Amal Clooney Wraps Up UN Visit With Nadia Murad, a Victim of ISIS

The human rights lawyer and wife of George Clooney represents Nobel Peace Prize nominee Nadia Murad and other Yazidi victims of ISIS and has been calling for an investigation into crimes by the group

By Corinne Heller Mar 11, 2017 8:26 PMTags
Amal Clooney, Nadia MuradAP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Amal Clooney just wrapped up a visit to New York, where she and client Nadia Murad, a human rights activist who survived being raped and enslaved by ISIS terrorists, made more urgent pleas to the United Nations.

The human rights attorney and the pregnant wife of George Clooney was spotted at JFK International Airport in New York City, possibly traveling back to her native Britain.

Amal and Nadia have been pushing for justice for the victims of ISIS and last year spoke at the U.N. and criticized it for not doing enough. They spoke there again Thursday. Amal wants Iraq to allow a U.N. investigation into crimes by the group, which has targeted scores of members of Nadia's Yazidi faith in the country. Amal said the Iraqi government must send a formal letter requesting the inquiry before the 15-member U.N. Security Council can vote on an U.N. investigation that Britain is drafting.

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"But months have passed, deadlines set by the UK have come and gone, and the Iraqi government has declined to send the letter," she said at the U.N.. "So there has been no vote, no resolution, no investigation."

"My words, tears and my testimony have not made you act. I wonder whether there is any point in continuing my campaign at all," Nadia said. "I cannot understand what is taking so long. I cannot understand why you are letting ISIS get away with it, or what more you need to hear before you will act. So today I ask the Iraqi government and the UN to establish an investigation and give all victims of ISIS the justice they deserve."

Amal said the U.N. could act without Iraq's content and could refer the case to the International Criminal Court, for which she has long advocated.

"But none of this has happened yet. Instead, mass graves in Iraq still lie unprotected and un-exhumed," she said.

Amal told Reuters, "Nadia knows where her mother is buried. There are mass graves whose locations are known and for all of this time, they're just laying there unprotected and evidence is being damaged." 

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Amal and Nadia met with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Friday. On Wednesday, Amal attended the "Fight against Impunity for Atrocities: Bringing Da'esh to Justice" event at the U.N.

Amal's pregnancy has put her—and her high-profile work and causes—even more in the spotlight. She and George are expecting twins, who will be their first children.

"I think if there are more people who now understand what's happening about the Yazidis and ISIS, and if there can be some action that results from that, that can help those clients, then I think it's a really good thing to give that case the extra publicity that it may get," Amal recently told BBC News.