The ongoing and grave threats continually faced by religious minorities in Iraq and Syria was the central focus at a Capitol hearing entitled “The ISIS Genocide Declaration: What Next?”

     Convened by U.S. Rep Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of a congressional panel that oversees global human rights, the hearing reviewed compelling testimony from expert witnesses who voiced safety concerns and a need to identify an enduring resolution for the displaced persons.  The chairman also stressed President Obama’s lack of action following a genocide declaration that the Administration, after much prodding, finally issued in March of this year.

     “In 2014 as ISIS moved north, taking more territory and conducting its genocidal campaign against Christians, Yezidis, and other religious minorities, it soon became clear that the Obama Administration had no comprehensive plan to prevent ISIS from continuing to commit genocide, mass atrocities, and war crimes, or to roll ISIS back,” said the senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

     “The world knew that ISIS was committing genocide,” asserted Smith. “Yet the Administration had still not acknowledged it and still had no strategy to prevent it.” After listing concerns about the Administration repeating mistakes even after its March, 2016 genocide determination, Smith emphasized that “there is no easy, single solution to the threats to religious and ethnic minorities, and other civilians, in Iraq and Syria. Complexity must never be an excuse for indifference and inaction.

     “Unless key issues that preceded the genocide are addressed, the genocide may be perpetrated again. I plan to introduce comprehensive legislation to help beleaguered religious minorities, in Iraq and Syria,” he said. Click here to read Smith’s statement.

     The subcommittee heard testimony from an array of expert witnesses, including Carl Anderson, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, which supplied the 280-page report that documented the genocide of Christians and helped prompt the Administration’s genocide determination. Anderson testified that “the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II is unfolding now in the Middle East.” Yet, he said, there is “an unparalleled opportunity for the United States, and for all those opposed to ISIS’ radical vision–Muslims and non-Muslims alike–to advance an agenda of equality, justice, peace, and accountability in the region.” He proposed promoting the establishment of internationally agreed upon standards of human rights and religious freedom as conditions for humanitarian and military assistance as “a necessary first step to prevent genocide is to overcome the social and legal inequality that is its breeding ground.” Click here to read Anderson’s statement.

     Naomi Kikoler, Deputy Director, Simon Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, recently returned from Iraq and testified that if the label of genocide is truly going to have meaning for the victims of that crime, it is necessary to “secure justice and accountability for the victims.” She stressed that “to ensure the survival of these communities… civilian protection and the prevention of atrocities should be at the core of the strategy” of the U.S. government. Click here to read Kikoler’s statement.

     David Crane, Former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone, emphasized that “we can take realistic steps to start an accountability mechanism for the region, particularly as it relates to ISIS atrocity. If we have the political will we can establish a truth commission, a domestic court or an internationalized domestic court, and a hybrid regional court.” He noted that in March, the House overwhelmingly passed House Concurrent Resolution 121, authored by Smith, calling for “the establishment of a war crimes tribunal where these crimes could be addressed.” Click here to read Krane’s statement.

     Sarhang Hamasaeed, Senior Program Officer of Middle East and Africa Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, testified that “the most certain way to protect and preserve the future of religious minorities in Iraq is to resolve the larger conflicts of Iraq and their international supporters. At their core, a resolution of these conflicts will require political processes and solutions, supplemented by security and economic measures. Such efforts require an active and leading role from the United States to facilitate peace processes and provide technical and resource assistance to implement agreements.” Click here to read Hamasaeed’s statement.

     Focusing on integration of refugees from religious minorities from Iraq and Syria after they are admitted to the United States, Johnny Oram, Executive Director of the Michigan-based Chaldean Assyrian Business Alliance, testified about how some educators in the U.S. “help kids adjust and integrate into American culture while maintaining their heritage in a meaningful way.” Click here to read Oram’s statement.

     This is the third hearing that Rep. Smith has held on the genocide. He co-chaired “Genocidal Attacks Against Christian and Other Religious Minorities in Syria and Iraq” (September 10, 2014) and chaired “Fulfilling the Humanitarian Imperative: Assisting Victims of ISIS Violence” (December 9, 2015). 

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