Genocide.
The United Nations says there is no other word to describe the systematic eradication of the Yazidi people by IS, or, as some call the group, Daesh.
In Sinjar, Iraq, a ceremony has been held marking three years since the group invaded the region and launched an offensive against the religious sect IS considers devil-worshippers.
The militants, driven out of the last part of Sinjar in May, may be gone from the area, but their impact is still felt mightily.
Event organiser Elias Faris struggles to find the words to describe the events that unfolded.
"The genocide that happened to us Yazidis on August the 3rd, 2014, honestly, I don't know where to start when talking about this. Do we talk about the abductions? Or the mass graves? Or the enslavement of women? Or the rapes? It is truly a painful memory, a real genocide."
In just days, around 10,000 people were killed or kidnapped, the combatants favouring particularly brutal methods like beheadings and burning people alive.
Close to 3,000 Yazidi women and children are still being held.
The United Nations has implored the international community to look at ways to rescue the captive Yazidis and recognise what has happened as genocide.
It is also calling for nations to take legal steps to bring those responsible to justice, via either the International Criminal Court or other ad hoc tribunals.
Many of Sinjar's Yazidis fled into the nearby mountains to escape the bloodshed.
Those images were used to help build support for US air strikes against IS in Iraq.
Speaking from a camp in nearby Dohuk, Sinjar local Amira Hamed says the memories are still fresh.
"We haven't forgotten a single moment of it. It's as if it's happening right now. I can still hear the sounds of the bullets being fired by Daesh while we tried to escape our houses. My parents tried to save the children who were unable to walk, while the grown-ups ran behind them. I was looking back, and I saw them coming on the streets and shooting."
While the city and the surrounding area had been home to around 400,000 Yazidis, local police say just a thousand families have returned since the city was retaken in 2015.
Speaking at the anniversary ceremony, Sinjar's Yazidi mayor accused former Iraq prime minister Nuri al-Maliki of being responsible for not protecting the Yazidis.
Other Yazidis say the Kurds, supposed to be defending the area at the time, should have stopped the assault.
Arguments rage over control of the region, which sits near the borders of Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook around half of Sinjar in late 2015 as part of their plan to make it autonomous.
An independence referendum is planned for September.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, whose presence has made the area a place of interest for Turkey, has also clashed with the Peshmerga.
Despite the political instability and lack of services, Sinjar resident Zeid Washmo says fear is the biggest factor stopping people from returning.
"People are frightened of Daesh and their ideology. Tomorrow, another power could come with the same ideology as Daesh, only God knows. We are definitely afraid. There have been 73 genocides against the Yazidis. How can we not be afraid?"
