Persecution of Christians by the Islamic State

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Persecution of Christians by the Islamic State
Part of Syrian civil war War in Iraq (2013–2017) Sinai insurgency Terrorism in Egypt
LocationFlag of Iraq.svg Iraq
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt
Flag of Syria.svg  Syria
Flag of Libya.svg  Libya
Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria
Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  Democratic Republic of the Congo
Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique
DateOngoing
TargetChristians (mostly Assyrians, Arab Christians, Armenians, Copts, Citadel Christians, and other groups)
Attack type
 Genocidal massacre, religious persecution, ethnic cleansing, human trafficking and forced conversions to Sunni Islam.
PerpetratorsIslamic State flag.svg  Islamic State
Defenders Christian militias in Iraq and Syria
Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraqi Armed Forces
Flag of Kurdistan.svg  Peshmerga
Seal of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve.svg  CJTF–OIR
Flag of Syria.svg  Syrian Armed Forces
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egyptian Armed Forces
Flag of Libya.svg  Libyan National Army

The persecution of Christians by the Islamic State involves the systematic mass murder [1] [2] [3] of Christian minorities, within the regions of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Nigeria controlled by the Islamic extremist group Islamic State. Persecution of Christian minorities climaxed following the Syrian civil war and later by its spillover but has since intensified further. [4] [5] [6] Christians have been subjected to massacres, forced conversions, rape, sexual slavery, and the systematic destruction of their historical sites, churches and other places of worship.

Contents

According to US diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez, "While the majority of the victims of the conflict which is raging in Syria and Iraq have been Muslims, Christians have borne a heavy burden given their small numbers." [7]

The depopulation of Christians from the Middle East by the Islamic State as well as other organisations and governments has been formally recognised as an ongoing genocide by the United States, European Union, and United Kingdom. Christians remain the most persecuted religious group in the Middle East, and Christians in Iraq are “close to extinction”. [8] [9] [10] According to estimates by the US State Department, the number of Christians in Iraq has fallen from 1.2 million 2011 to 120,000 in 2024, and the number in Syria from 1.5 million to 300,000, falls driven by persecution by Islamic terrorists. [6]

Timeline

The mass flight and expulsion of ethnic Assyrians from Iraq and Syria is a process which was initiated during the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US and the Multi-National Force and later it was initiated during the start of the Syrian civil war and the spillover. Leaders of Iraq's Assyrian community estimate that over two-thirds of the Iraqi Assyrian population may have fled the country or been internally displaced during the U.S.-led invasion which lasted from 2003 until 2011. Reports suggest that whole neighborhoods of Assyrians have cleared out in the cities of Baghdad and Basra, and that Sunni insurgent groups and militias have threatened Assyrian Christians. [11] Following the campaign of the Islamic State in northern Iraq in August 2014, one quarter of the remaining Assyrians fled the jihadists, finding refuge in neighboring countries. [12]

Northern Iraq (2014)

After the fall of Mosul, ISIL demanded that Assyrian Christians living in the city convert to Islam, pay jizyah, or face execution, by July 19, 2014. [13] [14] [15] [16] ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi further noted that Christians who do not agree to follow those terms must "leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate" within a specified deadline. [16] This resulted in a complete Assyrian Christian exodus from Mosul, marking the end of 1,800 years of continuous Christian presence. [17] A church mass was not held in Mosul for the first time in nearly 2 millennia. [18]

In October 2014, a release put out by the Assyrian International News Agency stated that 200,000 Assyrians had been driven from their homes by the violence and become displaced. [19]

ISIL has already set similar rules for Christians living in other cities and towns, including its de facto capital Raqqa. [20] [21]

ISIL had also been seen marking Christian homes with the letter nūn for Nassarah ("Cultural Christian"). [22] [23] Several religious buildings were seized and subsequently demolished, most notably Mar Behnam Monastery. [24]

By August 7, ISIL captured the primarily Assyrian towns of Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe, Bartella, and Karamlish, prompting the residents to flee. [25] More than 100,000 Iraqi Christians were forced to flee their homes and leave all their property behind after ISIL invaded Qaraqosh and surrounding towns in the Nineveh Plains Province of Iraq. [26]

Libya (2015)

On February 12, 2015, the ISIL released a report in their online magazine Dabiq showing photos of 21 Egyptian Copts migrant workers that they had kidnapped in the city of Sirte, Libya, and whom they threatened to kill to "avenge the [alleged] kidnapping of Muslim women by the Egyptian Coptic Church". [27] The men, who came from different villages in Egypt, 13 of them from Al-Our, Minya Governorate, [28] were kidnapped in Sirte in two separate attacks on December 27, 2014, and in January 2015. [29]

Syria (2015)

On 23 February 2015, in response to a major Kurdish offensive in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, ISIL abducted 150 Assyrians from villages near Tell Tamer in northeastern Syria, after launching a large offensive in the region. [30] [31]

According to US diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez, of the 232 of the Assyrians kidnapped in the ISIL attack on the Assyrian Christian farming villages on the banks of the Khabur River in Northeast Syria, 51 were children and 84 were women. "Most of them remain in captivity, with one account claiming that ISIS is demanding $22 million (or roughly $100,000 per person) for their release." [7]

On 8 October 2015, ISIL released a video showing three of the Assyrian men kidnapped in Khabur being murdered. It was reported that 202 of the 253 kidnapped Assyrians were still in captivity, each one with a demanded ransom of $100,000. [32]

Egypt (2018)

On 2 November 2018, Islamic State gunmen killed at least seven Coptic Christian pilgrims in Egypt on Friday and wounded at least 16 in an attack. [33] In April 2021, Islamic State gunmen executed a Christian businessman who was kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai. [34]

Reactions

Demonstration in Sydney urging Australia to help save Iraqi Christians Syriac-Aramean Demonstration in Australia for the Iraqi Christian Genocide.jpg
Demonstration in Sydney urging Australia to help save Iraqi Christians

On 2 and 3 August 2014, thousands of Assyrians of the diaspora protested the persecution of their fellow Assyrians within Iraq and Syria, demanding a United Nations-led creation of a safe haven for minorities in the Nineveh Plains. [35] [36]

In October 2014, Kurdish-Danish human rights activist Widad Akrawi dedicated her 2014 International Pfeffer Peace Award "to all victims of persecution, particularly the Yazidis, the Christians, and all residents of the Kobanê region." [37]

The same month, David Greene, a radio journalist at NPR, stated that around 1,000 Christians had been killed "in areas where Islamic State fighters are targeting religious minorities", without specifying a source. [38]

Recognition as genocide

Chaldean Catholic priest Douglas Al-Bazi, who was tortured by the Islamic State, has urged the US to recognise the killings as genocide. [39]

On February 3, 2016, European Parliament unanimously voted to recognize the persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, by the Islamic State as genocide. [40] [41] [42] Lars Adaktusson, a Swedish member of the European Parliament, said of the vote: "It gives the victims of the atrocities a chance to get their human dignity restored. It's also a historical confirmation that the European Parliament recognized what is going on and that they are suffering from the most despicable crime in the world, namely genocide." [43]

The United States House of Representatives followed suit on March 15, 2016, declaring that these atrocities against minorities were genocide. [44] Already in December 2015, at a town hall event, the 67th United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called the systematic persecution a genocide. [45]

On April 20, 2016, the British Parliament unanimously voted to denounce the actions against minorities as genocide. [46]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nineveh Governorate</span> Governorate of Iraq

Nineveh or Ninawa Governorate is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of 37,323 km2 (14,410 sq mi) and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient Nineveh. Before 1976, it was called Mosul Province and included the present-day Dohuk Governorate. The second largest city is Tal Afar, which has an almost exclusively Turkmen population.

Nun is the fourteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Arabic nūnن‎, Aramaic nūn 𐡍, Hebrew nūnנ‎, Phoenician nūn 𐤍‎, and Syriac nūn ܢ,. Its numerical value is 50. It is the third letter in Thaana (ނ), pronounced as "noonu". In all languages, it represents the alveolar nasal /n/.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assyrians in Iraq</span> Ethnic group

Iraqi Assyrians are an ethnic and linguistic minority group, indigenous to Upper Mesopotamia. They are defined as Assyrians residing in the country of Iraq, or members of the Assyrian diaspora who are of Iraqi-Assyrian heritage. They share a common history and ethnic identity, rooted in shared linguistic, cultural and religious traditions, with Assyrians in Iran, Turkey and Syria, as well as with the Assyrian diaspora elsewhere. A significant number have emigrated to the United States, notably to the Detroit and Chicago; a sizeable community is also found in Sydney, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Iraq</span>

The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bashiqa</span> Town in Nineveh, Iraq

Bashiqa is a town situated at the heart of the Nineveh plain, between Mosul and Sheikhan, on the edges of Mount Maqlub.

The Assyrian exodus from Iraq is a part of refers to the mass flight and expulsion of ethnic Assyrians from Iraq, a process which was initiated from the beginning of Iraq War in 2003 and continues to this day. Leaders of Iraq's Assyrian community estimate that over two-thirds of the Iraqi Assyrian population may have fled the country or been internally displaced since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 until 2011. Reports suggest that whole neighborhoods of Assyrians have cleared out in the cities of Baghdad and Basra, and that Sunni insurgent groups and militias have threatened Assyrians. Following the campaign of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Iraq in August 2014, one quarter of the remaining Iraqi Assyrians fled the Jihadists, finding refuge in Turkey and Kurdistan Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)</span> ISIL military offensive in northern Iraq against Iraqi government (2014)

The Northern Iraq offensive began on 4 June 2014, when the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, assisted by various insurgent groups in the region, began a major offensive from its territory in Syria into Iraq against Iraqi and Kurdish forces, following earlier clashes that had begun in December 2013 involving guerillas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinjar massacre</span> Mass genocide and kidnapping carried out by ISIS

The Sinjar massacre marked the beginning of the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL, the killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidi men, women and children. It took place in August 2014 in Sinjar city and Sinjar District in Iraq's Nineveh Governorate and was perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The massacre began with ISIL attacking and capturing Sinjar and neighboring towns on 3 August, during its Northern Iraq offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in Iraq (2013–2017)</span> War between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State

The War in Iraq (2013–2017) was an armed conflict between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State. Following December 2013, the insurgency escalated into full-scale guerrilla warfare following clashes in the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in parts of western Iraq, and culminated in the Islamic State offensive into Iraq in June 2014, which lead to the capture of the cities of Mosul, Tikrit and other cities in western and northern Iraq by the Islamic State. Between 4–9 June 2014, the city of Mosul was attacked and later fell; following this, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called for a national state of emergency on 10 June. However, despite the security crisis, Iraq's parliament did not allow Maliki to declare a state of emergency; many legislators boycotted the session because they opposed expanding the prime minister's powers. Ali Ghaidan, a former military commander in Mosul, accused al-Maliki of being the one who issued the order to withdraw from the city of Mosul. At its height, ISIL held 56,000 square kilometers of Iraqi territory, containing 4.5 million citizens.

Between 1 and 15 August 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) expanded territory in northern Iraq under their control. In the region north and west from Mosul, the Islamic State conquered Zumar, Sinjar, Wana, Mosul Dam, Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe, Batnaya and Kocho, and in the region south and east of Mosul the towns Bakhdida, Karamlish, Bartella and Makhmour

The condition of human rights in the territory controlled by the Islamic State (IS) is considered to be among the worst in the world. The Islamic State's policies included acts of genocide, torture and slavery. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) stated in November 2014 that the Islamic State "seeks to subjugate civilians under its control and dominate every aspect of their lives through terror, indoctrination, and the provision of services to those who obey". Many Islamic State actions of extreme criminality, terror, recruitment and other activities have been documented in the Middle East.

Executions by ISIS refers here to killing by beheading, immolation, shooting, or other means of soldiers and civilians by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL has released a number of propaganda/publicity videos of beheadings or shootings of captives. Houtat Sulūk is reported to be a mass grave.

In early 2014, the jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captured extensive territory in Western Iraq in the Anbar campaign, while counter-offensives against it were mounted in Syria. Raqqa in Syria became its headquarters. The Wall Street Journal estimated that eight million people lived under its control in the two countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yazidi genocide</span> 2014 ethnic cleansing and genocide campaign by the Islamic State in Sinjar, northern Iraq

The Yazidi genocide was perpetrated by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2017. It was characterized by massacres, genocidal rape, and forced conversions to Islam. The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking people who are indigenous to Kurdistan who practice Yazidism, a monotheistic Iranian ethnoreligion derived from the Indo-Iranian tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of gay and bisexual men by the Islamic State</span>

Violence against LGBT people is part of the ideology of ISIL, which mandates capital punishment for homosexuality within its territory, in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Yazidis</span> Overview of hostility, discrimination, and persecution against the Yazidi people

The persecution of Yazidis has been ongoing since at least the 12th century. Yazidis are an endogamous and mostly Kurmanji-speaking minority, indigenous to Kurdistan. The Yazidi religion is regarded as "devil-worship" by some Muslims and Islamists. Yazidis have been persecuted by the surrounding Muslims since the medieval ages, most notably by Safavids, Ottomans, neighbouring Muslim Arab and Kurdish tribes and principalities. After the 2014 Sinjar massacre of thousands of Yazidis by ISIL, which started the ethnic, cultural, and religious genocide of the Yazidis in Iraq, Yazidis still face discrimination from the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State occupation of Mosul</span>

The occupation of Mosul by the Islamic State began after the fall of Mosul when Islamic State fighters took control of the city on 10 June 2014. Mosul was a strategically important city for the Islamic State and was a target by anti-Islamic State forces. Over the course of battles in 2015 and 2016–2017, the Iraqi Armed Forces, aided by Peshmerga and CJTF–OIR forces, fully liberated Mosul by 21 July 2017.

Anti-Assyrian sentiment, also known as anti-Assyrianism and Assyriophobia, is a diverse spectrum of negative feelings, dislikes, fears, aversion, racism, derision and/or prejudice towards Assyrians, Assyria, and Assyrian culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqi Turkmen genocide</span> Overview of crimes committed against Iraqi Turkmen by the Islamic State

The Iraqi Turkmen genocide refers to the series of killings, rapes, executions, expulsions, and sexual slavery of Iraqi Turkmen by the Islamic State. It began when ISIS captured Iraqi Turkmen lands in 2014 and it continued until ISIS lost all of their land in Iraq. In 2017, ISIS's persecution of Iraqi Turkmen was officially recognized as a genocide by the Parliament of Iraq, and in 2018, the sexual slavery of Iraqi Turkmen girls and women was recognized by the United Nations.

References

  1. ↑ Rodriguez, Meredith (August 8, 2014). "Chicago-area Assyrians march against ISIL, others protest airstrikes". Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ Bowcott, Owen; Jones, Sam (August 8, 2014). "Isis persecution of Iraqi Christians has become genocide, says religious leaders". The Guardian . Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  3. ↑ McQuade, Romsin (July 30, 2014). "Iraq's persecuted Assyrian Christians are in limbo". The Telegraph . Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Syria: Opposition Abuses During Ground Offensive". Human Rights Watch. 2013-11-19. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  5. ↑ Levs, Josh (August 7, 2014). "Will anyone stop ISIS?". CNN. Archived from the original on August 7, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Kino, Nuri (2024-01-30). "Don't Forget About the Persecuted Christians of Iraq and Syria". Newsweek . Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  7. 1 2 Fernandez, Alberto M. (June 16, 2015). "The "Sayfo" Continues Responding to Global Christian Persecution". Berkeley Center Cornerstone. Georgetown University Religious Freedom Project. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'". BBC News . 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  9. ↑ "Worsening Conditions for Christians in the Middle East". International Christian Concern . 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  10. ↑ "Iraq's Christians 'close to extinction'". BBC News. 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  11. ↑ "Population 'under attack'". Radio Free Europe. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "BBC News - Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh". BBC News. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "BBC News - Iraqi Christians flee after Isis issue Mosul ultimatum". BBC News. 18 July 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  14. ↑ van Tets, Fernande (7 August 2014). "Isis takes Iraq's largest Christian town as residents told – 'leave, convert or die'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  15. ↑ Jadallah, Ahmed (18 July 2014). "Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians". Reuters. Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  16. 1 2 "Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians". Reuters. 18 July 2014. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2017. It said that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whom the group has now named Caliph Ibrahim, had set a Saturday deadline for Christians who did not want to stay and live under those terms to "leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate". "After this date, there is nothing between us and them but the sword," it said.
  17. ↑ "For the first time in 1,800 years, no Masses said in Mosul". Catholicworldreport.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "Iraqi Christian church burnings confirmed by EU delegation". Iraq news, the latest Iraq news. 16 June 2014. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  19. ↑ "Increasing Calls for Military Intervention to Save Assyrians and Yazidis". Aina.org. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  20. ↑ Abedine, Saad; Mullen, Jethro (28 February 2014). "Islamists in Syrian city offer Christians safety – at a heavy price". CNN. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  21. ↑ Hubbard, Ben (23 July 2014). "Life in a Jihadist Capital: Order With a Darker Side". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  22. ↑ "Iraqi Christians flee after Isis issue Mosul ultimatum". BBC News . August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  23. ↑ Loveluck, Louisa (August 7, 2014). "Christians flee Iraq's Mosul after Islamists tell them: convert, pay or die". The Telegraph . Archived from the original on July 30, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Isis militants 'seize Iraq monastery and expel monks'". BBC News . August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  25. ↑ "UN Security Council condemns attacks by Iraqi jihadists". BBC News . August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  26. ↑ "BBC News - Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh". BBC News. 7 August 2014. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  27. ↑ El-Gundy, Zeinab (12 February 2015). "Islamic State publishes report on Coptic Egyptian workers kidnapped in Libya". Al-Ahram. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  28. ↑ "Thousands mourn Egyptian victims of Islamic State in disbelief". Reuters . 16 Feb 2015. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 26 Feb 2015.
  29. ↑ "ISIL video shows Christian Egyptians beheaded in Libya". Al Jazeera. 16 Feb 2015. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 16 Feb 2015.
  30. ↑ Al-Khalidi, Suleiman; Holmes, Oliver (23 February 2015). Heneghan, Tom (ed.). "Islamic State in Syria abducts at least 150 Christians". Reuters . Retrieved 23 February 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  31. ↑ "Islamic State 'abducts dozens of Christians in Syria'". BBC. 23 February 2015. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  32. ↑ "Isis appears to have killed three Christian hostages in Syria". The Guardian . 8 October 2015. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  33. ↑ Walsh, Declan; Ezz, Mohamed (2018-11-02). "ISIS Says It Was Behind Deadly Attack on Christians in Egypt". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2024-05-28. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  34. ↑ Casper, Jayson (19 April 2021). "ISIS Executes Christian Businessman Kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  35. ↑ "Thousands rally against 'silent genocide'". 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  36. ↑ "Assyrians Demonstrate Worldwide Against ISIS Persecution". Aina.org. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  37. ↑ Kelly, Linda (22 October 2014). "Dr. Widad Akrawi Receives the Pfeffer Peace Award". Fellowship of Reconciliation. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  38. ↑ "As Christians Flee, Governments Pressured to Declare ISIS Guilty Of Genocide". NPR. 24 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2018. At least a thousand Christians have been killed. Hundreds of thousands have fled.
  39. ↑ Simov, Stoyan (15 March 2016). "Iraqi Priest Who Terrorists Smashed Face With Hammer: US Must Recognize Christian Genocide". Christian Post . Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  40. ↑ Moore, Jack (February 4, 2016). "European Parliament Recognizes ISIS Killing of Religious Minorities as Genocide". Newsweek . Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  41. ↑ JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION Archived 2017-10-12 at the Wayback Machine , European Parliament
  42. ↑ MEP's call for urgent action to protect religious minorities against ISIS Archived 2017-02-15 at the Wayback Machine , European Parliament
  43. ↑ Kaplan, Michael (February 4, 2016). "ISIS Genocide Against Christians, Yazidis? European Parliament Recognizes Islamic State Targeting Religious Minorities". International Business Times . Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016. The European Parliament characterized the persecution as "genocide" Thursday.
  44. ↑ Bruton, F. Brinley (March 17, 2016). "Kerry: ISIS Is Committing Genocide Against Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims". NBC News. Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  45. ↑ Thomas, George (2 February 2016). "'It's Genocide,' Europe Says of Christian Slaughter by ISIS". Christian Broadcasting Network. "I'm sure now we have enough evidence that what is happening is genocide, deliberately aimed at destroying, not only the lives but wiping out the existence of Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in the Middle East in territory controlled by ISIS," she said.
  46. ↑ "Isis is committing genocide against Yazidis and Christians, British MP's unanimously declare". Independent.co.uk . 21 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 August 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
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