US Secretary of State John Kerry has determined that the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group is committing “genocide” against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.
The US House of Representatives on Monday unanimously passed a non-binding measure calling on the Obama administration to declare atrocities against Shia Muslims, Christians, Izadi Kurds and other minorities as “war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”
The Congress had given a March 17 deadline for the State Department to officially decide whether to issue a comprehensive genocide designation for the terrorist group.
A day after the State Department said Kerry would miss the deadline, the secretary of state on Thursday completed his review and determined that Shia Muslims, Christians, and Izadis are victims of genocide.
Kerry announced “Daesh is also responsible for crimes against humanity against these same groups” and ethnic cleansing.
“Daesh is genocidal by self-proclamation, by…