Aram Aqil, Kurdish minority rights activist and a former ISIS hostage, addressed the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18, 2026.
Full Prepared Remarks:
Today, I speak as someone whose life has been shaped by discrimination, neglect, and exclusion.
My name is Aram Aqil. I am a Kurdish human rights defender from Rojava, Western Kurdistan, what some people call North and East Syria. The Kurds’ right to live in dignity under self-governance or independence does not come only from the sacrifices we made fighting global Jihad and ISIS, we deserve dignity because we are rooted in our land in the Middle East. Dignity is not something earned through war — it is something every people inherently deserves. We built self-defense not for power, we built it for survival. And paid one of the highest prices
I started covering frontlines of the war against ISIS in 2014, when I was working for a Kurdish station called Rûdaw TV.
I was just 21 years old when I documented mass graves committed by ISIS, bombing attacks prepared and sent to our cities by the current jihadist regime in Syria which was called the Al-Nusrah front. I have documented… and the unforgettable Genocide against Yazidi Kurds in Sinjar Mountain.
I saw thousands of displaced families fleeing with nothing but their children in their arms, some mothers holding the dead bodies of their babies to their chests. In that moment, I remember tears pouring from my eyes, just as sweat poured from my skin on that hot summer day in August 2014.
I saw what Jihadis do when they believe no one is watching.
But I was watching…
Then, after 4 months, ISIS took me hostage and threw me into an underground prison.
For 280 days, in seven different prisons and 100 days of solitary confinement, I lived inside the system I had been reporting on. I saw how they operate from the inside—how they weaponize religion, erase identity, reward obedience and punish difference. I saw how cruelty is normalized and how fear is organized.
I can’t even begin to count the number of times our captors would blindfold us, line us up, and act like they were going to kill us… and then… not.
One time, a jihadi from Libya held a pistol right next to my head and pulled the trigger. The shot was so loud that for a moment, I thought it really was the end…… But seconds later, they were laughing. That was their sense of humor. Mocking us by playing their favorite execution scene was psychological torture – and it was a game to them.
I survived those 9 months in prison, thanks to the brave Kurdish female and male fighters from the YPG and YPJ Defense Units, the same who fought and liberated the region of the Jihadi ghost. But many with me did not survive.
When I was finally released and came back to my family, I promised myself that I’d dedicate my life to defending minority groups—because I had seen what happens when the world decides some lives are negotiable… And how the West’s normalization of extremism today with the jihadi de facto government in Syria is creating devastating consequences for us.
In 2024, when the dictator Assad left power, the western world was so relieved – they said, “Finally! This brutal dictator is gone. Now, Al-Jolani will bring stability to the region.”
What a naive fantasy.
For decades, Syria’s people have been brutally attacked on two fronts: by their own government & by religious extremists (the jihadis, like Al-Qaeda, ISIS & Al-Nusra and so on supported by Turkey and Qatar).
So where does Jolani come from – this new leader who will bring stability to the region?
Well, he falls into that second category – he is a SALAFI EXTREMIST.
He comes from Al-Qaeda… then he built the Islamic Caliphate in Syria with a direct mandate from Al-Bagdadi ISIS who had already built it in Iraq… and after that moved to Al-Nusra Front.
He is not a mystery to us – or to the West or to the UN. The U.S. State Department had a $10M bounty on Jolani’s head! (They still haven’t deleted that post from social media, by the way)
But Jolani’s extremism did not disappear with his new suit and colorful tie. All that changed is his uniform and maybe his beard style (maybe 2 cm shorter than before).
I saw and still see to this day how he deceives journalists and diplomats with his sugar statements.
He is extremely cunning. He knows exactly what the West wants to hear.
He issues performative presidential decrees—beautiful on paper, meaningless in real life. Ink on paper that does not protect a single minority life.
This is not reform. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
In the last months I have watched, with huge frustration, as Western leaders—who speak eloquently about human rights and feminism—shake hands with these extremists.
A former German Minister of Defense—now holding a senior position in the European Union—recently met with Jolani. This was right after Jolani started a military campaign against the Kurds. She promised him 620 million euros! … without any clear, public, and enforceable conditions on minority rights. When I heard the news, it felt like she was rewarding him for all the massacres he commits.
These officials who legitimize Jihadi-linked leaders in the name of “stability” are not choosing justice and peace. They are choosing short-term convenience.
But let me be clear in this:
You cannot fight extremism by empowering its architects.
And you cannot promote democracy while ignoring minorities.
Minorities are not a “side issue.” They are the early warning system of every failing state.
I’ve seen this in my own life. 14 years ago, as a high school student, an administrator threatened to expel me simply for speaking Kurdish with a friend. Not shouting, not protesting, just speaking my own language!!
As I said, this kind of discrimination is an early warning system. It was only 1 year later that 5000 Kurds were massacred.
We did not feel safe under the rule of dictator Assad, but today we are suffering a worse de facto regime. And somehow the West believes we should “integrate” with these militant extremists.
It makes no sense!
The Kurdish people are democratic, liberal, and openly anti-jihadist. We want to live free from religious coercion, free from violence, and free from fear. And that is what we deserve. Not just because we fought ISIS shoulder to shoulder with the U.S.-led coalition.
Together, they liberated huge territories from terror.
And now, we want to live in peace—free from religious coercion, free from violence, free from fear – and that is what we deserve, not just because we fought against ISIS. But because we Kurds have rights like anyone else.
We carry the voices of all minorities who refuse extremism.
And until Kurds, Druze, Jews, Alawites, Yazidis, Assyrians, and other minorities can live in safety, dignity, and equality – the entire region will remain unstable.
We do not ask for pity. We ask for courage and consistency.
For allies who support minorities even when it’s personally inconvenient.
This is not a controversial idea.
Even in the United States, where politicians hardly agree on anything, they can agree on this. Recently, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham & Democrat Richard Blumenthal introduced the Save the Kurds Act to affirm that the Kurdish people must be protected.
Not as a favor… Not as repayment…
But because the safety of the Kurdish people is essential in the region.
When people are targeted for who they are, societies begin to fracture. When people are protected in their differences, then peace has room to grow.
Thank you.
18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, U.N. Opening, Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Key Quotes:
“The Kurds’ right to live in dignity does not come only from the sacrifices we made fighting global Jihad and ISIS, we deserve dignity because we are rooted in our land in the Middle East. Dignity is not something earned through war — it is something every people inherently deserves. We built self-defense not for power, but for survival.”
“The Kurdish people are democratic, liberal, and openly anti-jihadist. We want to live in peace—free from religious coercion, free from violence, free from fear – and that is what we deserve, not just because we fought against ISIS. But because we Kurds have rights like anyone else.”
“And until Kurds, Druze, Jews, Alawites, Yazidis, Assyrians, and other minorities can live in safety, dignity, and equality – the entire region will remain unstable. We do not ask for pity. We ask for courage and consistency. And for allies who support minorities even when it is not convenient.”
