U.S. declares ISIS guilty of genocide
People
from the minority Yazidi sect are seen at Mount Sinjar, in the town of
Sinjar, Iraq, where they fled from ISIS, Dec. 21, 2014.
REUTERS
Last Updated Mar 17, 2016 10:41 AM EDT
WASHINGTON --
Secretary of State John Kerry announced Thursday that the U.S.
government had determined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in its territory.
Kerry
announced his findings on Thursday, meeting a congressional deadline
just a day after the State Department said he would miss it. The delay
was sharply criticized by lawmakers and others who have advocated for
the determination.
CBS
News correspondent Margaret Brennan said the declaration of genocide
carries significant legal requirements for action from the U.S.
government, which is why the White House was initially reluctant. The
Obama administration argues it is already taking action to counter the
extremist group.
"In
my judgment Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in
territory under its control" Kerry said, using the Arabic acronym for
ISIS.
He
outlined 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."
Saying
that he was "neither judge nor prosecutor nor jury," Kerry added that
any potential criminal charges against the extremists must result from
an independent international investigation.
Kerry said the U.S. would continue to support efforts to collect evidence and document atrocities.
While
his determination does not carry such weight, Kerry said he hoped that
groups he cited as being victimized would take some comfort in the fact
that the "the United States recognizes and confirms the despicable
nature of the crimes committed against them."
Speaking
prior to Kerry's official announcement, White House Press Secretary
Josh Earnest told CBS Radio News correspondent Mark Knoller that State
Department attorneys were "keenly focused" on determining the
"significant legal implications" of the genocide designation against the
terrorist group.
"The
label of genocide is an important one, and I'm not in any way seeking
to downplay its significance. But I can tell you that the President has
already ordered aggressive, robust action to try to protect religious
minorities who are in the crosshairs of ISIL fighters. And we've done so
with some success," said Earnest, using an alternate acronym for the
terror group. "But we continue to be concerned about religious
minorities in that region of the world, including Christians, and we're
going to continue to take steps to try to protect them."
The
House also passed a resolution to demand that the State Department
assess whether the Assad regime has committed war crimes and crimes
against humanity. SOL:
THE U.S. HAS FINALLY ADMITTED THAT ASSAD DID NOT USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS
AGAINST THE SYRIAN PEOPLE. IT WAS COMMONLY KNOWN THAT AL CAEDA HAD USED
THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS, BUT THE U.S. INSISTED ASSAD HAD BECAUSE ASSAD HAD
TO BE DEMONIZED TO JUSTIFY THE U.S. EFFORTS TO REMOVE ASSAD AND HAVE A
REGIME CHANGE BUT THE REAL MOTIVE WAS THAT ASSAD HAS REFUSED TO ALLOW A
PIPELINE FROM UAE TO EUROPE THROUGH SYRIA. ANY HEAD OF STATE THAT DOES
NOT COMPLY WITH THE U.S./WEST AGENDA MUST GO. SAME AS WITH SADDAM OF
IRAQ AND GADDAFI OF LIBIA AND OTHERS.
Rights
groups, anti-government activists and other governments have long
decried the horrific tactics employed by ISIS, and CBS News has heard
first-hand of some of the atrocities committed by its members.
Just this week, CBS News correspondent Holly Williams watched as about a dozen people who managed to escape ISIS' grasp in Mosul, Iraq, made it to safety in Kurdish territory.
Few
have made it out of Mosul, one of the militant group's strongholds that
they have sealed shut, confiscating residents' cell phones and brutally
enforcing their own strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The
escapees said they had seen other Mosul residents who tried but failed
to flee the city beheaded by ISIS militants. One man showed Williams the
scars from where he said he was tortured by the extremists for smoking.
United Nations Human Rights Office has already said that the crimes committed by ISIS amount to genocide.
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