US Lawmakers Urge Obama to Include Christians as Genocide Victims of Daesh

Thirty members of the US Congress sent a letter to State Secretary John Kerry on Wednesday warning the Obama administration not to exclude Christians in a pending genocide determination against the Islamic State, also known as Daesh.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The letter was signed by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and 29 other lawmakers, representing both Republican and Democratic parties.

"We are gravely concerned by persistent press reports that the administration is preparing a genocide finding that would apply only to Yazidis, and may avoid judgment about whether ISIL [Islamic State] is also committing genocide against other minorities it is eliminating," the letter said.

Appearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee on November 4, Assistant Secretary of State Anne Patterson declined to say whether genocide was occurring in the territory controlled by Daesh. She promised announcements from the administration in the near future.

Reports from survivors who have fled, and family members remaining in the region, describe efforts by Daesh to cleanse the area of ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians, Yazidis, Shia Muslims, Turkmen and Shabak.

The Islamic State is a violent extremist group that has been seizing large areas in Iraq and Syria since 2014, gaining notoriety for committing a multitude of human rights atrocities. Its activities have been outlawed in many countries, including Russia and the United States.