As our co-founder, Luke de Pulford, reminds us today:
‘It’s four years to the day since we won a unanimous vote in the @HouseofCommons to recognise mass atrocities against Yazidis Christians and other minorities. Four years later @GOVUK still refuses to give what happened to these people its proper name: genocide.’
On 20 April 2016, the UK House of Commons debated on an Early Day Motion (EDM) moved by Mrs Fiona Bruce MP that was to recognise the atrocities of Daesh as genocide and call for action. The EDM states:
‘That this House believes that Christians, Yazidis, and other ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria are suffering genocide at the hands of Daesh; and calls on the Government to make an immediate referral to the UN Security Council with a view to conferring jurisdiction upon the International Criminal Court so that perpetrators can be brought to justice.’
The EDM passed unanimously (278-0). Four years later, the UK Government still shies away from calling the atrocities for what they are. Genocide. The UN Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court has not been undertaken either.
For more on the debate, see: Hansard of 20 April 2016.
