On March 14, 2016, The House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution, introduced by Republican Jeff Fortenberry and 212 of his colleagues, calling the crimes of the Islamic Emirate ("Daesh") against minorities "genocide" (H.Con.Res.75). This follows the position of the European Parliament [1].

The resolution follows a report of the Knights of Columbus, the main Catholic charity in the United States. [2]

Referring to the position of Pope Francis, parliamentarians hope to force the hand of Secretary of State John Kerry so that the Obama Administration will adopt their views.

The text urged the Regional Government of Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon to provide assistance to people fleeing persecution by the IE, but said not a word of the role of Turkey, the Iraqi central government and Syria.

The text was written to support the Christians, and was extended to the Yazidis (mithraïc Kurdish religion), the Mandaeans (Saint John the Baptist disciples) and yarsanites ( "Kaka’e"), and Turkmen and Kurd ethnic groups. It ignores the Shiite – Daesh’s principal target - but also Druze and Alawite (often considered as Shia).

The Obama administration is reluctant to use the term "genocide" because of its legal consequences. It in fact implies that anyone connected to this crime can be prosecuted anywhere in the world. But initially, Daesh was created under the name "Islamic Emirate of Iraq" -in conjunction with chiites- organizations under the supervision of John Negroponte and General David Petraeus to deter Iraqi Resistance to the US occupation and divert their anger toward Sunni / Shia sectarian conflict (preparation of the "Surge"). Taking into account the number of high U.S. officials involved in this strategy in 2006-2008 and beyond, the term "genocide" could turn against Washington.

The Presidents of the United States do not recognize the genocide of Christians by Sultan Abdülhamid II and by the Young Turks (genocide of Armenians and Pontian Greeks) so as not to impede present day Turkey ... which specifically supports the Islamic Emirate.

Translation
Roger Lagassé

titre documents joints


H.Con.Res.75 - Expressing the sense of Congress that the atrocities perpetrated by ISIL against religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria include war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
(PDF - 247.4 KiB)

[1] “European Parliament resolution on ISIS”, Voltaire Network, 4 February 2016.