The United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill last week, calling for accountability for perpetrators of genocide in Iraq and Syria.
The bill, entitled the “Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act of 2017”, calls for greater action to tackle Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), accusing the group of committing genocide in the region.
US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Chairman Daniel Mark said “two U.S. administrations have singled out ISIS for committing genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims”.
“Now greater steps must be taken to give these groups the aid, protection, and justice they deserve. Delay only further endangers them and makes accountability more difficult.”
The USCIRF went on to call on the US president and Senate to “take up this urgently needed legislation” and “expeditiously sign it into law”.