Originally by JAMEY KEATEN, for The Associated Press, on June 16, 2016—
“The Islamic State group is committing genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes against the Yazidi community in Iraq and Syria, a U.N. panel said Thursday, calling on countries to do more to stop it and build a legal case on top of political condemnation from countries like the United States.
The Commission of Inquiry on Syria issued its first report Thursday specifically looking at IS crimes against Yazidis after the extremist group’s attack on unarmed Yazidi communities in northwestern Iraq in August 2014. Many Yazidis were taken into Syria, and over 3,200 Yazidi women and children are still captive, the report said.
The 41-page report, based on 45 interviews with survivors, religious leaders, activists, medical staffers and others, seeks to put allegations of rape, sexual slavery and other crimes in a wider context of crimes against humanity and genocide by alleging that such practices are part of a IS strategy to wipe out the Yazidis, whom the radicals see as infidels.
“ISIS’ abuse of Yazidi men, women and children amounts to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes,” commission chair Paulo Pinheiro told reporters in Geneva. IS statements and conduct show the group “intended to destroy the Yazidis of Sinjar in whole or in part,” he said, and “the genocide is ongoing.””
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HUMAN RIGHTS SOCIETY 