U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry surprised lawmakers, human rights
advocates, and perhaps diplomats, by announcing March 17 he had
determined Islamic State (ISIS) is committing genocide against
Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria.
Only one day before, the State Department issued a statement saying
Kerry’s determination would be delayed past the deadline written into
last year’s omnibus spending bill, signifying how contentious and
protracted the issue had become at the highest levels of the Obama
administration.
Speaking to reporters in Washington that morning, Kerry said he had
completed his review and determined that Christians, Yazidis, and Shiite
groups are victims of genocide and crimes against humanity by ISIS
militants.
“In my judgment, Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in
territory under its control,” Kerry said, using the Arabic acronym for
ISIS. The secretary went on to outline a litany of atrocities that he
said the militants have committed against people and religious sites, as
well as threats: “Daesh is genocidal by self-acclimation, by ideology,
and by practice.”
Lawmakers who on Monday passed a resolution drawing virtually the same
conclusion—in a 393-0 vote—applauded the action. House Foreign Affairs
Committee chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., said Kerry “is finally making the
right call.”
Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., and Ann Eshoo, D-Calif., led the
bipartisan effort, introducing the genocide resolution in September. But
it gained little traction among lawmakers until Congress added the
spending bill deadline and human rights groups came together with
reports documenting ISIS atrocities. Last week, the Knights of Columbus,
the Catholic fraternal service organization, submitted to Kerry a
278-page report containing reams of documentation—including more than 60
pages of eyewitness accounts of atrocities; a 34-page, single-spaced
list of Christians murdered by Islamic militants; and Islamic State
paperwork related to the sale of Christian and Yazidi women.
Spearheading an effort that included Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant
(including evangelical) leaders, the Knights of Columbus and Hudson
Institute fellow Nina Shea in December put together a direct appeal to
Kerry to declare ISIS actions genocide not only of Yazidis but also
Christians. They urged him to take steps to protect both populations.
Their formal letter went unanswered until recent days.
“The United States has now spoken with clarity and moral authority,”
Fortenberry said after Kerry’s announcement. The Nebraska Republican
said he now hopes the genocide designation “will raise international
consciousness, end the scandal of silence, and create the preconditions
for the protection and reintegration of these ancient faith communities
into their ancestral homelands.”
In Iraq, one church leader (who asked not to be named for security
reasons), told me, “Christians have been praying that Mr. Obama does the
right thing … and we thank God He has responded to our prayer.”
Under Title 22 of the U.S. legal code and the Genocide Convention
Implementation Act of 1987, the president and secretary of state are
required only to establish whether there is probable cause to believe
that ISIS is committing murders, rapes, and kidnappings with the
specific intent to destroy religious minorities, according to leading
legal authorities. That’s a finding that could have been reached months
and months ago, say Catholic University law professor Robert A. Destro
and religious liberty attorney L. Martin Nussbaum, writing for Politico
on March 15.
“With the bar so low, with the law so clear, with the evidence so
overwhelming, and with the international community and the House of
Representatives so united in their judgment that genocide is occurring,
the burden shifts to the lawyers to explain why they are exposing their
clients—Secretary Kerry and President Barack Obama—to the charge that
they ‘did nothing’ in the face of evil,” the pair of legal experts
wrote.
Already, though, the Obama administration has said a genocide
determination would do little to change its actual military posture and
overall policy on Iraq and Syria.
In Rome, Syria’s visiting Chaldean bishop, Antoine Audo (WORLD’s 2013
Daniel of the Year), acknowledged it may be too late, anyway.
Underscoring the seriousness of the situation, and absent international
intervention, Audo told reporters on March 16 he believes two-thirds of
Syria’s Christian population—which numbered 1.5 million in 2011—has fled
the country or been killed. In the embattled city of Aleppo, where he
lives, he said the exodus was greater: Only 40,000 of its once
160,000-strong Christian community remains.
“You cannot imagine the dangers that we face every day,” he said.
Courtesy: WORLD News Service
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