US Secretary of State John Kerry determines that the Islamic State group is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria, as he acted to meet a congressional deadline.
Kerry’s finding does not obligate the United States to take additional action against IS and does not prejudge any prosecution against its members.
A day after the State Department said Kerry would miss the deadline, Kerry says he had completed his review and determined that Christians, Yazidis and Shiite groups are victims of genocide and crimes against humanity by IS militants. The House earlier this week passed a nonbinding resolution by a 393-0 vote condemning IS atrocities as genocide.
“In my judgment Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in territory under its control,” Kerry said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
He outlines a litany of atrocities that he said the militants had committed against people and religious sites, as well as threats. “Daesh is genocidal by self-acclimation, by ideology and by practice.”
— AP
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