British MPs' unanimously declare ISIS' barbaric acts as 'genocide'

Amirhesa Abapo Saturday, April 23, 2016

With 278â€“0 vote, the Britain's parliament unanimously declared acts of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) against Christians, Yazidis, and affected groups as "genocide" despite strong government opposition, and lifted the matter to the United Nations (UN) Security Council as a call for justice last Wednesday, April 20.

The overwhelming vote results are expected to increase the pressure on the government to take action. Direction from the Foreign Office for abstention was justified by the belief that only courts can decide for the legal description.

Kurdish peshmerga forces look at bones in a mass grave on the outskirts of the town of Sinjar, February 3, 2015. Police said the mass grave contained remains from 25 people belonging to the minority Yazidi sect, apparent victims of Islamic State militants. | Reuters/Ari Jalal

"This ultimately is a matter for courts to decide. It is not for governments to be the prosecutor, the judge or indeed jury," Tobias Ellwood, the designated Foreign Office minister, said in an interview with The Guardian.

In response, Edward Leigh, a member of Parliament (MP) emphasized in an interview with The Catholic Herald, "There's no point in the minister using his time in the House to condemn Daesh [ISIS], to mention all the appalling acts that they're doing and then saying at the end of the speech: 'Well, I'm sorry, but because of all the legal precedent... because we the government think that it's for the court to take the legal initiative, that we don't think it is appropriate for the British government to take action. Enough is enough. I call on the government to act."

Fiona Bruce, the MP responsible for the motion, stressed in her speech that there never was a full record in the international community for what truly happened at a commission of genocide. She added instances of ISIS atrocities, even referring to eyewitness accounts of the killings and tortures that took place.

The government, through its Foreign Office minister, highlighted the role of the Security Council in international criminal court referrals but was quick to recall that such move was blocked in 2014 by China and Russia. Furthermore, no assurance was given by the government to act on said motion. History shows how possible can ministers ignore backbench moves like that.

MP Ian Blackford, however, stressed the urgency of pushing the issue to the Security Council. He added that the government must exhibit the needed level of leadership at present, just as justice was made certain in the past.