UK Recognizes 'Acts of Genocide' against Iraq's Yazidis by ISIS

Bahar Elias, a displaced Iraqi woman from the Yazidi community, sits with her son and daughters at the Sharya camp in northern Iraq on April 22, 2023, holding photos of family members kidnapped by ISIS. © Safin Hamid, AFP
Bahar Elias, a displaced Iraqi woman from the Yazidi community, sits with her son and daughters at the Sharya camp in northern Iraq on April 22, 2023, holding photos of family members kidnapped by ISIS. © Safin Hamid, AFP
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UK Recognizes 'Acts of Genocide' against Iraq's Yazidis by ISIS

Bahar Elias, a displaced Iraqi woman from the Yazidi community, sits with her son and daughters at the Sharya camp in northern Iraq on April 22, 2023, holding photos of family members kidnapped by ISIS. © Safin Hamid, AFP
Bahar Elias, a displaced Iraqi woman from the Yazidi community, sits with her son and daughters at the Sharya camp in northern Iraq on April 22, 2023, holding photos of family members kidnapped by ISIS. © Safin Hamid, AFP

The UK government on Tuesday officially acknowledged that the ISIS group committed "acts of genocide" against the Yazidi people in 2014.

The Yazidis where target of ISIS extremists and were subjected to massacres, forced marriages and sex slavery during the militants' 2014-15 rule in the northern Iraq province of Sinjar, the Yazidis' traditional home.

The UK foreign office made the announcement ahead of events to mark "the nine year anniversary of atrocities" committed by ISIS against the Kurdish-speaking Yazidi minority in Iraq.

"The UK has today formally acknowledged that acts of genocide were committed against the Yazidi people by ISIS in 2014," the statement said.

So far, the UK has acknowledged only four other instances where genocide has occurred, the Holocaust, Rwanda, Srebrenica, and acts of genocide in Cambodia.

"The Yazidi population suffered immensely at the hands of ISIS nine years ago and the repercussions are still felt to this day," UK's Middle East minister Tariq Ahmad said in the statement.

"Justice and accountability are key for those whose lives have been devastated," he added.

Murad Ismael, co-founder of global Yazidi organization Yazda, hailed the UK recognition as an "important step".

"Acknowledgement is the heart of justice process and helping victims to heal from the deep wounds of this genocide," he told AFP.

"I am pleased that the UK government has formally recognized the horrors suffered by the Yazidis as genocide", said Nadia Murad, a Yazidi Nobel Peace Prize Laureate campaigning against the use of sexual violence in war, particularly against the Yazidis.

"I hope that the British government will now begin to seek justice for the victims by holding British-born fighters to account," she added.

"The world cannot afford to let ISIS members walk free. It sends a message to the world that you can murder and rape with impunity."

The UK's lower house of parliament, the House of Commons, had unanimously voted to condemn the ISIS's treatment of Yazidis and Christians in Iraq as amounting to genocide in 2016, in a rare instance of parliamentary determination of genocide.

The foreign ministry had refused to acknowledge the genocide then, in keeping with a long-standing policy on the determination of genocide by courts rather than governments.

Nearly six years since Iraq declared "victory" over ISIS, many Yazidis have still not been able to return to Sinjar.

Thousands still live in precarious conditions in camps for displaced people.

Those who have returned face an unstable security situation and inadequate or nonexistent public services.



Biden Announces Surge in Ukraine Military Aid

US President Joe Biden speaks at the 'Supporting Ukrainian Recovery and Reconstruction' meeting on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York, USA, 25 September 2024 (issued 26 September 2024).  EPA/LESZEK SZYMANSKI
US President Joe Biden speaks at the 'Supporting Ukrainian Recovery and Reconstruction' meeting on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York, USA, 25 September 2024 (issued 26 September 2024). EPA/LESZEK SZYMANSKI
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Biden Announces Surge in Ukraine Military Aid

US President Joe Biden speaks at the 'Supporting Ukrainian Recovery and Reconstruction' meeting on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York, USA, 25 September 2024 (issued 26 September 2024).  EPA/LESZEK SZYMANSKI
US President Joe Biden speaks at the 'Supporting Ukrainian Recovery and Reconstruction' meeting on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York, USA, 25 September 2024 (issued 26 September 2024). EPA/LESZEK SZYMANSKI

US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday a "surge" in assistance to Ukraine, including nearly $8 billion in military aid and new long-range munitions, ahead of a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Today, I am announcing a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war," Biden said in a statement.

However, the statement did not mention Kyiv's hoped-for permission to launch US-made long-range missiles into Russia -- which Zelensky has been pushing hard for, and which Biden has so far refused.

Russia has strongly warned against such a step, and President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced plans to broaden Moscow's rules on the use of its nuclear weaponry, allowing it to unleash a nuclear response in the event of a "massive" air attack.

The Kremlin said the updated doctrine should be seen as a warning to the West.

Kyiv has relied on the United States as its main military backer, and Zelensky said his country would use the new assistance in the "most effective and transparent way possible to achieve our main common goal: a victorious Ukraine, a just and lasting peace, and transatlantic security."

But the white-knuckle US vote on November 5, pitting Biden's Vice President Kamala Harris against firebrand Trump, means that support may now hang in the balance.

Biden will host Zelensky in the Oval Office at 1:45 pm local time (1745 GMT), the White House said.

Biden pledged nearly $8 billion in military aid, including $5.5 billion to be authorized before it expires at the end of the US fiscal year on Monday.

Another $2.4 billion was pledged via the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), meaning it will not immediately arrive on the battlefield, as the munitions need to be procured from the defense industry or partners, rather than drawn from US stockpiles.

Biden also announced Washington would provide Ukraine with the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) long-range munition, "to enhance Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities."

The United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine during the war, despite frequent opposition from Republicans.

US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday a "surge" in assistance to Ukraine, including nearly $8 billion in military aid and new long-range munitions, ahead of a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Today, I am announcing a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war," Biden said in a statement.

However, the statement did not mention Kyiv's hoped-for permission to launch US-made long-range missiles into Russia -- which Zelensky has been pushing hard for, and which Biden has so far refused.

Russia has strongly warned against such a step, and President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced plans to broaden Moscow's rules on the use of its nuclear weaponry, allowing it to unleash a nuclear response in the event of a "massive" air attack.

The Kremlin said the updated doctrine should be seen as a warning to the West.

Kyiv has relied on the United States as its main military backer, and Zelensky said his country would use the new assistance in the "most effective and transparent way possible to achieve our main common goal: a victorious Ukraine, a just and lasting peace, and transatlantic security."

But the white-knuckle US vote on November 5, pitting Biden's Vice President Kamala Harris against firebrand Trump, means that support may now hang in the balance.

Biden will host Zelensky in the Oval Office at 1:45 pm local time (1745 GMT), the White House said.

Biden pledged nearly $8 billion in military aid, including $5.5 billion to be authorized before it expires at the end of the US fiscal year on Monday.

Another $2.4 billion was pledged via the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), meaning it will not immediately arrive on the battlefield, as the munitions need to be procured from the defense industry or partners, rather than drawn from US stockpiles.

Biden also announced Washington would provide Ukraine with the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) long-range munition, "to enhance Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities."

The United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine during the war, despite frequent opposition from Republicans.

US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday a "surge" in assistance to Ukraine, including nearly $8 billion in military aid and new long-range munitions, ahead of a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Today, I am announcing a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war," Biden said in a statement.

However, the statement did not mention Kyiv's hoped-for permission to launch US-made long-range missiles into Russia -- which Zelensky has been pushing hard for, and which Biden has so far refused.

Russia has strongly warned against such a step, and President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced plans to broaden Moscow's rules on the use of its nuclear weaponry, allowing it to unleash a nuclear response in the event of a "massive" air attack.

The Kremlin said the updated doctrine should be seen as a warning to the West.

Kyiv has relied on the United States as its main military backer, and Zelensky said his country would use the new assistance in the "most effective and transparent way possible to achieve our main common goal: a victorious Ukraine, a just and lasting peace, and transatlantic security."

But the white-knuckle US vote on November 5, pitting Biden's Vice President Kamala Harris against firebrand Trump, means that support may now hang in the balance.

Biden will host Zelensky in the Oval Office at 1:45 pm local time (1745 GMT), the White House said.

Biden pledged nearly $8 billion in military aid, including $5.5 billion to be authorized before it expires at the end of the US fiscal year on Monday.

Another $2.4 billion was pledged via the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), meaning it will not immediately arrive on the battlefield, as the munitions need to be procured from the defense industry or partners, rather than drawn from US stockpiles.

Biden also announced Washington would provide Ukraine with the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) long-range munition, "to enhance Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities."

The United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine during the war, despite frequent opposition from Republicans.