Introduction
The keynote speaker was Simon Minks who is a senior public prosecutor for The Hague Court of Appeal. Minks said that even obvious cases of genocide can be difficult to prosecute. “We’ve had bad experience with states that did not want to cooperate.” He stressed the importance of careful documentation and the need to scrutinize personal testimony. Simon was impressed by Kavien and they began cooperating. Kavien developed a friendship with Simon and they met on many occasions in The Hague.
Photos and background information
Kavien was the moderator of panel II on “Self-determination, conflict resolution and Coexistence.”
The panel discussed the effects that Kurdistan’s independence might have on women in the region. According to Naznaz Qadir, an education advisor for the KRG’s Council of Ministers, “the liberation of Kurdistan will be the liberation of women in Kurdistan.”
Behar Ali, the director of the Emma Organization for Human Development, agreed, saying, “Remaining in Iraq [would] hinder women’s progress in Kurdistan.”
This beautiful photo shows the American University of Kurdistan at night.
Founded in 2014 as a non-profit institution of higher learning by Masrour Barzani, the American University of Kurdistan is dedicated to preparing future generations of leaders through curricular and co-curricular excellence in an American style education focusing on transformative knowledge, innovative research, ethical community service, respect for inclusion and diversity, global connectedness, and life-long learning, all aiming to ensure economic, environmental, social and political advancement — regionally, nationally and globally (source: auk.edu.krd).
Kavien in a panel discussion at the conference.
This photo has been taken after the conference, when a group of conference participants
went to visit an important site of the Yazidis.
Kavien and Simon Minks are inside the most famous Yazidi temple, the Lalish Temple, built in 478 BC, located
about 46 km from Duhok city.
This is the Cave of the wishing stone. When someone manages to throw a piece of clothing on it, his or her wishes should come true.