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<\/source><\/picture>Iraqi Christian leaders convened with a United Nations team and international representatives in Iraq\u2019s Kurdistan Region to discuss ongoing investigations into ISIS\u2019 targeted genocide against Christians, which was described as \u201cbarbaric attacks, rooted in hate and inhumanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The United Nations Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da\u2019esh\/ISIL, or UNITAD, organized the conference, which also included political leaders from various countries.<\/p>\n
UNITAD Special Adviser Christian Ritscher revealed the investigation\u2019s findings, saying ISIS had destroyed Christian cultural heritage in Mosul and the Ninawa plains (also known as Nineveh plains). Churches, monasteries, cemeteries, manuscripts and Christian symbols were targeted in what Ritscher described as \u201cbarbaric attacks, rooted in hate and inhumanity,\u201d the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern noted in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Safeen Dizayee, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government\u2019s Department of Foreign Relations, emphasized Kurdistan\u2019s role as a refuge for Iraq\u2019s Christians. \u201cChristians are the indigenous people of this land and must continue their lives with dignity and security,\u201d Dizayee said.<\/p>\n Dindar Zebari, the Kurdistan Regional Government\u2019s Coordinator for International Advocacy, said the majority of the remaining 200,000 Christians in Iraq have taken refuge in Kurdistan. Zebari recounted the history of Christian persecution in Iraq, noting that displacement due to terrorism peaked after ISIS’ attacks in 2014.<\/p>\n UNITAD\u2019s conference gathered over 30 Christian community leaders and international representatives from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Hungary and the European Union.<\/p>\n Ritscher commended the resilience of the Christian community. \u201cYour togetherness and your resilience are inspirational, not just to the Christian community in Iraq, but also to us at UNITAD,\u201d he said, according to UNITAD\u2019s press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ritscher also mentioned that individual case files for ISIS members involved in crimes against Christians are being developed. These identities are corroborated by testimonial evidence and internal ISIS documents.<\/p>\n U.S. Consul General Mark Stroh and French Acting Consul General Rodolphe Richard reiterated their countries\u2019 support for UNITAD\u2019s investigations. Both emphasized the importance of investigating crimes against the Christian community and other minorities in Iraq.<\/p>\n During the conference, UNITAD investigators provided updates on their progress. They discussed modern tools and methodologies used in international crime investigations.<\/p>\n Christian leaders at the conference shared recommendations on evidence gathering and witness accounts. They stressed the importance of documenting ISIS\u2019 international crimes against the Christian community to hold perpetrators accountable in court.<\/p>\n At last year\u2019s G20 event centered on religions\u2019 role in helping solve global problems, the Most Rev. Bashar Warda, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil,\u00a0warned<\/a>\u00a0that Christianity in Iraq was \u201con the very edge of extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n During his remarks at the G20 Religion Forum\u00a0in Bali, Indonesia, in November, the archbishop\u00a0stressed<\/a>\u00a0that \u201csectarian violence\u201d was a significant problem in Iraq. This country suffered the rise of an Islamic State stronghold during the last decade in which thousands of Iraqi religious minorities were killed, enslaved or forced to flee their homelands.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout an end to this sectarian violence, there is no future for religious pluralism in Iraq, or anywhere else in the Mideast for that matter,\u201d he said. \u201cThe brutal logic of this is that there does eventually reach an end point where there are no minorities left to kill, and no minorities left to persecute.\u201d<\/p>\n Warda added, \u201cAs I share with you this experience, I pray that you will find in our story a clear warning to you all.\u201d He noted that after around 1,900 years of existing in the region, \u201cwe Christians of Iraq now find ourselves on the very edge of extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Christians in Iraq once numbered around 1.5 million, that number has fallen to below 200,000 today as the Christian population has deteriorated since the United States military intervention began in 2003.<\/p>\n U.S. forces and their allies killed<\/a> at least 686 Islamic State suspects in Iraq and Syria in 2022 \u201cto degrade the terror group\u2019s ability to direct and inspire destabilizing attacks in the region and globally,\u201d according to the U.S. Central Command.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n