Sakharov Prize a condemnation of IS 'criminal inhumanity': Murad

Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who survived enslavement by the Islamic State group, welcomed the Sakharov prize for human rights Thursday as a "profound condemnation" of the jihadists' "criminal inhumanity." The European parliament awarded Murad and fellow Yazidi Lamia Haji Bashar the prestigious human rights prize for their courage in the face of IS atrocities against their people in Iraq and Syria. "This acknowledgement of the suffering of the Yazidi women and the Yazidi people is a profound message to the ISIS terrorist group that their criminal inhumanity is condemned and their victims are honored by the free world," Murad said in a statement, using an alternate acronym for the jihadist group. Murad and Bashar were taken from their homes near the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar and enslaved by IS jihadists, enduring a months-long ordeal of rape and torture. Since their escape they have emerged as leading advocates for the rights of other Yazidi survivors. Murad, who is 23, said she and Bashar accepted the Sakharov Prize "on behalf of thousands of kidnapped Yazidi women and girls and on behalf of all victims of the Yazidi genocide." "This award is a powerful message from the democratically elected representatives in Europe to our people and particularly to the more than 6,700 women, girls, and children who became victims of slavery and human trafficking under ISIS, that the genocide will not be repeated," she said. "We will continue to work to make sure that ISIS is brought to justice for its crimes against vulnerable communities and particularly against women and girls," she said, noting that they have asked the UN Security Council to request that IS's crimes be investigated by the International Criminal Court.