The House of Representatives approved bipartisan measures on Monday that declare ISIS atrocities genocide and hold Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable for war crimes.
The measures, which were advanced by the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this month, were approved by the House days before a statutory deadline for the Obama administration to present a genocide determination to Congress.
“ISIS is guilty of genocide,” U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “It has been using mass murder, beheadings, crucifixions, rape, torture and enslavement in its deliberate campaign to eliminate religious minorities and bulldoze their history. With this declaration (on Monday), the House has taken a very serious step. There is no reason for the administration to drag out its own genocide determination any longer.”
Royce called on the Obama administration to “seek accountability” for al-Assad’s war crimes against his own people.
“More than 18,500 children are among the hundreds of thousands who’ve been killed by the chemical weapons, barrel bombs and firing squads unleashed by the Assad regime and its backers,” Royce said. “An international tribunal, like those established following the conflicts in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, is critical to ensuring peace and justice.”
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said that by passing the measures, members of the House had “spoken in a unified voice” in condemning war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“As I have said before, there is no future for Syria with Assad and ISIS present,” Kinzinger said. “The United States needs to remember its role as the ‘shining city on a hill’ that provides hope to all, and employ strong leadership to defeat these threats in the Middle East. (On Monday), the House has taken an important step to increase awareness for the atrocities in the Middle East and towards ending the violence and murders that ravage the region. I sincerely hope the White House and our allies will follow suit.”
U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI), vice chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that the resolutions approved by the House call on the United Nations and the Obama administration to take immediate action.
“As they have metastasized across the Middle East, terrorist groups, like ISIS, have waged barbaric, targeted attacks against ethnic minorities throughout the region based on their religious beliefs,” Miller said. “Forced to choose between converting to Islam, paying a religious tax, or being slaughtered for their beliefs, this persecution of these minorities is nothing short of genocide.”
U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) added that ISIS has murdered innocent Christians and other religious minorities for no reason beside their faith.
“The language we use is important,” Shimkus said. “Beyond the moral and political implications, using the term ‘genocide’ comes with certain legal obligations. The United States is bound by both international treaty and federal law to prevent and punish acts of genocide.”