LONDON (Reuters) – Britain formally acknowledges that the Islamic State (IS) militants committed acts of genocide against the minority Yazidis in Iraq in 2014. This acknowledgment comes as the nine-year anniversary of the crimes approaches.
The recognition follows a German court sentencing a former IS militant to life imprisonment in 2021 for his involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity targeting Yazidis in Iraq and Syria. German lawmakers have also recognized the genocide crimes committed by IS militants in Iraq.
“The Yazidi population suffered immensely at the hands of Daesh nine years ago, and the repercussions are still being felt today,” stated Britain’s Minister of State for the Middle East, Tariq Ahmad. “Justice and accountability are crucial for those whose lives have been devastated.”
The Yazidis are an ancient religious minority residing in eastern Syria and northwest Iraq. Islamic State regarded them as supposed devil worshippers due to their faith, which incorporates elements of Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Manicheanism, Judaism, and Islam.
The jihadist group massacred thousands of Yazidis, enslaved 7,000 Yazidi women and girls, and displaced a majority of the 550,000-strong community from their ancestral home in northern Iraq.
Britain, which officially recognizes only four other historic instances, including the Holocaust, as genocide, vows to continue leading global efforts against IS propaganda.
(Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
