh who was giving us away to the emirs. I was initially given to an emir, who was later killed. The Sheikh had said I was given away as a gift and now he wanted me back. They gave me to another emir, who was later killed too. I was again returned to the Sheikh. I was later given to Abu Walid, and then sold to Abu Asia.
Abu Asia was from Rawa. He was tall and blind in one eye. He was 20 and had an artificial eye. He took me to a family with whom I stayed for seven months. I complained to him, who then sold me to Abu Hajar from Mosul. I stayed with him only for five days. He sold me to another Rawi man called Abu Mohammed. I stayed with him for 20 days. He too sold me to someone named Abubakir who was from Karbuli. I stayed with him for nearly seven months.
Did they ask you to convert to Islam?
Yes. They initially asked us to convert our religion. They taught us the Quran. The first man took me to his home. His wife taught the Quran. He then took me back to his headquarters.
How did these people treat you?
They treated me very badly. They used to put me in a room and lock it when they got angry with me. They threatened me that they were going to sell me. The ISIS militants made me do everything, including washing clothes, preparing meals and cleaning their headquarters.
Were you alone there?
Yes, I was.
Did you have contacts with other kidnapped Yazidis?
I knew most of them. I saw them when the militants took me to Mosul, Bahaj and Syria. They were in similar conditions. They were also sold and treated like servants.
I will not forget anything, especially their assaults on me. The most unpleasant thing was that they made us convert from our religion. This was very difficult to me because religion is above us and is not up to us. Changing our religion was not a good thing.
Did they beat you?
Yes, they did. They beat us for different reasons. They always threatened that they would sell us again. We didn’t want this, but couldn’t do anything about it.
Will you be able to recognize those who sold you?
I will recognize them even after 10 years. I know their tribes. I call on the Iraqi government to take me to these places. A Karbuli man still keeps my sister. I can recognize all of them if I am taken to the area. I will file lawsuits against them. But the Iraqi government is doing nothing to help us.
I gave their photos and addresses to relevant parties after I was freed. But they haven’t done anything for us yet. No party has helped us other than Mr. Nechirvan Barzani’s office. The Iraqi government has not paid any attention to us.
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