Daesh still committing genocide against Izadis: UN panel

A United Nations investigative panel says the Daesh terrorist group is still committing genocide and other crimes against the Izadi minority group in Iraq.

A United Nations investigative panel says the Daesh terrorist group is still committing genocide and other crimes against the Izadi minority group in Iraq.

In a Wednesday statement, a UN commission of inquiry into human rights abuses warned against ongoing crimes by Daesh against the Izadi minority and urged action to prevent further deaths and suffering of the persecuted group.

The commission's statement was released on the second anniversary of the initial Daesh attack on the Sinjar area in Iraq, where the Izadi minority group is mostly based.

The commission of inquiry said crimes such as genocide are still being committed against the Izadis, and called for a refocus on the "rescue, protection of, and care for" the community.

The UN says about 5,000 Izadi men were killed and thousands more, mostly women and children, were taken into captivity by Daesh when the Takfiri militant group took control of Iraq's northwest two years ago.

The UN panel's statement said that more than 3,200 women and children from the minority group being held by Daesh are "subjected to almost-unimaginable violence," including sexual enslavement of girls while young Izadi boys are forced to fight for the terror group.

Over the past few months, several mass graves containing bodies of people, including members of the Izadi minority group, have been uncovered in Iraq and Syria.

SS