On Her Shoulders (2018) - full transcript
Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi, survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to the world, this ordinary girl finds herself thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people.
[crowd chatter]
[man] Nadia...
[distant bell ringing]
[female newscaster] August 2014.
[male newscaster] Catastrophe is unfolding in northern Iraq.
[female newscaster] The world has turned its attention
to the Yazidis, a small religious group
that over its long history has faced severe persecution.
[female newscaster] Stranded on a barren mountaintop
and surrounded by violent Islamic extremists.
[President Barack Obama] Meanwhile, ISIL forces
have called for the systematic destruction
of the entire Yazidi people,
which would constitute genocide.
[female newscaster] Now, we haven't heard that much
about the Yazidis recently
with all the other refugee stories coming out of Europe.
[female newscaster] She was named Nadia.
Her firsthand account was chilling.
[woman] Two summers ago,
her life as a 21-year-old was shattered
when ISIS took over her village.
[man] They killed most of her family, they raped her,
and they made her their slave.
[female newscaster] She managed to escape,
but it's thought that thousands of women
are still being held,
which is why Nadia Murad is campaigning
to try to get the world to notice and do something.
[female newscaster] Nadia has become their voice.
[woman] They all said things like, “She is the future,”
“She is our only hope.”
[man] I would like to draw the attention of honorable members
to the presence in the gallery of Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha.
[man] I now give the floor to Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha.
[man] The final witness is Ms. Nadia Murad.
[woman] I now give the floor to Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha.
[speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[female newscaster] With the assistance of Yazda,
a nonprofit group helping Yazidi survivors,
Nadia is boldly telling her story,
even though it may be nearly impossible
to bring her tormenters to justice...
[chatter, laughter]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[male newscaster] Nadia lived with her large family
in a village of Yazidis,
a non-Muslim ethnic group in Iraq.
She asked us not to show you her face,
and when you hear her story, you'll understand why.
[sobbing]
[male newscaster] This is the agony of the Yazidis.
Attacked because of their faith,
survivors left with little choice but to say farewell to their homeland.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[female newscaster] In December of 2015,
she testified before the UN Security Council,
begging world leaders to listen to horrors-
[woman] Just in advance of your statement,
I wanna thank you for your courage to share your experience
with the Council, which I know won't be easy.
But I really just thank you in advance, Nadia.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[translator] Thank you, Madame President.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Security Council,
good afternoon.
It is with great sadness and recognition and hope
that I am sitting here before you-
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[Nadia continues, indistinct]
[Nadia]
[applause]
I wanna say that I've been in a lot of Security Council meetings,
and people don't clap.
Um, but they're clapping for a remarkable young woman.
[woman, men chattering]
[Nadia] Wait, I wanna- / [Murad] One second.
[woman] No? / [Murad chattering]
Okay. [speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[Murad] So we are 50 seconds over the time.
[Simone] It's all right.
It's all right?
[Simone] Let's first of all, Murad, please tell Nadia-
of course, I don't understand 90 percent of what she was saying,
but her delivery was very good.
If we can try to out out one minute, I'll give you some ideas.
But in the end, it's her decision, yeah? / [Murad] Okay.
[Simone] Tell her I said she should be a newscaster.
[Simone, Murad laugh]
[Simone] You're better than CNN.
Everybody's better than CNN.
[speaking Kurdish]
Yeah. / [Simone] What'd she say?
So you said everyone's better than CNN.
“So I'm not special.”
[Simone laughs]
Okay.
Let's-let's-let's- / [Murad] Okay. So, um,
“It's an honor for me to speak before you today
“in the name of millions of the refugees and immigrants.
“I never wanted to be a refugee.
“I was happy with my life in northern Iraq.
“I was a simple woman with simple dreams and hopes.
“I was like every other woman
in the world who looked for simple things.”
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Thank you, Nadia.
[Simone] Show her the back with the mirror so she can see.
Wow, gorgeous.
She has nice hair. / She has beautiful hair.
I know, it looks so beautiful, I love it.
[Simone] Like a model, like a movie star.
[Murad] “...their dreams, hopes, and desires.
“It would be an honor for me if you allow me
“to represent those in the opening ceremony
of the General Assembly.”
In September, right? / Yeah.
[speaking Kurdish]
What does Nadia say?
Murad? / Um, so...
Nadia says it's better to say, you know,
“I am a refugee” than “I am,” like, “an activist,”
because there are many activists, so it's better for me
to give my account as a refugee.
Yes, but you're a refugee and an activist, no?
Yeah.
I know you wanna be humble, and we love you for that.
But you're an activist too.
The reason why I'm asking is this:
Monday, in essence, is a dress rehearsal,
it's an audition, it's an interview, right?
[Murad] Yeah.
[Simone] It's your opportunity to show that this is
the best speaker for September 19th.
There's nobody who's as eloquent as Nadia, but,
you know, we're not 100 percent sure
we're going to be speaking on September 19th,
and this is our opportunity to wake them up.
[murmuring]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[translator over headphones]
[applause] / Well done. You were great.
[whispering] You did so well.
Did you talk to them? / Yeah.
What did they say? / They said we're on the right track.
They can't still promise yet, but we're moving on the right track.
Okay. / They were watching to see what would happen,
and they were- they were happy.
[chattering]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Okay. One more shot? / [Murad, indistinct]
Just walking basically in a-
a line down the middle.
We'll have the flame in the foreground, like-
[speaking Kurdish]
[woman] Can I ask if something excitings about to happen,
or is this just standard photo-taking?
No. / [laughs]
I've just gotta do one more.
So just a little bit to- right maybe here.
Okay. / And then...
I-I go to the building? / Yeah.
[speaking Kurdish] Okay.
[Joyce Napier] It isn't easy being Nadia Murad,
living with those memories,
the humiliation, the loss, the terror.
Yet she tells the story again and again
of how she became an ISIS sex slave.
Today she's in Canada
before a Parliamentary immigration committee.
She wants Parliament to declare
that Yazidis are victims of a genocide,
but mostly what she wants is for the whole world to know
what she can never forget.
[photographer] Okay, Nadia. / Joyce Napier, CTV News, Ottawa.
Okay. / Okay.
That's it. Tout fini. [laughs] / Okay.
Okay, goodbye. Bye, Nadia. / Bye.
[digital shutter clicks]
[digital shutter clicks]
[tower bells play “God Save the Queen”]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Murad? / Yeah.
[digital shutter clicks]
[Nadia]
[Nadia] Okay.
[Murad, in English] Hello. Uh, Murad is here. The interpreter is here.
[female interviewer] Hi. / [Murad] Hi.
[interviewer] You can call yourself Murad,
you don't have to call yourself “the interpreter.”
Oh, okay. / You have a name too.
Yes, of course. / [interviewer laughing]
[woman] I am logging on to the computer...
[interviewer] Nadia? Can I hear Nadia talk a bit, so-
[speaking Kurdish]
Yes, I'm here.
Oh, you've got some English, Nadia, very good. [laughing]
Uh, okay. Do you want-
Murad can hear it. I don't think, unless you want to, you don't need
to interpret the introduction to her.
Okay.
All right, here we go.
Nadia Murad Basee Taha's life took a terrible turn
in 2014 when ISIS-
Thank you for speaking with us, Nadia, and I realize
you have had to tell your story many times,
and I appreciate you coming to talk to us again.
Can we start here- What was life like for you
before ISIS fighters came to your town?
[speaking Kurdish]
Before Daesh, I was living in Sinjar-
[interviewer] Take me back, Nadia, to that day in your town.
What did you see? What happened?
[Nadia]
[interviewer] Do you know what happened to them? / No.
To this day, you don't know whether they are alive or dead?
[Nadia]
[Murad] Fifteen men from Kocho who survived-
[interviewer] I'm sorry for your- for your loss.
You were then taken, and you and other Yazidis, you were-
you women were- you were treated like property.
Tell me what that was like, to be treated like a piece of property.
[speaking Kurdish]
[interviewer] You would rather have died
than gone through what you went through?
[Murad speaking Kurdish] / They beat you?
[Nadia] Yes.
And then they raped you?
[speaking Kurdish] / Yes.
[interviewer] You were raped repeatedly- and I- again, I-
I am sorry to-to make you go back to this
terrible, terrible time.
But I'm wondering how you actually got through all of that.
[speaking Kurdish]
[male interviewer] This is very difficult for you,
so only tell me what you feel comfortable telling me.
[woman] How did you manage to escape?
[man] Will you ever go back to your village?
And when you think about the men who raped you,
what do you want to happen to them?
[man] Did you at any point try to talk to them,
try to reason with them?
Did you try to resist? Could you tell him no?
They killed your mother as well, I think-
I imagine there's also moments that you just want
to stop and lead a normal life, right?
[man] What happened to the women? What happened to you?
How do you deal with all of it?
[interviewer] Do you think about your family a lot?
Uh-
What kinds of things are you thinking about?
[speaking Kurdish]
And I guess that's why you make yourself tell
and retell this story of- of horrors.
What are you hoping the international community will do?
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[interviewer] Nadia, you are a remarkable young woman,
and I can't thank you enough for taking the time
to talk with us today. Thank you.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[interviewer] Nadia, can you say, “Goodbye” or “Thank you”?
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[in English] Good-goodbye. Thank you.
Thank you, Nadia.
Murad, please, please tell her-I know, I just-sorry, I-
Yeah. / I know how hard this is, and it's-it's so important
to tell the story.
So please tell her how much I appreciate it.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
Thank you.
Okay. All right, take care.
[Murad] Thank you so much. / Okay. Bye-bye.
[Murad] Bye.
[interviewer] Oh, wow. Okay.
[Nadia sniffling]
Thank you.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[man] Yes, thank you so much for coming and appearing.
I know this isn't easy, but it's such important work.
And hopefully-hopefully as- on the basis of this work,
uh, we will be able to put policies in place to-
to make a difference, to really make a difference.
[man] Hi, how are you? / [Nadia] Hi.
[man, indistinct] / [Nadia] Nice to meet you.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Please note the content of some witnesses' testimony
may be upsetting to participants and the viewing public.
The first panel appearing before us today
are Ms. Nadia Murad, a human rights activist,
and Mr. Murad Ismael, executive director for Yazda.
[whispering]
I will begin with Ms. Nadia Murad,
as soon as she's ready.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Wrzesnewskyj] Thank you. Difficult testimony.
Ms. Rempel, seven minutes, please.
[Rempel] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's my understanding that the UN is
not prioritizing Yazidi refugees.
Is that correct?
I'm sorry, it was very difficult to listen to you.
[sniffles] I'm sorry.
We'll do our best, okay?
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[Murad] So I think this was a good meeting, and, you know,
um, we're hoping that the recommendations
the government in September will be, like, solid.
Okay.
[speaking Kurdish]
I don't know. The fact is,
is that countries like Canada, that are taking in refugees,
are not getting Yazidis on the list.
Organizations like the United Nations,
Canadian government, they're big bureaucracies, right?
It takes forever to change processes.
If the UN isn't going to work to select Yazidis
and expedite it, then we have to work around that.
Okay. / It's as simple as that.
It's one of the recommendations I've made,
and I'm printing off a copy of the letter for you,
which will get media coverage today.
It will get significant media coverage. / Okay.
We're gonna have two months
to put action forward on this, right?
So now, when I go into the House of Commons
in September, we have a basis to ask for action, right?
Because there's- it was very-the testimony
was very clear in terms of prescriptive recommendations.
Great. / Well, this is a wonderful letter.
Thank you, Michelle, it's great.
We just want you to be healthy and happy.
That's our main thing. / Mm-hmm.
You, personally. / [Murad speaking Kurdish]
You're family now.
[Murad speaking Kurdish] / [Nadia] Thank you.
Yes.
My mom watched you.
She's like, “Tell her she can come live with me.”
[laughs] She was just, like, so-
She was just so crying, I can't talk about it.
She's like, “You tell her she can come live with me
in Winnipeg if she wants to.”
Seriously, yeah. She's like, “You tell her she's my daughter.”
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
So, anyway.
I have a-this is- I know-
I know you probably get gifts from everyone-
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
- so I just wanted to give you a maple leaf.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
So that you can remember that
there are people in Canada that support your people,
and we will continue to fight for them.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
Thank you. / Mm-hmm.
[Rempel] Great. Awesome. / [woman] Great.
[woman] We'll be-thank you, we will be in touch.
[Murad] Michelle, thanks a lot.
[Rempel] You were just so fantastic at the committee.
It was very good, so- / Thanks.
Are you guys done for the day now, or...?
[loud music]
[classical music]
[chattering]
[marching band plays “Cantina Band”]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[Nadia]
[laughs]
[marching band plays “The Imperial March”]
Fun music. [laughs] / Yes.
[phone rings]
[Murad] Hello? Hi.
We're waiting for-for them to allow-allow us in.
[bagpipes playing]
[speaking Kurdish]
[chattering]
[Nadia]
[Murad]
[Murad] Hello. / [Nadia] Hi.
Hi. Good to see you again.
After-after this trip to Canada,
uh, where are your next plans?
[Murad]
Have you had a chance to see the Parliamentary building at all?
[speaking Kurdish]
When I came, I saw some of it.
What have you seen? Have you been in the House of Commons?
No. / [Murad speaking Kurdish]
No? Hold up. Okay, so...
Stan? / [man] Yeah?
Could you call security and say we have-
Pardon me? / Can you call security?
Say we have a very special guest I'd like to take into the House.
Uh-
Thanks. Why don't you come with me?
We'll see if we can't pull this one off.
[Murad] Okay. Thank you.
Nadia? / No.
Please. No?
[laughter]
Okay. Come, come, come.
Thank you. / There we go.
So this is where all the members of Parliament meet.
And I think we should take a picture
of Nadia sitting in the speaker's chair.
[woman] Oh, yes, yes.
[Murad speaking Kurdish] / [woman laughs]
So why don't you join Nadia on one side,
I'll join Nadia on the other side. / Okay.
I think this looks about right.
Yeah, I think so.
[sneezes] Sorry.
Bless you.
It would be an honor for me to see you address
all of those presidents and prime ministers at the UN.
[speaking Kurdish]
Thank you.
[chattering]
[man on PA] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
The following presentation of “Northern Lights”
is scheduled to begin in 15 minutes.
[bells ringing]
[man on PA] Canada is the expression
of a nation's vision-
its hopes and its spirit under great northern skies.
The fire intensified, fanned into a raging inferno
by strong winter winds from the north.
But more than smoke rose from the ashes.
Turmoil in Europe reached across the Atlantic.
Families, whole communities,
were uprooted and exiled.
Our country continues to grow.
From sea to sea to sea, Canada.
[applause]
[Murad]
[Nadia]
I hope so.
[sighs]
[GPS chatters] / [speaking foreign language]
[GPS continues]
[no audible dialogue]
[chattering]
[crowd chattering]
Thank you. / Thank you.
Thank you. / Thank you.
Thank you. / Thank you.
Hi.
Thank you.
Hi.
Hmm?
[kisses]
[speaking Kurdish]
Okay.
Say “thank you,” Katie. / Thank you.
Oh, my God. [laughs]
I love you. I love you so much.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish] / [sobbing]
Guys, hurry up, please.
[speaking foreign language]
No. After, after. No more.
[chattering]
One more, that's it-after.
No. [speaking foreign language]
[Murad] -that we are able to tell the world in a nice way,
in a civilized way, who we are, what happened to us,
and why the world must act.
At that time, I believe we will not be left alone.
[applause]
[woman] Thank you, Nadia. Thank you, Murad.
Welcome to Canada.
So I just wanna know how her message-
she feels her message is being received around the world.
[speaking Kurdish]
[laughs]
[chattering]
[female newscaster] Well, now to the other horrors of ISIS...
[chattering] / [woman] This is it.
[newscaster] -being abducted and forced to be a sex slave
by the Islamic extremist group.
She is Nadia Murad, a member of the ethnic minority
in northern Iraq called the Yazidis.
London has the largest community of Yazidis in Canada.
[chatter]
[newscaster] Murad has been traveling the world,
telling her story of abduction and sexual abuse,
and that story has made her a hero in the Yazidi community
and brought many members to this gathering...
[chattering laughing]
Uh...
[speaking Kurdish]
[Nadia]
[Ahmed]
[Nadia]
Hmm?
[murmurs]
No, no...
[chattering]
[sobbing]
[woman speaking German]
[applause]
Nadia, Nadia.
[man speaking foreign language]
[crowd cheering, clapping]
[man] The only hope for all of us, Ms. Nadia Murad.
[cheering, applause]
[speaking Kurdish]
[cheering, applause]
[woman sobbing]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[sobbing continues]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[female newscaster] There are those who would say
ISIS doesn't need to be brought to court,
ISIS needs to be bombed out of existence.
Well, I mean, there is a bombing campaign going on.
The coalition forces, including the US and-
and many other states, are going after ISIS on a military basis.
That's part of the- the response.
But it's not enough.
I mean, you can't kill an idea that way.
[female newscaster] Nadia has found
a powerful advocate in Amal Clooney.
The human rights lawyer is collecting evidence to build
a case in the International Criminal Court
against the Islamic State fighters
who've wrought a Yazidi genocide.
[Amal] And I think what she's saying is incredibly powerful,
because she's saying that we don't want revenge,
we don't want pity, we want an acknowledgment
of what has happened to us.
And when I've met Yazidi victims,
they say they want their day in court as well.
[female newscaster] While it's all business for the highly regarded,
Oxford-educated human rights lawyer,
there is plenty of unspoken curiosity
about the Amal Clooney married to the Hollywood superstar.
[paparazzi shouting]
If there's more attention paid for whatever reason, then-
Oh, you know the reason.
-then I think that's good. Um-
[female newscaster] A reluctant celebrity
who may be getting the most traction.
[woman] Hello, Amal, can you hear us?
[Amal] Yes, I can hear you.
Hi-hi, Amal.
Um, here from Greece, Nadia, Ahmed, and I.
Murad- / [Amal] Hello, Nadia. Hi, Ahmed, hi, Murad.
Hello. Hello, Amal.
[speaking foreign language]
Hi, Amal, how are you? This is Ahmed.
[Amal] Hello. I'm very well, thank you.
How are you? / I'm fine, thank you.
[Ahmed, Nadia]
[gasps]
[Nadia]
[laughing]
[laughing]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[chattering]
[chattering]
[in English]
Yes. Yes. Yes.
I know, I know, I know.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Nadia, you feel that- you can have a family in Germany,
or you gonna have a family- where you gonna have a family?
[Ahmed speaking Kurdish]
[laughs] / No.
No Germany. / No.
Nowhere. [laughs]
Yeah.
[Murad] I think Yazidis will be a diaspora community.
On the long term, we will not hold our ground in Iraq.
[Luis] It's so complicated, because I see that.
At the same time...
[in English]
I don't wanna translate that. That would make Nadia very upset.
I don't want to translate that.
[exhales heavily]
If you're not talking about going back to Sinjar,
someone else will take Sinjar.
So if you start to focus, okay, this is our land,
no one can touch it, it's our land. / Yeah.
Because it's the only land you have. / That's what we say.
So it's your land.
We'll see if we'll go back to live or do a big cemetery.
It's our decision.
If Nadia presents this idea and everyone is thinking,
“Oh, we have to achieve that Nadia can go back
to her land,” that is the vision.
Create the border for you,
create- you should seek that.
[speaking Kurdish]
I understand. Fuck.
It's a big- it's a big challenge.
But-but that's the- but first, okay-
As usual, you make a lot of disturbance, in the right way.
No, but you're amazing. You are the leader.
And Yazidis can survive, food and grain-
they did it for centuries.
[speaking Kurdish]
Ah.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Luis]
[Nadia laughs]
Okay.
[Luis] Nadia, it's for you. / Okay.
Go, sit. / [woman] That's not gonna-
[Luis] No, you sit. You sit.
[laughing]
[woman] Wait, I have to get a picture. / [woman 2] ls there more?
[Luis] Here we go. They're happy.
[chattering]
[speaking Kurdish]
[girl]
[Nadia]
[applause] / Thank you. Thank you.
[Murad] I thought she was very good.
Luis, would you like to say something?
Should I? / Yes.
Okay. I'm very thankful to be invited to be with you.
[Murad speaks Kurdish]
My name is Luis Moreno Ocampo.
I was the first chief prosecutor
of the International Criminal Court.
You've got to know Yazidis are not alone,
and we're here because we'd like to understand
what happened to you today.
We'd like to explain to the world
how you are still suffering injustice.
Yazidis can teach the world the meaning of genocide,
and the way to control it.
[speaking Kurdish]
So we are here for six months.
What do you think will be happening to us here?
I don't know, because
Greece has its own problems.
So I don't know.
We'll try to find the best solu- help you to have solutions.
But for me, in order to be together and to keep the faith,
and to keep Yazidis as a group, you have to think in-
in organizing yourself in your own land.
[speaking Kurdish]
[sniffles]
[sobs]
[chattering]
[speaking foreign language]
[Luis] How you knew her? You were neighbors?
Yeah, she's my- my relative, and we are-
like, our houses were together.
You're his relative? / Yes, yeah.
She's very old. She's more than 100 years.
They escaped. / Yes.
Walking. Walking.
[speaking Kurdish]
When I was little boy, she was taking care of me.
[Luis] Okay.
Okay.
[Murad speaking foreign language]
[chattering]
[speaking Kurdish, muffled]
[Nadia]
[speaking foreign language]
[chattering]
[speaking foreign language]
[Luis]
Basically...
[Luis] People tend to forget genocide.
No? We forget Darfur.
They are trying to forget Yazidis.
That's something Nadia is avoiding. / Yeah.
I know for me, also yesterday we see how painful your work.
They require food and they require a shelter for the rain,
all this stuff that you cannot deliver.
You're working for them knowing
that you can do almost nothing for them.
We ask for big things, and then if the big things don't happen,
that means we're wasting our time, running around like chickens.
So we have to have small things also-achievable.
Chicken with no leg- with no head. / No head.
So we thought we'd create the Nadia Initiative
that would be like Malala Fund, similar to that.
And then we can use that money to help the camps,
to help people in need, to help the women who came from captivity.
But the issue's bigger for me.
I don't know-
[exhales] It's complex, highly complex.
And I think that would be a way for us
to help with the humanitarian side.
[Luis] But it isn't enough.
You need to define very well your priorities.
And now, Nadia will talk to the world.
I'm sorry, guys, but you are the-
you are the only visionary in this- in the Yazidi groups.
You are- you are the vision.
So between you and Nadia, the two of you and Nadia
have to organize a vision that leads the Yazidi for the next 10 years.
Because that's- it's not a short-term run.
This is a 10-years run. I'm sorry for that.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[indistinct conversation]
I guess maybe we just talk?
[woman] Murad, real quick, to do sync, we're just gonna have you-
Her work have put her in spotlight,
where an entire community is-is looking for her to do something.
It's a very difficult life, and I see this difficulty every day,
being with her every day. I-I-I see it.
Nadia doesn't want to be a politician,
she doesn't want to be a public figure.
In fact, she doesn't want to be anything but a girl from the village.
Sometimes we've reached a point where she says,
“I will no longer do this,” even now.
But then she just takes a few moments, and she says,
“I have to go back and do it again.
I have to continue doing it, because nothing has changed.”
I'm worried about her.
She's just very young to have this role, and-and-and-
and because with this role comes a lot of challenges.
And being this public voice against ISIS, security-wise,
it's a huge challenge.
We have received threats for her from ISIS militants,
and we know that they are after her.
And they will not have mercy when they reach her.
She told me many, many times that once things are better,
she will go back to her village.
But I personally think it's impossible.
She was telling me that, “Murad, once Sinjar
“is re-captured, I want to take you to-to my home-
“and to walk you around our house,
“to show you where I was reading, when I was studying.”
But... I imagine- I don't want to go back.
I don't want to see everyone together...
with- with so much pain.
Probably, it would never happen.
I will do everything I can for the rest of my life
for people of Kocho and people of Sinjar
and the entire Yazidis to be able to have a homeland,
to be able to have a place to live.
I will give all my energy and my strength to that.
But even with that...
it will be different.
It will not be the Kocho that she's seen.
It'll be a Kocho without men,
it will be a Kocho of widows and orphans,
of people dressed in black.
That's what Kocho will look like in the future,
and I don't think that will be the Kocho
that she wants to go back to.
I see her future.
She will be the voice of the people who are in sadness.
[no audible dialogue]
Although she's the strongest person I've ever seen,
I don't know how much more strength she has.
[chattering laughing]
[screaming]
[shouting chattering]
[boy singing in foreign language]
[group singing]
[singing]
[voice breaking]
[both sobbing]
[ship horn blows]
[horn blows]
[chattering]
[female interviewer] What do you hope to give to the Yazidi people?
I would like to see justice
to be done for Yazidis.
[female newscaster] Nadia's being named
a goodwill ambassador by the UN on Friday
will be a turning point in their quest for justice.
[murmurs]
Today it's... It's very hard for me.
[clears throat]
I don't know what- what happen.
[woman] Is it thinking about family? Is that what's hard?
Yes.
I wish my mom was here.
[no audible dialogue]
[no audible dialogue]
[chattering]
[man] Yeah, they're supposed to follow you through.
Okay, but we don't wanna be late, so don't-
No, we don't wanna be late.
[Amal] Hello. / [woman] Hello.
How are you? / Good morning, you look great.
Can we just get one second of walking before we walk in? / Yeah.
[female newscaster] They may not look like warriors, but they are.
Amal Clooney and her client Nadia Murad.
Together, they are taking on ISIS, urging the UN to investigate
and ultimately try ISIS commanders for genocide.
No, come this way.
Your seat is up there.
[woman] Ambassador?
[speaking foreign language]
Murad, I put a seat for you over there. / Okay. I-
If you don't want it, you can sit here, it's up to you.
Wherever you want, you're in charge.
Where is Nadia?
Grace. Grace. Grace.
Peggy, can I have your help?
[Peggy] What? / Can I have your help?
Yes. / Um-
Apologies-were doing our best here. / Doing a good job, yeah.
[Simone] Dearest Nadia, ladies and gentlemen,
thank you for joining us for the appointment ceremony
of Nadia Murad Basee Taha
as United Nations Goodwill Ambassador
for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
We are honored by the presence
of the survivors who are here today,
and our brothers and sisters from the Yazidi community.
We also take this opportunity to thank all of the ambassadors
who decided that they would come here today
to support Nadia Murad Basee Taha.
I also will use this time to thank Murad Ismael,
the executive director of Yazda. Where are you, Murad?
[applause] / Ah-thank you, Murad.
We're very honored to have you here.
You have been with Nadia from the beginning.
Dear Nadia, I'm proud to welcome you as
a goodwill ambassador for UNODC.
But yours is a very different kind of ambassadorship.
She's the first ever goodwill ambassador on human trafficking
who is herself a survivor.
But today marks the beginning of a new chapter for you.
-which is not easy. It's not an easy recognition.
You will have a lot of work to do-
[overlapping dialogue]
[man] -proud today to witness and be part of Nadia's victory.
Thank you, Nadia.
[applause]
[shutters clicking]
[no audible dialogue]
[applause]
[speaking Kurdish]
[trembling]
It's okay. Take your time.
[chattering]
I wish I could say that I was proud to be here,
but I'm not.
I am ashamed as a supporter of the United Nations
that states are failing to prevent or even punish genocide,
because they find that their own interests get in the way.
I am ashamed as a lawyer that there is no justice being done,
and barely a complaint being made about it.
I am ashamed as a human being that
we ignore their cries for help.
And that is why it is so important
that we hear your words, Nadia, the way you spoke them.
Today, our moral and political responsibility is
to transform this huge emotion into action-
not words, action.
I am proud to know you, Nadia,
and I'm sorry that we have failed you.
I hope that your appointment today can be a turning point.
And to those who thought that by their acts they could destroy you,
let them know this:
Nadia Murad's spirit is not broken.
I remember I had the chance
to meet you in person last December,
and you told me that you out your hair
because you didn't want these monsters find you too fancy.
So I'm so happy to welcome you here,
with your beautiful, long hair.
Thank you to our family,
to the ambassadors of the United Nations.
[applause]
[chattering]
[man] Fantastic. You must be so proud. / [Murad] Thank you.
I am so proud, so sad, so happy.
It's mixed- so much mixed feelings, so-
[man] Yes, of course.
Magnificent job. Do you hear me?
Thank you. [sniffles]
Yeah.
Now listen to me-you got that German network out there.
Yeah. / If you can get her to say thank you to Angela Merkel,
and thank you to the German people,
you do something for the United States.
You'll wake 'em up. Understand?
You get it? / Yeah.
Can we get it? Just two minutes.
That was incredible. She was so good.
[woman] Don't have tears of sadness.
I can only feel your pain, but you have to feel so proud.
It's historic. It's really historic, Murad.
Really historic.
None of this would be possible without you.
It was great.
[man] Nadia!
One fast one before the crowd- / [Simone] One-one, one, one.
You be in the middle.
[Simone] Otherwise the crowds will come in
and we're gonna have a problem.
Okay, thanks. Thank you, thank you, thank you. / Elegance.
[Ahmed speaking Kurdish]
Here we go. I gotta clear the front.
I told your driver 42nd and First.
Yep.
[Sighs] Me too.
Right, we're meeting with...
Hello- [indistinct] Journalist.
Yeah, no, we're not doing any interviews.
Okay. / Sorry.
As we say, sayonara.
Were you okay with it?
If you're okay with it, I'm okay with it.
Yeah, I think it was okay.
Yeah? / Yeah.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Simone] It was history. / Yeah?
You made history today.
Yes, I believe in it. Yeah.
Yeah, it was a big event, so-
You got applause. / Thank you. Thank you.
Even though we fight, we want the same thing.
Well, that's actually, yeah.
That's why we're so great, because we're strong.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[Simone] As you know, member states and the president
of the General Assembly's Office have selected Nadia Murad
to be the opening speaker in the General Assembly.
[murmuring]
[knocking]
[knocking]
Let me open my bag up and see, yep.
It's all right. / One second.
[speaking Kurdish]
Oh!
Simone? Simone.
[gavel bangs]
[Obama] Mr. Secretary General, fellow delegates,
ladies and gentlemen-
It's an honor to be with you today,
and it's wonderful to be here in the great city of New York.
[speaking Kurdish]
Okay, okay.
[chattering]
[man] -excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing
the worst humanitarian and refugee crisis
since the Second World War.
The well-being of millions rests with us at the United Nations,
and we must not fail them in their hour of need.
[Nadia murmuring]
I now give the floor to Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha,
and the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador
for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
[speaking Kurdish]
[no audible dialogue]
[no audible dialogue]
[man] Nadia...
[distant bell ringing]
[female newscaster] August 2014.
[male newscaster] Catastrophe is unfolding in northern Iraq.
[female newscaster] The world has turned its attention
to the Yazidis, a small religious group
that over its long history has faced severe persecution.
[female newscaster] Stranded on a barren mountaintop
and surrounded by violent Islamic extremists.
[President Barack Obama] Meanwhile, ISIL forces
have called for the systematic destruction
of the entire Yazidi people,
which would constitute genocide.
[female newscaster] Now, we haven't heard that much
about the Yazidis recently
with all the other refugee stories coming out of Europe.
[female newscaster] She was named Nadia.
Her firsthand account was chilling.
[woman] Two summers ago,
her life as a 21-year-old was shattered
when ISIS took over her village.
[man] They killed most of her family, they raped her,
and they made her their slave.
[female newscaster] She managed to escape,
but it's thought that thousands of women
are still being held,
which is why Nadia Murad is campaigning
to try to get the world to notice and do something.
[female newscaster] Nadia has become their voice.
[woman] They all said things like, “She is the future,”
“She is our only hope.”
[man] I would like to draw the attention of honorable members
to the presence in the gallery of Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha.
[man] I now give the floor to Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha.
[man] The final witness is Ms. Nadia Murad.
[woman] I now give the floor to Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha.
[speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[female newscaster] With the assistance of Yazda,
a nonprofit group helping Yazidi survivors,
Nadia is boldly telling her story,
even though it may be nearly impossible
to bring her tormenters to justice...
[chatter, laughter]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[male newscaster] Nadia lived with her large family
in a village of Yazidis,
a non-Muslim ethnic group in Iraq.
She asked us not to show you her face,
and when you hear her story, you'll understand why.
[sobbing]
[male newscaster] This is the agony of the Yazidis.
Attacked because of their faith,
survivors left with little choice but to say farewell to their homeland.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[female newscaster] In December of 2015,
she testified before the UN Security Council,
begging world leaders to listen to horrors-
[woman] Just in advance of your statement,
I wanna thank you for your courage to share your experience
with the Council, which I know won't be easy.
But I really just thank you in advance, Nadia.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[translator] Thank you, Madame President.
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Security Council,
good afternoon.
It is with great sadness and recognition and hope
that I am sitting here before you-
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[Nadia continues, indistinct]
[Nadia]
[applause]
I wanna say that I've been in a lot of Security Council meetings,
and people don't clap.
Um, but they're clapping for a remarkable young woman.
[woman, men chattering]
[Nadia] Wait, I wanna- / [Murad] One second.
[woman] No? / [Murad chattering]
Okay. [speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[Murad] So we are 50 seconds over the time.
[Simone] It's all right.
It's all right?
[Simone] Let's first of all, Murad, please tell Nadia-
of course, I don't understand 90 percent of what she was saying,
but her delivery was very good.
If we can try to out out one minute, I'll give you some ideas.
But in the end, it's her decision, yeah? / [Murad] Okay.
[Simone] Tell her I said she should be a newscaster.
[Simone, Murad laugh]
[Simone] You're better than CNN.
Everybody's better than CNN.
[speaking Kurdish]
Yeah. / [Simone] What'd she say?
So you said everyone's better than CNN.
“So I'm not special.”
[Simone laughs]
Okay.
Let's-let's-let's- / [Murad] Okay. So, um,
“It's an honor for me to speak before you today
“in the name of millions of the refugees and immigrants.
“I never wanted to be a refugee.
“I was happy with my life in northern Iraq.
“I was a simple woman with simple dreams and hopes.
“I was like every other woman
in the world who looked for simple things.”
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Thank you, Nadia.
[Simone] Show her the back with the mirror so she can see.
Wow, gorgeous.
She has nice hair. / She has beautiful hair.
I know, it looks so beautiful, I love it.
[Simone] Like a model, like a movie star.
[Murad] “...their dreams, hopes, and desires.
“It would be an honor for me if you allow me
“to represent those in the opening ceremony
of the General Assembly.”
In September, right? / Yeah.
[speaking Kurdish]
What does Nadia say?
Murad? / Um, so...
Nadia says it's better to say, you know,
“I am a refugee” than “I am,” like, “an activist,”
because there are many activists, so it's better for me
to give my account as a refugee.
Yes, but you're a refugee and an activist, no?
Yeah.
I know you wanna be humble, and we love you for that.
But you're an activist too.
The reason why I'm asking is this:
Monday, in essence, is a dress rehearsal,
it's an audition, it's an interview, right?
[Murad] Yeah.
[Simone] It's your opportunity to show that this is
the best speaker for September 19th.
There's nobody who's as eloquent as Nadia, but,
you know, we're not 100 percent sure
we're going to be speaking on September 19th,
and this is our opportunity to wake them up.
[murmuring]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[translator over headphones]
[applause] / Well done. You were great.
[whispering] You did so well.
Did you talk to them? / Yeah.
What did they say? / They said we're on the right track.
They can't still promise yet, but we're moving on the right track.
Okay. / They were watching to see what would happen,
and they were- they were happy.
[chattering]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Okay. One more shot? / [Murad, indistinct]
Just walking basically in a-
a line down the middle.
We'll have the flame in the foreground, like-
[speaking Kurdish]
[woman] Can I ask if something excitings about to happen,
or is this just standard photo-taking?
No. / [laughs]
I've just gotta do one more.
So just a little bit to- right maybe here.
Okay. / And then...
I-I go to the building? / Yeah.
[speaking Kurdish] Okay.
[Joyce Napier] It isn't easy being Nadia Murad,
living with those memories,
the humiliation, the loss, the terror.
Yet she tells the story again and again
of how she became an ISIS sex slave.
Today she's in Canada
before a Parliamentary immigration committee.
She wants Parliament to declare
that Yazidis are victims of a genocide,
but mostly what she wants is for the whole world to know
what she can never forget.
[photographer] Okay, Nadia. / Joyce Napier, CTV News, Ottawa.
Okay. / Okay.
That's it. Tout fini. [laughs] / Okay.
Okay, goodbye. Bye, Nadia. / Bye.
[digital shutter clicks]
[digital shutter clicks]
[tower bells play “God Save the Queen”]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Murad? / Yeah.
[digital shutter clicks]
[Nadia]
[Nadia] Okay.
[Murad, in English] Hello. Uh, Murad is here. The interpreter is here.
[female interviewer] Hi. / [Murad] Hi.
[interviewer] You can call yourself Murad,
you don't have to call yourself “the interpreter.”
Oh, okay. / You have a name too.
Yes, of course. / [interviewer laughing]
[woman] I am logging on to the computer...
[interviewer] Nadia? Can I hear Nadia talk a bit, so-
[speaking Kurdish]
Yes, I'm here.
Oh, you've got some English, Nadia, very good. [laughing]
Uh, okay. Do you want-
Murad can hear it. I don't think, unless you want to, you don't need
to interpret the introduction to her.
Okay.
All right, here we go.
Nadia Murad Basee Taha's life took a terrible turn
in 2014 when ISIS-
Thank you for speaking with us, Nadia, and I realize
you have had to tell your story many times,
and I appreciate you coming to talk to us again.
Can we start here- What was life like for you
before ISIS fighters came to your town?
[speaking Kurdish]
Before Daesh, I was living in Sinjar-
[interviewer] Take me back, Nadia, to that day in your town.
What did you see? What happened?
[Nadia]
[interviewer] Do you know what happened to them? / No.
To this day, you don't know whether they are alive or dead?
[Nadia]
[Murad] Fifteen men from Kocho who survived-
[interviewer] I'm sorry for your- for your loss.
You were then taken, and you and other Yazidis, you were-
you women were- you were treated like property.
Tell me what that was like, to be treated like a piece of property.
[speaking Kurdish]
[interviewer] You would rather have died
than gone through what you went through?
[Murad speaking Kurdish] / They beat you?
[Nadia] Yes.
And then they raped you?
[speaking Kurdish] / Yes.
[interviewer] You were raped repeatedly- and I- again, I-
I am sorry to-to make you go back to this
terrible, terrible time.
But I'm wondering how you actually got through all of that.
[speaking Kurdish]
[male interviewer] This is very difficult for you,
so only tell me what you feel comfortable telling me.
[woman] How did you manage to escape?
[man] Will you ever go back to your village?
And when you think about the men who raped you,
what do you want to happen to them?
[man] Did you at any point try to talk to them,
try to reason with them?
Did you try to resist? Could you tell him no?
They killed your mother as well, I think-
I imagine there's also moments that you just want
to stop and lead a normal life, right?
[man] What happened to the women? What happened to you?
How do you deal with all of it?
[interviewer] Do you think about your family a lot?
Uh-
What kinds of things are you thinking about?
[speaking Kurdish]
And I guess that's why you make yourself tell
and retell this story of- of horrors.
What are you hoping the international community will do?
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[interviewer] Nadia, you are a remarkable young woman,
and I can't thank you enough for taking the time
to talk with us today. Thank you.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[interviewer] Nadia, can you say, “Goodbye” or “Thank you”?
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[speaking Kurdish]
[in English] Good-goodbye. Thank you.
Thank you, Nadia.
Murad, please, please tell her-I know, I just-sorry, I-
Yeah. / I know how hard this is, and it's-it's so important
to tell the story.
So please tell her how much I appreciate it.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
Thank you.
Okay. All right, take care.
[Murad] Thank you so much. / Okay. Bye-bye.
[Murad] Bye.
[interviewer] Oh, wow. Okay.
[Nadia sniffling]
Thank you.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[man] Yes, thank you so much for coming and appearing.
I know this isn't easy, but it's such important work.
And hopefully-hopefully as- on the basis of this work,
uh, we will be able to put policies in place to-
to make a difference, to really make a difference.
[man] Hi, how are you? / [Nadia] Hi.
[man, indistinct] / [Nadia] Nice to meet you.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Please note the content of some witnesses' testimony
may be upsetting to participants and the viewing public.
The first panel appearing before us today
are Ms. Nadia Murad, a human rights activist,
and Mr. Murad Ismael, executive director for Yazda.
[whispering]
I will begin with Ms. Nadia Murad,
as soon as she's ready.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Wrzesnewskyj] Thank you. Difficult testimony.
Ms. Rempel, seven minutes, please.
[Rempel] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's my understanding that the UN is
not prioritizing Yazidi refugees.
Is that correct?
I'm sorry, it was very difficult to listen to you.
[sniffles] I'm sorry.
We'll do our best, okay?
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[Murad] So I think this was a good meeting, and, you know,
um, we're hoping that the recommendations
the government in September will be, like, solid.
Okay.
[speaking Kurdish]
I don't know. The fact is,
is that countries like Canada, that are taking in refugees,
are not getting Yazidis on the list.
Organizations like the United Nations,
Canadian government, they're big bureaucracies, right?
It takes forever to change processes.
If the UN isn't going to work to select Yazidis
and expedite it, then we have to work around that.
Okay. / It's as simple as that.
It's one of the recommendations I've made,
and I'm printing off a copy of the letter for you,
which will get media coverage today.
It will get significant media coverage. / Okay.
We're gonna have two months
to put action forward on this, right?
So now, when I go into the House of Commons
in September, we have a basis to ask for action, right?
Because there's- it was very-the testimony
was very clear in terms of prescriptive recommendations.
Great. / Well, this is a wonderful letter.
Thank you, Michelle, it's great.
We just want you to be healthy and happy.
That's our main thing. / Mm-hmm.
You, personally. / [Murad speaking Kurdish]
You're family now.
[Murad speaking Kurdish] / [Nadia] Thank you.
Yes.
My mom watched you.
She's like, “Tell her she can come live with me.”
[laughs] She was just, like, so-
She was just so crying, I can't talk about it.
She's like, “You tell her she can come live with me
in Winnipeg if she wants to.”
Seriously, yeah. She's like, “You tell her she's my daughter.”
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
So, anyway.
I have a-this is- I know-
I know you probably get gifts from everyone-
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
- so I just wanted to give you a maple leaf.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
So that you can remember that
there are people in Canada that support your people,
and we will continue to fight for them.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
Thank you. / Mm-hmm.
[Rempel] Great. Awesome. / [woman] Great.
[woman] We'll be-thank you, we will be in touch.
[Murad] Michelle, thanks a lot.
[Rempel] You were just so fantastic at the committee.
It was very good, so- / Thanks.
Are you guys done for the day now, or...?
[loud music]
[classical music]
[chattering]
[marching band plays “Cantina Band”]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[Nadia]
[laughs]
[marching band plays “The Imperial March”]
Fun music. [laughs] / Yes.
[phone rings]
[Murad] Hello? Hi.
We're waiting for-for them to allow-allow us in.
[bagpipes playing]
[speaking Kurdish]
[chattering]
[Nadia]
[Murad]
[Murad] Hello. / [Nadia] Hi.
Hi. Good to see you again.
After-after this trip to Canada,
uh, where are your next plans?
[Murad]
Have you had a chance to see the Parliamentary building at all?
[speaking Kurdish]
When I came, I saw some of it.
What have you seen? Have you been in the House of Commons?
No. / [Murad speaking Kurdish]
No? Hold up. Okay, so...
Stan? / [man] Yeah?
Could you call security and say we have-
Pardon me? / Can you call security?
Say we have a very special guest I'd like to take into the House.
Uh-
Thanks. Why don't you come with me?
We'll see if we can't pull this one off.
[Murad] Okay. Thank you.
Nadia? / No.
Please. No?
[laughter]
Okay. Come, come, come.
Thank you. / There we go.
So this is where all the members of Parliament meet.
And I think we should take a picture
of Nadia sitting in the speaker's chair.
[woman] Oh, yes, yes.
[Murad speaking Kurdish] / [woman laughs]
So why don't you join Nadia on one side,
I'll join Nadia on the other side. / Okay.
I think this looks about right.
Yeah, I think so.
[sneezes] Sorry.
Bless you.
It would be an honor for me to see you address
all of those presidents and prime ministers at the UN.
[speaking Kurdish]
Thank you.
[chattering]
[man on PA] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
The following presentation of “Northern Lights”
is scheduled to begin in 15 minutes.
[bells ringing]
[man on PA] Canada is the expression
of a nation's vision-
its hopes and its spirit under great northern skies.
The fire intensified, fanned into a raging inferno
by strong winter winds from the north.
But more than smoke rose from the ashes.
Turmoil in Europe reached across the Atlantic.
Families, whole communities,
were uprooted and exiled.
Our country continues to grow.
From sea to sea to sea, Canada.
[applause]
[Murad]
[Nadia]
I hope so.
[sighs]
[GPS chatters] / [speaking foreign language]
[GPS continues]
[no audible dialogue]
[chattering]
[crowd chattering]
Thank you. / Thank you.
Thank you. / Thank you.
Thank you. / Thank you.
Hi.
Thank you.
Hi.
Hmm?
[kisses]
[speaking Kurdish]
Okay.
Say “thank you,” Katie. / Thank you.
Oh, my God. [laughs]
I love you. I love you so much.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish] / [sobbing]
Guys, hurry up, please.
[speaking foreign language]
No. After, after. No more.
[chattering]
One more, that's it-after.
No. [speaking foreign language]
[Murad] -that we are able to tell the world in a nice way,
in a civilized way, who we are, what happened to us,
and why the world must act.
At that time, I believe we will not be left alone.
[applause]
[woman] Thank you, Nadia. Thank you, Murad.
Welcome to Canada.
So I just wanna know how her message-
she feels her message is being received around the world.
[speaking Kurdish]
[laughs]
[chattering]
[female newscaster] Well, now to the other horrors of ISIS...
[chattering] / [woman] This is it.
[newscaster] -being abducted and forced to be a sex slave
by the Islamic extremist group.
She is Nadia Murad, a member of the ethnic minority
in northern Iraq called the Yazidis.
London has the largest community of Yazidis in Canada.
[chatter]
[newscaster] Murad has been traveling the world,
telling her story of abduction and sexual abuse,
and that story has made her a hero in the Yazidi community
and brought many members to this gathering...
[chattering laughing]
Uh...
[speaking Kurdish]
[Nadia]
[Ahmed]
[Nadia]
Hmm?
[murmurs]
No, no...
[chattering]
[sobbing]
[woman speaking German]
[applause]
Nadia, Nadia.
[man speaking foreign language]
[crowd cheering, clapping]
[man] The only hope for all of us, Ms. Nadia Murad.
[cheering, applause]
[speaking Kurdish]
[cheering, applause]
[woman sobbing]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[sobbing continues]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[female newscaster] There are those who would say
ISIS doesn't need to be brought to court,
ISIS needs to be bombed out of existence.
Well, I mean, there is a bombing campaign going on.
The coalition forces, including the US and-
and many other states, are going after ISIS on a military basis.
That's part of the- the response.
But it's not enough.
I mean, you can't kill an idea that way.
[female newscaster] Nadia has found
a powerful advocate in Amal Clooney.
The human rights lawyer is collecting evidence to build
a case in the International Criminal Court
against the Islamic State fighters
who've wrought a Yazidi genocide.
[Amal] And I think what she's saying is incredibly powerful,
because she's saying that we don't want revenge,
we don't want pity, we want an acknowledgment
of what has happened to us.
And when I've met Yazidi victims,
they say they want their day in court as well.
[female newscaster] While it's all business for the highly regarded,
Oxford-educated human rights lawyer,
there is plenty of unspoken curiosity
about the Amal Clooney married to the Hollywood superstar.
[paparazzi shouting]
If there's more attention paid for whatever reason, then-
Oh, you know the reason.
-then I think that's good. Um-
[female newscaster] A reluctant celebrity
who may be getting the most traction.
[woman] Hello, Amal, can you hear us?
[Amal] Yes, I can hear you.
Hi-hi, Amal.
Um, here from Greece, Nadia, Ahmed, and I.
Murad- / [Amal] Hello, Nadia. Hi, Ahmed, hi, Murad.
Hello. Hello, Amal.
[speaking foreign language]
Hi, Amal, how are you? This is Ahmed.
[Amal] Hello. I'm very well, thank you.
How are you? / I'm fine, thank you.
[Ahmed, Nadia]
[gasps]
[Nadia]
[laughing]
[laughing]
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[chattering]
[chattering]
[in English]
Yes. Yes. Yes.
I know, I know, I know.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
Nadia, you feel that- you can have a family in Germany,
or you gonna have a family- where you gonna have a family?
[Ahmed speaking Kurdish]
[laughs] / No.
No Germany. / No.
Nowhere. [laughs]
Yeah.
[Murad] I think Yazidis will be a diaspora community.
On the long term, we will not hold our ground in Iraq.
[Luis] It's so complicated, because I see that.
At the same time...
[in English]
I don't wanna translate that. That would make Nadia very upset.
I don't want to translate that.
[exhales heavily]
If you're not talking about going back to Sinjar,
someone else will take Sinjar.
So if you start to focus, okay, this is our land,
no one can touch it, it's our land. / Yeah.
Because it's the only land you have. / That's what we say.
So it's your land.
We'll see if we'll go back to live or do a big cemetery.
It's our decision.
If Nadia presents this idea and everyone is thinking,
“Oh, we have to achieve that Nadia can go back
to her land,” that is the vision.
Create the border for you,
create- you should seek that.
[speaking Kurdish]
I understand. Fuck.
It's a big- it's a big challenge.
But-but that's the- but first, okay-
As usual, you make a lot of disturbance, in the right way.
No, but you're amazing. You are the leader.
And Yazidis can survive, food and grain-
they did it for centuries.
[speaking Kurdish]
Ah.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Luis]
[Nadia laughs]
Okay.
[Luis] Nadia, it's for you. / Okay.
Go, sit. / [woman] That's not gonna-
[Luis] No, you sit. You sit.
[laughing]
[woman] Wait, I have to get a picture. / [woman 2] ls there more?
[Luis] Here we go. They're happy.
[chattering]
[speaking Kurdish]
[girl]
[Nadia]
[applause] / Thank you. Thank you.
[Murad] I thought she was very good.
Luis, would you like to say something?
Should I? / Yes.
Okay. I'm very thankful to be invited to be with you.
[Murad speaks Kurdish]
My name is Luis Moreno Ocampo.
I was the first chief prosecutor
of the International Criminal Court.
You've got to know Yazidis are not alone,
and we're here because we'd like to understand
what happened to you today.
We'd like to explain to the world
how you are still suffering injustice.
Yazidis can teach the world the meaning of genocide,
and the way to control it.
[speaking Kurdish]
So we are here for six months.
What do you think will be happening to us here?
I don't know, because
Greece has its own problems.
So I don't know.
We'll try to find the best solu- help you to have solutions.
But for me, in order to be together and to keep the faith,
and to keep Yazidis as a group, you have to think in-
in organizing yourself in your own land.
[speaking Kurdish]
[sniffles]
[sobs]
[chattering]
[speaking foreign language]
[Luis] How you knew her? You were neighbors?
Yeah, she's my- my relative, and we are-
like, our houses were together.
You're his relative? / Yes, yeah.
She's very old. She's more than 100 years.
They escaped. / Yes.
Walking. Walking.
[speaking Kurdish]
When I was little boy, she was taking care of me.
[Luis] Okay.
Okay.
[Murad speaking foreign language]
[chattering]
[speaking Kurdish, muffled]
[Nadia]
[speaking foreign language]
[chattering]
[speaking foreign language]
[Luis]
Basically...
[Luis] People tend to forget genocide.
No? We forget Darfur.
They are trying to forget Yazidis.
That's something Nadia is avoiding. / Yeah.
I know for me, also yesterday we see how painful your work.
They require food and they require a shelter for the rain,
all this stuff that you cannot deliver.
You're working for them knowing
that you can do almost nothing for them.
We ask for big things, and then if the big things don't happen,
that means we're wasting our time, running around like chickens.
So we have to have small things also-achievable.
Chicken with no leg- with no head. / No head.
So we thought we'd create the Nadia Initiative
that would be like Malala Fund, similar to that.
And then we can use that money to help the camps,
to help people in need, to help the women who came from captivity.
But the issue's bigger for me.
I don't know-
[exhales] It's complex, highly complex.
And I think that would be a way for us
to help with the humanitarian side.
[Luis] But it isn't enough.
You need to define very well your priorities.
And now, Nadia will talk to the world.
I'm sorry, guys, but you are the-
you are the only visionary in this- in the Yazidi groups.
You are- you are the vision.
So between you and Nadia, the two of you and Nadia
have to organize a vision that leads the Yazidi for the next 10 years.
Because that's- it's not a short-term run.
This is a 10-years run. I'm sorry for that.
[Murad speaking Kurdish]
[indistinct conversation]
I guess maybe we just talk?
[woman] Murad, real quick, to do sync, we're just gonna have you-
Her work have put her in spotlight,
where an entire community is-is looking for her to do something.
It's a very difficult life, and I see this difficulty every day,
being with her every day. I-I-I see it.
Nadia doesn't want to be a politician,
she doesn't want to be a public figure.
In fact, she doesn't want to be anything but a girl from the village.
Sometimes we've reached a point where she says,
“I will no longer do this,” even now.
But then she just takes a few moments, and she says,
“I have to go back and do it again.
I have to continue doing it, because nothing has changed.”
I'm worried about her.
She's just very young to have this role, and-and-and-
and because with this role comes a lot of challenges.
And being this public voice against ISIS, security-wise,
it's a huge challenge.
We have received threats for her from ISIS militants,
and we know that they are after her.
And they will not have mercy when they reach her.
She told me many, many times that once things are better,
she will go back to her village.
But I personally think it's impossible.
She was telling me that, “Murad, once Sinjar
“is re-captured, I want to take you to-to my home-
“and to walk you around our house,
“to show you where I was reading, when I was studying.”
But... I imagine- I don't want to go back.
I don't want to see everyone together...
with- with so much pain.
Probably, it would never happen.
I will do everything I can for the rest of my life
for people of Kocho and people of Sinjar
and the entire Yazidis to be able to have a homeland,
to be able to have a place to live.
I will give all my energy and my strength to that.
But even with that...
it will be different.
It will not be the Kocho that she's seen.
It'll be a Kocho without men,
it will be a Kocho of widows and orphans,
of people dressed in black.
That's what Kocho will look like in the future,
and I don't think that will be the Kocho
that she wants to go back to.
I see her future.
She will be the voice of the people who are in sadness.
[no audible dialogue]
Although she's the strongest person I've ever seen,
I don't know how much more strength she has.
[chattering laughing]
[screaming]
[shouting chattering]
[boy singing in foreign language]
[group singing]
[singing]
[voice breaking]
[both sobbing]
[ship horn blows]
[horn blows]
[chattering]
[female interviewer] What do you hope to give to the Yazidi people?
I would like to see justice
to be done for Yazidis.
[female newscaster] Nadia's being named
a goodwill ambassador by the UN on Friday
will be a turning point in their quest for justice.
[murmurs]
Today it's... It's very hard for me.
[clears throat]
I don't know what- what happen.
[woman] Is it thinking about family? Is that what's hard?
Yes.
I wish my mom was here.
[no audible dialogue]
[no audible dialogue]
[chattering]
[man] Yeah, they're supposed to follow you through.
Okay, but we don't wanna be late, so don't-
No, we don't wanna be late.
[Amal] Hello. / [woman] Hello.
How are you? / Good morning, you look great.
Can we just get one second of walking before we walk in? / Yeah.
[female newscaster] They may not look like warriors, but they are.
Amal Clooney and her client Nadia Murad.
Together, they are taking on ISIS, urging the UN to investigate
and ultimately try ISIS commanders for genocide.
No, come this way.
Your seat is up there.
[woman] Ambassador?
[speaking foreign language]
Murad, I put a seat for you over there. / Okay. I-
If you don't want it, you can sit here, it's up to you.
Wherever you want, you're in charge.
Where is Nadia?
Grace. Grace. Grace.
Peggy, can I have your help?
[Peggy] What? / Can I have your help?
Yes. / Um-
Apologies-were doing our best here. / Doing a good job, yeah.
[Simone] Dearest Nadia, ladies and gentlemen,
thank you for joining us for the appointment ceremony
of Nadia Murad Basee Taha
as United Nations Goodwill Ambassador
for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
We are honored by the presence
of the survivors who are here today,
and our brothers and sisters from the Yazidi community.
We also take this opportunity to thank all of the ambassadors
who decided that they would come here today
to support Nadia Murad Basee Taha.
I also will use this time to thank Murad Ismael,
the executive director of Yazda. Where are you, Murad?
[applause] / Ah-thank you, Murad.
We're very honored to have you here.
You have been with Nadia from the beginning.
Dear Nadia, I'm proud to welcome you as
a goodwill ambassador for UNODC.
But yours is a very different kind of ambassadorship.
She's the first ever goodwill ambassador on human trafficking
who is herself a survivor.
But today marks the beginning of a new chapter for you.
-which is not easy. It's not an easy recognition.
You will have a lot of work to do-
[overlapping dialogue]
[man] -proud today to witness and be part of Nadia's victory.
Thank you, Nadia.
[applause]
[shutters clicking]
[no audible dialogue]
[applause]
[speaking Kurdish]
[trembling]
It's okay. Take your time.
[chattering]
I wish I could say that I was proud to be here,
but I'm not.
I am ashamed as a supporter of the United Nations
that states are failing to prevent or even punish genocide,
because they find that their own interests get in the way.
I am ashamed as a lawyer that there is no justice being done,
and barely a complaint being made about it.
I am ashamed as a human being that
we ignore their cries for help.
And that is why it is so important
that we hear your words, Nadia, the way you spoke them.
Today, our moral and political responsibility is
to transform this huge emotion into action-
not words, action.
I am proud to know you, Nadia,
and I'm sorry that we have failed you.
I hope that your appointment today can be a turning point.
And to those who thought that by their acts they could destroy you,
let them know this:
Nadia Murad's spirit is not broken.
I remember I had the chance
to meet you in person last December,
and you told me that you out your hair
because you didn't want these monsters find you too fancy.
So I'm so happy to welcome you here,
with your beautiful, long hair.
Thank you to our family,
to the ambassadors of the United Nations.
[applause]
[chattering]
[man] Fantastic. You must be so proud. / [Murad] Thank you.
I am so proud, so sad, so happy.
It's mixed- so much mixed feelings, so-
[man] Yes, of course.
Magnificent job. Do you hear me?
Thank you. [sniffles]
Yeah.
Now listen to me-you got that German network out there.
Yeah. / If you can get her to say thank you to Angela Merkel,
and thank you to the German people,
you do something for the United States.
You'll wake 'em up. Understand?
You get it? / Yeah.
Can we get it? Just two minutes.
That was incredible. She was so good.
[woman] Don't have tears of sadness.
I can only feel your pain, but you have to feel so proud.
It's historic. It's really historic, Murad.
Really historic.
None of this would be possible without you.
It was great.
[man] Nadia!
One fast one before the crowd- / [Simone] One-one, one, one.
You be in the middle.
[Simone] Otherwise the crowds will come in
and we're gonna have a problem.
Okay, thanks. Thank you, thank you, thank you. / Elegance.
[Ahmed speaking Kurdish]
Here we go. I gotta clear the front.
I told your driver 42nd and First.
Yep.
[Sighs] Me too.
Right, we're meeting with...
Hello- [indistinct] Journalist.
Yeah, no, we're not doing any interviews.
Okay. / Sorry.
As we say, sayonara.
Were you okay with it?
If you're okay with it, I'm okay with it.
Yeah, I think it was okay.
Yeah? / Yeah.
[speaking Kurdish]
[Simone] It was history. / Yeah?
You made history today.
Yes, I believe in it. Yeah.
Yeah, it was a big event, so-
You got applause. / Thank you. Thank you.
Even though we fight, we want the same thing.
Well, that's actually, yeah.
That's why we're so great, because we're strong.
[Nadia speaking Kurdish]
[Simone] As you know, member states and the president
of the General Assembly's Office have selected Nadia Murad
to be the opening speaker in the General Assembly.
[murmuring]
[knocking]
[knocking]
Let me open my bag up and see, yep.
It's all right. / One second.
[speaking Kurdish]
Oh!
Simone? Simone.
[gavel bangs]
[Obama] Mr. Secretary General, fellow delegates,
ladies and gentlemen-
It's an honor to be with you today,
and it's wonderful to be here in the great city of New York.
[speaking Kurdish]
Okay, okay.
[chattering]
[man] -excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing
the worst humanitarian and refugee crisis
since the Second World War.
The well-being of millions rests with us at the United Nations,
and we must not fail them in their hour of need.
[Nadia murmuring]
I now give the floor to Ms. Nadia Murad Basee Taha,
and the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador
for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
[speaking Kurdish]
[no audible dialogue]
[no audible dialogue]