Sema
Iraqi Ministry of Health’s Medico-Legal Directorate Announces DNA Matches for 22 Murdered Ezidis
The Medico-Legal Directorate of the Federal Ministry of Health announced today, Tuesday, the DNA identification of 22 murdered Ezidis, and published a table listing their names.
In a statement, the Directorate said: “Coinciding with the 11th anniversary of the genocide committed against the Ezidi community by terrorist gangs, the eighth batch of DNA matches has been announced, identifying 22 Ezidi victims who were killed during the militants’ control of Nineveh Province.”
The statement added: “The families of the victims have been contacted by phone to arrange the handover of the remains at their place of residence in the Sinjar district. The Medico-Legal Directorate will transport the remains to Sinjar, where they will be handed over by the National Mass Graves Team in special funeral ceremonies in the coming days.”
It’s worth noting that these identifications are the result of complex technical procedures to extract DNA from the remains recovered from mass graves and compare them to reference blood samples submitted by the victims’ families.
The Directorate called on: “Members of the Ezidi community to expedite the submission of reference blood samples from relatives of the missing and to cooperate with the National Mass Graves Team, which includes the Medico-Legal Directorate and the Departments for the Protection of Mass Graves and Missing Persons at the Martyrs Foundation.”