Announcement by Martin SCHULZ, EP President of the names of Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar, advocate for the Yazidi community and for women surviving sexual enslavement by Islamic State, as Winners of the 2016 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, during the EP plenary session (24-27/10) in Strasbourg.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

SCHULZ, Martin (S&D, DE)

Sakharov Prize

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought 2016 (T)

AJI BASHAR, Lamiya

MURAD BASEE, Nadia (IQ)

Announcement by Martin SCHULZ, EP President of the names of Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar, as Winners of the 2016 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought

Arrival of EP President Martin SCHULZ.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, Dear colleagues, it&rsquo;s a pleasure to inform you that Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar are to be awarded the Sakharov prize by decision of the Conference of Presidents.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar have shared a painful and tragic past. They had to witness the cruelty of the so-called Islamic State, the fear, family people killed in front of their eyes, and both were used as sex slaves and humiliated. However their tragic tale is in the past, they were able to flee, to escape to Europe and find sanctuary here.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, During their escape both young women witnessed dreadful things, had to overcome fears. Mrs Aji Bashar was severely injured during the course of their flight. But they fought, they struggled because they felt they had to survive, and they wanted to survive. They had the impression they were duty-bound to survive and to keep up the struggle on behalf of those they had to leave behind. And in particular, by their surviving, to keep up the fight against impunity, impunity on the part of those that had committed heinous crimes and are still committing heinous crimes.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, They stand for courage, for dignity. That is what they represent. And that is indescribable, words cannot capture that. They are spokespeople for the protection of those that are suffering from sexual violence and for the fight against enslavement by the so-called Islamic State. They are the representative of the Yazidi community in Iraq and they are calling on all of us to do what they have done, to fight against the genocidal strategy which this terror organisation represents and that was perpetrated against their own community.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, Both women are the voice of innumerable victims of human trafficking, inimical to the fundamental freedoms, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech. We have vowed in Europe that we will do all we can to defend those values. And that is why it is so important, ladies and gentlemen, for us to honour Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar. We are demonstrating that their fight has not been in vain, and that we are prepared to step up to the plate and act in ways to help them and their fight against hardship and against in particular brutality, terror and murder perpetrated by the so-called Islamic State, to which so many peoples are still exposed.

Final round of applause.