Three years ago ISIS began attacking Iraq's Christians and Yizidis in an onslaught of rape, murder and ruin that was properly designated as “genocide” on March 17, 2016 by the State Department. Now, as their hometowns in Iraq’s northern Nineveh Province become liberated in an ongoing coalition offensive, a few brave Christian and Yizidi genocide survivors are straggling back to the rubble that was once their homes and businesses. The next six months will be the moment of truth for them. This period will determine whether these ancient communities -- some of whom still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus of Nazareth and trace their faith to Thomas the Apostle – will be able to leave the squalid refugee camps and displacement shelters to return home. It will determine whether they can rebuild their shattered lives in the lands their families have lived in for millennia. The imminent defeat of ISIS’ control over Nineveh is necessary. But these genocide survivors need more help and protection if they are to survive. While the Obama State Department acknowledged the genocide, it took little diplomatic action to help its survivors. As the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil told Congress, on September 22, it has received no U.N. or State Department USAID-administered humanitarian aid for 70,000 genocide survivors, since 2014. This encompasses the largest community of Iraqi Christian refugees, as well as some Yizidis under its care. In the State Department’s recently-released human rights annual reports for Iraq – drafted under the Obama administration – there was no mention whatsoever of ISIS’ genocide in Iraq, though genocide is the world’s worst human rights atrocity, one about which, after the Jewish Holocaust, we solemnly vowed never again to be silent. There is a new danger that Christian areas will be omitted from U.N. reconstruction plans and an ISIS’ genocide investigation in Iraq to be initiated by the U.N. Security Council. Nothing can justify such oversights. Before the 2003 U.S. invasion, Iraq had 1.4 million Christians. After being killed or driven out, they now they number about 250,000. Incredibly, despite everything that's happened, Iraq’s Christian community remains the Middle East’s fourth largest indigenous Christian community. We should be doing more to preserve it. We should be helping all these beleaguered minorities. Christian sources tell me that two Christian families have returned to Mosul, an overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim city of 2 million, whose western part remains a war zone. Several hundred more Christian families have gone home to a handful of majority-Christian villages close to Kurdistan, including Teleskof, where U.S. Navy SEAL Charlie Keating IV lost his life last May, fighting to liberate it. Nineveh’s largest Christian city, Qaraqosh, which is not within the protection zone of Kurdish Peshmerga forces, sits as a ghost town, the walls of its homes and churches still reek of the oil and fires from when the jihadis laid waste to it. Bartella and other nearby once-Christian towns are now controlled by Iranian-backed militias who man check-points there and populated mainly by Shiites flush with money, likely provided by Iran. Singar, the Yizidi center in western Nineveh, was liberated over a year ago, but only a few families have resettled there. It lies in ruins and over a dozen mass graves, filled with its former residents, remain untouched. This month, skirmishes broke out between Yizidi and Kurdish militias formed to protect it. President Trump, at the National Prayer Breakfast this month, and Vice President Pence, in a recent tweet, have acknowledged the genocide suffered by these minority faith communities. They now should act. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley should be instructed to ensure that the U.N. fairly assists each of these vulnerable minorities in its aid and reconstruction programs and in genocide investigations. Amb. Haley has already been a bold voice for the reform of glaring human rights imbalances at the U.N. She must address this one as well. At a March 22 State Department summit being convened with 68 state members of the anti-ISIS coalition, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson should lead to ensure continuing protection, help and investment for these genocide-targeted minorities. After all these centuries, without more Western help, these minority communities will not be able to survive a rapidly radicalizing Middle East. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 Fox News

GENOCIDE EDUCATION IS GENOCIDE PREVENTION. March 17, 2017. Wat Koh High School Classroom Forum in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Presentation of Khmer Rouge history. It was mostly women and children who survived the Khmer Rouge years. Communities throughout the country have relied on women to build constructive possibilities for the future. On March 10, 2017, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) and with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), conducted its nineteenth classroom forum on “The Importance of Studying Khmer Rouge History (1975-1979)” at Hun Sen Prek Kampeus High School, about 20 kilometers from the capital of Phnom Penh. The purpose of the forum was to educate high school students about the history of Democratic Kampuchea (also known as the Khmer Rouge), as well as to provide a forum for thought, discussion, and critical debate in order to consider how the country’s present-day problems and future reflect upon its past. The forum incorporated three activities, including a presentation on Khmer Rouge history and the importance of studying this history by Mr. Pheng Pong-Rasy; a presentation on interview techniques by Mr. Long Dany; and a presentation and tour of the exhibition entitled “The Forced Transfer: the Second Evacuation of People during the Khmer Rouge Regime” by Ms. Sirik Savina. The classroom forum was conducted from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. with about forty-five Grade-12 students (37 female). The report can be read at the link below: http://d.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/pdf/Prek_Kampeus_High_School_March_10_2017.pdf ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 The Documentation Center of Cambodia

The United States provides 28 percent of the United Nations budget for peacekeeping missions [Siegfried Modola/Reuters] US President Donald Trump is seeking to reduce his country's contribution to United Nations programmes, as part of cuts to funding of US diplomacy and foreign aid in his administration's budget proposal. The spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres reacted fiercely to the plans on Thursday, saying "abrupt funding cuts can force the adoption of ad hoc measures that will undermine the impact of longer-term reform efforts". In its budget the Trump administration stated its intention to "reduce or end funding for international organisations whose missions do not substantially advance US foreign policy interests". This includes slashing funding for the State Department and USAID, its foreign aid agency, and shifting money towards the military with a $54bn increase in defence spending. "The secretary-general fully subscribes to the necessity to effectively combat terrorism but believes that it requires more than military spending," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "There is also a need to address the underlying drivers of terrorism through continuing investments in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, countering violent extremism, peacekeeping, peace-building, sustainable and inclusive development, the enhancement and respect of human rights, and timely responses to humanitarian crises." The United States spends about $10bn a year on the UN. That is about 22 percent of the world body's total budget. It contributes 28 percent of the peacekeeping budget. The US government has not released a figure, but is reportedly looking at cutting up to half of its funding. Trump's budget proposal has been criticised by Democrats and even some Republicans, including Senator Lindsey Graham who called it "dead on arrival" and predicted that it will not get approved by Congress. The UN said recently that the world is facing its worst humanitarian crisis since the end of World War II, with 20 million people in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria facing starvation and famine. At a briefing at the White House, Al Jazeera's James Bays asked Trump's budget director whether the administration was worried that some of the most vulnerable people on Earth would suffer as a result of proposed cuts to foreign aid. "We're absolutely reducing funding to the UN and to the various foreign aid programmes, including those run by the UN and other agencies. That should come as a surprise to no one who watched the [presidential] campaign," Mick Mulvaney responded. "The president said specifically hundreds of times ... 'I'm going to spend less money on people overseas and more money on people back home'. And that's exactly what we're doing with this budget." 'Slash and burn' Trump's UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, has said that she does not believe in a "slash and burn" approach to US funding of the UN, but she agrees with the president that the US contribution is disproportionate. "The UN spends more money than it should, and in many ways it places a much larger financial burden on the United States than on other countries," Haley said on Thursday. The US contributes more funding to the UN budget than any other nation. However, if the US contribution would follow the normal formula for member states' shares - based on the size of a country’s economy and its per capita income - the US would be paying even more. Member states make both mandatory and voluntary contributions. Diplomats at the UN headquarters in New York expressed worry over the proposed cuts and the impact the move would have. "Diplomats are telling us that there's no single other country or even group of countries that could make up for the shortfall in everything from emergency food and medical aid, housing aid, environmental programmes, political development programmes, in the whole span of work that the United Nations does," Al Jazeera's UN correspondent, Rosiland Jordan, said. Matthew Rycroft, the British ambassador to the UN, said the US already has "a good deal" when it comes to the UN. "The US is the only country whose contribution [has been] reduced in order for it not to pay too much," Rycroft told Al Jazeera. He noted that the new secretary-general has already made reforming the UN one of his priorities. This process includes reviewing issues ranging from staffing to the scope of programmes and whether some of them should be scaled back. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 Al Jazeera Media Network

AGRA (AFP) - India has boosted security at the Taj Mahal after a pro-ISIS group reportedly warned of attacks in the country and threatened the 17th century monument to love, police said Friday (March 17). Images published in local media showed a fighter in combat fatigues and black headgear at the Taj Mahal, India's biggest tourist attraction, and the words "new target" as the backdrop. The US-based Site Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadi activity, said the pro-Islamic State in Iraq and Syria Ahwaal Ummat Media Centre had originally published the graphic on Telegram on Tuesday. "There have been no specific intelligence inputs or any official alerts, but going by media reports we have stepped up security at the Taj," senior police superintendent Preetender Singh told AFP on Friday. "Security drills are being carried out on a six-hourly basis instead of the usual daily drill." Members of the bomb disposal squad and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team have been deployed with additional personnel patrolling the Yamuna river which flows next to the Taj, he said. India's leaders say the ISIS group does not have influence in the country of over 1.2 billion people, which has a large but traditionally moderate Muslim population. There have been some reports of Indians going to fight for the group in Iraq and Syria, but the numbers are low relative to the size of the population. Last week, police said an ISIS sympathiser accused in a train explosion that injured 10 people had been killed in a stand-off as they tried to arrest him. Singh said the nature of any threat remained unclear but police did not want to leave anything to chance. "Based on the inputs so far, we have beefed up the security and are fully prepared to handle any eventuality," he said. "The Taj is in safe hands." (C) The Straits Times 2017

The city of Mosul has been in the news lately as the Iraqi central government and Kurdistan Regional Government, with the support of a United States-led international coalition, undertook operations in October to retake the city—a last major urban stronghold of the Islamic State terrorist organization or ISIS. Hundreds of thousands of civilians who live in Iraq’s second largest city survived two years of living under ISIS. Now they are caught in the middle of a raging battle. Two years of living under ISIS and then caught in the middle of a raging battle. This is what life has been like for hundreds of thousands of civilians in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city. The fighting has moved from neighborhood to neighborhood, often street by street. Iraqi forces on the ground were backed by Iraqi and coalition aircraft. The Islamic State (ISIS) used improvised landmines and suicide car bombers. By late January, the Iraqi forces controlled the eastern part of the city; in mid-February they launched operations to retake the western half. When the fighting began, about 1.2 million civilians were in Mosul. Since then, at least 175,000 have fled their homes to seek refuge in government-controlled areas. Iraqi authorities have reported that more than 5,200 civilians have been killed or wounded inside Mosul since the military operation began. The Iraqi forces have taken measures to protect civilians, but casualties have been high. In January, my colleagues and I interviewed dozens of residents in eastern Mosul who had remained in their homes as the fighting shifted to their neighborhoods. They shared horrific stories. Samah Neighborhood, November 5, 2016 Ra`ed Jassim, a forty-seven-year-old shopkeeper, said that in the morning of November 5, he could hear fighting between Islamic State fighters controlling his neighborhood and approaching Iraqi forces. He was at home with his wife and six children when two heavily armed Islamic State fighters knocked on his door, and said they wanted to use his roof to get a better view. Jassim, knowing he couldn’t refuse, told them he would let them go to the roof if he accompanied them, hoping he could discourage them from firing from the roof, which would make his family a target. But once they reached the roof, an army sniper immediately started firing in their direction, so the fighters rushed back downstairs and left. From the door, Jassim saw about twenty ISIS fighters in the street outside the house. He heard cars speeding off, then explosions—presumably suicide vehicles. A few minutes later, an explosion erupted in his neighbor’s empty house. Remnants of a Russian-produced 220mm TOS-1A thermobaric rocket, an enhanced blast weapon, that was used in an attack targetting ISIS forces in Samah neighbourhood on November 5, 2016 that wounded five civilians. © 2017 Andrea DiCenzo for Human Rights Watch “I yelled to my family to all hide in the bathroom, my wife, my five daughters, and my son,” Jassim said. “At about 1:30 p.m., our house got hit. I felt the house shake and I clutched my son to my chest. He yelled out three times and then fell silent—I thought he had died.” Jassim and his wife were able to push away the rubble and pull out their children, five of whom had been injured. ISIS fighters took them to a hospital. “I don’t have a weapon nor bullets. I have a garden, flowers and a shop. Why am I the guilty party and my house was targeted?” he asked. We later found remnants of a Russian-produced unguided TOS-1A 220mm thermobaric rocket, a type of enhanced blast weapon, used in the attack. Samah Neighborhood, November 6, 2016 Residents of Samah neighborhood stayed in their homes on November 6 when Iraqi government military vehicles moved into the neighborhood on the heels of fleeing ISIS forces. At about 12:30 p.m., three Iraqi Humvee trucks began pulling out for redeployment elsewhere. A parked car suddenly exploded, damaging the Humvees, wounding three Iraqi soldiers, and destroying three homes. A cluster of 15 graves dug by family members in Samah neighborhood after an ISIS car bomb targeting Iraqi Security Forces on November 6, 2016 killed 23 civilians. © 2017 Andrea DiCenzo for Human Rights Watch Fahad, a neighbor, who arrived at the scene soon after, said: I heard the voices of women screaming under the rubble. I shouted out at the voices, and the women and children yelled back that they were stuck under the rubble. I stuck my hand into the rubble and pulled out a child’s severed hand. Families fled the area and did not return for several weeks. On November 9, an ambulance unlawfully used as a car bomb by the ISIS exploded on a parallel street. Seven homes and five cars were damaged, but because the residents had all left, no residents were harmed. Fahad said that he returned to Samah neighborhood on November 26, and then he helped pull fifteen bodies from the rubble of the three homes: “I pulled one body from the rubble, he had lost his whole face. He was a skeleton, and worms were eating his flesh. The sight was tragic.” We saw eighteen graves in the rubble next to the destroyed homes. Altogether twenty-three civilians in the three families, including eight children, were killed. Al-Karamah Neighborhood, November 15, 2016 A family of six in al-Karamah neighborhood were hiding in their home October 6, fearful of the approaching fighting, listening to the voices of the ISIS fighters who policed their neighborhood in the street outside. Up until two days before, they had been using a house two doors down as a base, but had pulled out, moving to a house 150 meters from theirs. The father of the family said that his wife, Safana, decided not to stay in the house any longer: She went out into the yard, and starting washing our clothes. Then suddenly, an explosion hit the yard. I immediately rushed outside to find Safana lying there, on the ground, with a wound in her back. She didn’t even make it to the hospital. She died on the way. The yard of a home in al-Karamah neighbourhood, hit in an attack targeting ISIS forces in the neighbourhood on around November 25, 2016. About 30 internally displaced people were seeking shelter in the yard at the, but only three died in the attack. © 2017 Belkis Wille/Human Rights Watch Aden Neighborhood, November 17, 2016 On the afternoon of November 17, two dozen civilians from four families huddled together in a room in a three-story house in Aden neighborhood while gunfire and explosives rocked the neighborhood. Mahba Jassim, one of the men in the group said, that they listened as intense fighting neared the area: Then, at about 2:30 p.m., a few ISIS fighters, who occupied another house two doors away, banged on our door. My father opened the door and the fighters tried to force him to let them go up onto our roof. He refused, and slammed the door in their faces. Suddenly they heard an explosion close by and about two minutes later a second explosion collapsed their house’s two top floors. A home in Aden neighborhood destroyed by an attack targeting ISIS forces using an airdropped GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb on November 17, 2016 that killed eight civilians and wounded another 16. © 2017 Andrea DiCenzo for Human Rights Watch Everyone in the house was buried by rubble and the neighbors rushed to their aid and to dig them out. The attack killed eight children, and wounded another sixteen civilians. In the rubble, we found remnants of an airdropped GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, a guided munition with a relatively small explosive payload used by coalition forces. Based on an inquiry Human Rights Watch sent to the US-led coalition, a coalition spokesman confirmed on February 11 that the coalition did carry out a strike in the area of Aden neighborhood on that day and had transmitted Human Rights Watch’s findings to its civilian casualty team for further investigation. Zuhur Neighborhood, November 24 On the morning of November 24, the Iraqi forces took control of the Zuhur neighborhood, bringing a tank and other military vehicles. Ibrahim Abd al-Karim said: We started hearing gunfire, and, we found out later, ISIS fighters had been going door-to-door, telling families to flee the area for their own protection. I was standing at the window, looking out at the Iraqi army’s vehicles as they were rolling into the neighborhood when suddenly a car that was parked right outside our house just exploded. A metal fragment blinded Abd al-Karim in his left eye. Namir Nishwan, who lived next door, said that his family was hiding in the bathroom. Their phone rang and when his father ran out of the bathroom to answer it, the car exploded, throwing him back, breaking his right arm and leaving metal fragments all over his body. A home in Zuhur neighborhood destroyed by an ISIS car bomb targeting Iraqi Security Forces on November 24, 2016 that wounded at least two civilians. © 2017 Belkis Wille/Human Rights Watch Al-Karamah Neighborhood, November 25, 2016 Residents of al-Karamah neighborhood said that their neighborhood was full of civilians who had fled fighting in other parts of the city and were hiding in their homes. One home off the main street had a large yard, and the owner had welcomed about thirty displaced people who sought shelter there. In the morning of November 25 or so, about eight ISIS fighters were standing in the street outside of the home when something hit the inside western wall of the house. Three civilians were badly wounded. They were able to crawl out of the rubble and onto the street, but died before they could be taken to the hospital. The residents didn’t know whether any of the fighters were wounded. Falah Neighborhood, December 11, 2016 On the morning of December 11, ground fighting intensified in the Falah neighborhood. Sixteen family members and neighbors, including six children, sought protection in a small space behind an apartment building. They were surrounded by walls on three sides and metal bars on the fourth side and above them. They could hear ISIS fighters who had been in charge of their neighborhood for months on the streets. At about 9:30 a.m., an incoming projectile struck a vehicle in front of the apartment building, causing an explosion that set the building on fire. Smoke began to suffocate the group behind the building. One man was able to climb up the metal bars and force a space open in the top. Saad Abdullah said: The remains of an apartment building in Falah neighbourhood that lit up in flames after an attack against ISIS forces on the street outside, on December 11, 2016. 16 civilians hid in the back of the building and eight were able to escape while the other eight burned to death. © 2017 Belkis Wille/Human Rights Watch When the fire started, I was sure we would all die. I started handing up the babies to my cousin, so he could get them to safety, then the older kids. We got six out. But then the fire was getting too close, so I climbed up the bars and got out. My sister and two of my cousins died as they were climbing up the bars. Human Rights Watch could later see the flesh still stuck to the bars where Abdullah’s sister and cousin had held the rails as they burned to death. Altogether eight civilians died, including one of the children. This attack was locally reported as a coalition airstrike, and based on an inquiry Human Rights Watch sent to the US-led coalition, a coalition spokesman confirmed on February 15 that the coalition did carry out a strike in the area of Falah neighborhood on that day and had transmitted Human Rights Watch’s findings to its civilian casualty team for further investigation. Falah Neighborhood, December 13, 2016 Iraqi forces took control of an area of Falah neighborhood on the morning of December 13. “You cannot believe how happy we were, thirty-five of us all gathered together in my home to dance and celebrate,” said Saad al-Tawil. “But then we heard the gunfire start.” At about 11:15 a.m., gunfire broke out and one neighbor, Mustafa Kulaiba, ran upstairs to get a better view of the street from the upstairs window. After about five minutes al-Tawil heard a large explosion. He said glass from the window shattered, and shards hit Kulaiba’s body and his right eye, blinding him. Al-Tawil’s son was also wounded. In the house opposite, three members of a family died, including one child, and two other children were wounded. In the house next door, eight people from two families died, including three children. On the street outside the house were about fifteen Iraqi soldiers, as well as two Humvees and one larger military vehicle at the time of the attack, he and other neighbors said Altogether, eleven civilians, including four children, were killed, and at least another four people were wounded in the apparent car bomb attack. At least four houses and two cars were destroyed. Three days later, Al-Tawil returned to the area and learned from an Iraqi military commander that thirteen soldiers had also been wounded in the attack. Al-Sukar Neighborhood, December 14, 2016 Many residents of the al-Sukar neighborhood fled in early December because the area had run out of water and they feared future fighting. Hassan Ali, his wife, and their three daughters had remained in their home along with a few other neighbors. On December 14, ISIS fighters began firing mortars from a position about 100 meters away from the house. The Iraqi forces were about a kilometer away. Fifty meters from the house was al-Khansa Hospital, whose compound had been occupied by about fifty ISIS fighters, including its mosque, since 2014. Ali said: At 12:45 p.m. I had to leave home to find us more fuel. We had no fuel, almost no water, left in the area. My brother-in-law was visiting at the time so I was not worried. I had only gotten about 100 meters away, when I heard two whizzes behind me and then a blast. It was so loud! I spun around and saw that they had targeted my house. I ran home as fast as I could. Ali found parts of his wife and daughters’ bodies among the rubble. Two days later he found the body of his brother-in-law. Three other homes were destroyed in the strike. “I still haven’t found the rest of the bodies of two of my daughters,” he said. Three homes destroyed in an attack targeting an ISIS-occupied hospital in al-Sukar neighbourhood on December 14, 2016 that killed at least five civilians. © 2017 Human Rights Watch On December 23, the ISIS evacuated all staff and patients from al-Khansa Hospital but kept its fighters there. The hospital compound was hit, including its oxygen bank, storage facility, and blood bank, at least a half dozen more times in the ensuing days. Human Rights Watch visited the location of the attack and concluded, based on the pattern of blast and fragmentation damage at the location, that this was a multi-weapon airstrike using large air-dropped bombs (1,000 to 2,000 pounds). A collapsed (pancaked) multistory structure destroyed in the attack indicates that one of the weapons relied on delayed-action fuzing, which allows the bomb to penetrate the structure before detonating. One impact crater measuring more than two-meters in diameter was also located at the scene of the attack, indicating that weapon detonated upon contact. Also present in the rubble of one of the hospital buildings were unfired US-made M702 ignition cartridges for mortars, indicating that ammunition for light weapons had been stored in the location. Some of the fragmentation damage on the surrounding structures at the site was consistent with the secondary detonation of light weapons ammunition stored at the location. Al-Karamah Neighborhood, December 30, 2016 A car destroyed and home damaged by an ISIS car bomb targeting Iraqi Security Forces on January 1, 2017 that wounded at least one civilian. © 2017 Belkis Wille/Human Rights Watch Residents of al-Karamah neighborhood said that on December 30, they saw four ISIS fighters standing in the street about 100 meters from their home, and another group of fighters in a house 50 meters away on the other side of the street. Alaa Mahmoud said: Despite the situation, four of our kids from the neighborhood were playing just by the gate of our house. Suddenly something landed right by where they were playing. Musab, who was just eleven, was killed instantly. Rana, who was nine, had her head blown right off. A neighbor’s two daughters, who had been playing with Musab and Rana were wounded. Two days later, Iraqi forces retook the neighborhood. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 HThe Progressive

An attacker can commit grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, but the defender — who is in the best position to protect civilians — faces no such liability. By Prof. Eric Talbot Jensen, Professor of Law at Brigham Young University Law School. The continuing urbanization of global populations has had a significant impact on the conduct of hostilities. Armed conflicts continue to rage in many places across the world, and urban areas are not immune from the dire effects of war. In fact, as population and resource centers, armed forces and armed groups are increasingly drawn to these urban areas in order to sustain themselves and to inhibit the enemy, bringing with them the effects of hostilities on the civilian population. War in cities affects the populations in numerous ways. As an inherently destructive activity, fighting in cities inevitably destroys or damages the infrastructure upon which the population’s survival, safety and comfort depends on. This potential destruction heightens the need for fighters to apply the principles of international humanitarian law (IHL), including the principle of distinction. Separating military operations and targets from the civilian population is hard in almost any environment. The characteristic density of civilians and civilian objects in urban environments dramatically magnifies the risks to non-participants during hostilities. Indeed, those very infrastructures upon which civilian populations must rely on — the roads, sewers, transportation systems, observation points, food distribution points, clean water sources — also support opposing military forces and become military targets. These “dual use” targets that exist in larger numbers and support larger populations in urban areas highlight the perils civilians face in urban warfare. The obligations of defenders under IHL To limit the effects on civilian populations, IHL obligations restrain both attackers and defenders in armed conflict. Much has been written about the obligations of attackers with respect to protecting civilians, and international criminal law has facilitated the enforcement of IHL rules when attackers have failed to meet their legal duties. However, much less attention has been paid to the defender’s obligations. In fact, it is generally recognized that the defender’s obligations do not create individual criminal liability. These obligations for defenders, routinely referred to a “passive precautions” or “Precautions Against the Effects of Attacks,” are codified in Article 58 of Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. An attacker can commit a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions in at least five different ways, but the defender—who is in the best position to protect civilians — faces no such liability. Article 58 requires parties, “to the maximum extent feasible,” to remove civilians and civilian objects from the vicinity of military objectives, to avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas, and to take other necessary precautions to protect civilians and civilian objects from the dangers resulting from military operations. Even though limited to those actions which are feasible, the obligations placed on the defender are far from trivial. If defenders applied their obligations in good faith, it would certainly result in much needed protections to civilians in armed conflict, particularly in areas of urban conflict. Two important steps could be taken by the international community to significantly enhance the actual protections civilians enjoy in urban areas. First, the understanding of “feasibility” and what is “practicable” in current urbanized armed conflicts will have to expand, increasing the practical responsibilities on the defender, including through the use of modern and emerging technology. Second, imposing criminal responsibility when appropriate and feasible precautions are not taken will rectify the perceived imbalance between responsibilities of the attacker and the defender. It is clear that the standard for article 58, along with many other standards of international law, is that a defender must do what is feasible to comply with the obligation. A similar obligation applies to attackers with respect to many of their required “precautions,” but it is the defender who is most capable of taking feasible precautions and can effectively protect the civilians in urban areas. For example, it is the defender who is in the best position to know the placement and condition of the local civilians. The defender is more able than the attacker to know and control movements of the population when under attack from forces outside urban areas. The defender can most easily channel civilians into places of safety or away from anticipated areas of hostile activities. It is the defender who determines the proximate position of military objectives to civilians within urban areas. During the negotiations of Article 58, it is clear that States were uneasy about the precautions required of the defender and clearly emphasized the requirement of feasibility. However, the ever-increasing urbanization of conflict is creating significant pressure on the doctrine of precautions in defense, stretching the “feasibility” standard beyond its capacity to adequately protect civilians. As defenders continue to take only limited and ineffective steps to protect civilians, the true purpose behind article 58 is neglected and civilians bear the brunt of non-compliance with the law of armed conflict. In order to more adequately protect civilians during war in cities, the feasibility of defenders’ actions should reflect the changing urban circumstances. The emergence of advancing technology provides a mechanism for defenders to more easily and more fully comply with their obligations to segregate or protect the civilian population. Technologies such as advanced sensors, communications devices, and visual and olfactory markers offer relatively inexpensive and potentially very effective means to warn, segregate, and protect the civilian population in urban environments. For example, using a drone to track the movement of civilians would provide the defender with a much better situational awareness on civilian activities. Additionally, attaching a loud audio signaling device to the drone would provide the defender with the means to warn civilians who might be moving into a dangerous area such as where the defender has established a military objective or anticipates an attack. Unfortunately, many defenders are unlikely to take such steps unless incentivized to do so by some external stimulus. Attaching individual criminal liability to a defender who fails to take feasible precautions in the defense would be one way to provide that incentive. A current imbalance in individual criminal responsibility exists, where an attacker can commit a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions in at least five different ways, but the defender who is in the best position to protect civilians in urban environments faces no such liability. While implementing individual criminal responsibility for defenders would certainly be an evolution of the law from its current application, existing and emerging technology provides the defender with a multitude of options that directly expand the “feasibility” of precautions in the defense and enable him to more aggressively fulfill his obligations. Failure to utilize these emerging technologies, when accessible, should lead to criminal responsibility. If the international community is serious about trying to address the dangers to civilians inherent in war in cities, it must consider the role of the defender. Through adjusting the understanding of “feasibility” to account for the defender’s ability and emerging technological capability to protect civilians in urban areas, and then enforcing that understanding through individual criminal liability, States will take a major step forward. Noting the growing trend of the urbanization of armed conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recently launched a new conference series on “War in Cities”. The ICRC hopes to draw the attention of national authorities and key humanitarian actors to the plight of these urban populations and to reinforce the great need for the application of IHL in urban armed conflicts. This invaluable initiative will hopefully result in greater focus among the international community on the difficulty of the problem and a reexamination of methodologies to ensure the application of IHL in ways that protect urbanized civilian populations. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 Humanitarian Law and Policy

In a war-torn world where death often comes from the skies, life too, can drop from above. Victims of the civil war in South Sudan are staying alive with precious food dropped from airplanes thanks to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). Scott Pelley reports on the famine in the world’s newest country and the war against it on the next edition of 60 Minutes Sunday, March 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. A 7-year-old girl receives treatment for TB and malnutrition at International Medical Corps’ clinic in the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in Juba, South Sudan. CRYSTAL WELLS/INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS 110-lb bags of food plummet from 700 feet out of cargo planes flying over areas where the hungry gather. The food is bagged carefully so it does not burst when it hits the ground. Cans of cooking oil are more fragile and require parachutes and special containers to land intact. 60 Minutes cameras capture the airdrops and also go along for the descent in one case, with a small camera attached to a cooking oil package as it floats down on its mission.On the ground, the World Food Programme is already there to assure the starving get fed. WFP takes precautions in the landing zones by providing “rapid response teams” who organize the distribution by registering families before the food touches down. Scott Pelley interviews the mother of a child with severe acute malnutrition at International Medical Corps’ clinic in the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in Juba, South Sudan. “We have to have everybody show up so we know that the food isn’t being misdirected or misused,” says Brian Langdon. He leads a WFP team that hands out ration cards to the people who need the food the most. Langdon’s colleague, Owen Davies, tells Pelley, “It might be distributed to their friends...diverted to another community entirely. They might start charging for it. The goal is to reduce that by putting it in the hands of every individual household.” Much of the food distributed in their airdrops come from WFP’s warehouses in South Sudan’s capitol city. Last July, it was raided by militia in an outbreak of violence. WFP’s work is aided by the International Medical Corps who deploys doctors all over the country to bring the sick and malnourished back from the brink of death. In a displacement camp, Pelley meets Dr. Meroni Abraham and the children whose lives he’s trying to save. Meroni told us “Unless we intervene on time, which we are doing right now, the child can be short, stunted, and they may not be able to perform in their daily life.” 60 Minutes reports on the humanitarian community fighting famine in South Sudan. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 CBS News

Hey, I hope you are having a wonderful March, whether you're just coming back from, leaving for, or eagerly anticipating your Spring Break. Have fun and stay safe! Amazingly, it's that time of year again: applications for the 2017-2018 STAND Managing Committee are now open! We are currently seeking high school, undergraduate, and graduate students who are passionate, engaged, and committed to join our team of genocide prevention advocates. Selected applicants will join the team for the 2017-2018 academic year, helping expand our grassroots network, design campaigns, and grow STAND! While we do seek applicants with experience in outreach, organizing, fundraising, communications, and policy, all applicants are encouraged to apply. Applications are available here. As a student who has served on the Managing Committee in various positions, I can attest that it is one of the most formative experiences you can have as a young professional. Because STAND is entirely student-led, a Managing Committee role allows you to direct decision-making in an NGO. You get to brainstorm ideas for, and implement, national campaigns; attend meetings on Capitol Hill; meet other brilliant students working in this field - and much more! Working for STAND taught me more about life, work ethic, and teamwork than any other experience I've had. I also built some of the closest friendships I've ever made through my time on the Managing Committee. If that isn't enough to convince you, please contact me at swooten@standnow.org with any additional questions! Applications are due on Friday, March 31 at 11:59 PM, so get writing! We look forward to reading your application! With excitement, Savannah Wooten Student Director University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill '17 P.S. Not a student anymore? Help us get the word out by forwarding this email along and encouraging friends to apply! Apply Below: http://standnow.org/about/team-openings/?utm_source=Main+STAND+Updates+List&utm_campaign=c2797eea55-MC+Recruitment+2017-2018+1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5965cda3ae-c2797eea55-43765885 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 STAND

(c) Human Rights Watch, photo of Mr. Felix Horne Human Rights Watch’s Ethiopia and Eritrea Researcher, Mr. Felix Horne, addressed the US Congress on 9 March 2017, shedding light on government abuses and human rights violations in Ethiopia. Mr. Horne reported that Ethiopian government makes use of “arbitrary arrests and politically motivated prosecutions” to suppress opposition, censoring and jailing independent journalists and hindering the work of independent civil society organisations and human rights investigators. His speech condemned mistreatment and torture in Ethiopia’s detention centres, and the severe police repression towards anti-government protests – 500 people have been killed from November 2015 to October 2016 during the large-scale protests that swept through the regions of Oromia and Amhara. Mr. Horne also mentioned the counterinsurgency campaign promoted by the Ethiopian military against the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) in 2007-2008, denouncing extrajudicial killings, torture, rape and attacks on ONLF supporters or alleged supporters by paramilitary forces at the time, and which have not been meaningfully investigated. Below is the full transcription of the speech, as published by Human Rights Watch: Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Bass, members of the Subcommittee: thank you for holding this important hearing on the current situation in Ethiopia and for inviting me to testify. I am pleased to be a part of it. Ethiopia is a country of dual realities. Visitors and diplomats alike are impressed with the double-digit economic growth, the progress on development indicators, and the apparent political stability. But in many ways, this is a smokescreen: many Ethiopians live in fear. The current government – the only one since 1991 – runs the country with an almost complete grip on power, controlling almost all aspects of political, public, and even much private life. Pervasive telephone and online surveillance and an intricate network of informants allow the government to quickly curb any threats to its control; it silences critical voices through the use of arbitrary arrests and politically motivated prosecutions. These actions also prevent critical and divergent views as many who may be impacted by these harsh policies fear repercussions. Ethiopia remains among Africa’s leading jailors of journalists. If you are or you seek to be an independent Ethiopian journalist you must choose between self-censorship, harassment, and possible arrest, or living in exile. The government blocks websites critical of the authorities and sometimes blocks the internet completely. Independent radio and television stations are regularly jammed. In short, the state tightly controls the media landscape, making it extremely challenging for Ethiopians to access information that is independent of government perspectives. As a result, Voice of America, which broadcasts in three Ethiopian languages, has become an increasingly important source of information for many Ethiopians but the government has, at times, obstructed its broadcasts as well. Independent civil society groups face overwhelming obstructions. The 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation has made obtaining foreign funding nearly impossible for groups working on human rights, good governance, and advocacy. Leading members of the human rights movement have been forced to flee abroad and many organizations have stopped working on human rights and good governance to avoid problems. There have also been serious restrictions on opposition political parties. This led to the ruling coalition in the May 2015 election winning 100 percent of the seats in the federal and regional parliaments. This is despite evident anti-government sentiments in much of the country, as the protests would later illustrate. Arbitrary dentition of members and supporters, politically motivated criminal charges, and restrictions on financing ensures that opposition parties are constrained and largely ineffective. The state systematically ensures that many of the country’s 100 million citizens are dependent on the government for their livelihoods, food security and economic future. It controls the benefits of development including access to seeds, fertilizers, jobs, health care, and humanitarian assistance, even when funded by the US or other donors. While US-funded development assistance contributes to much-needed poverty reduction efforts, it also adds to the repressive capacity of the government by bolstering Ethiopians’ reliance on the government for their livelihoods and ultimately for their survival. There is no evidence that the ruling party rigs elections – they don’t need to. The population’s dependence on the ruling party and the limits on opposition parties leaves many citizens, particularly in rural areas, little choice but to support the ruling party come election time. As one farmer in the Amhara region told me in July 2014, “we do not like this government, but we always vote for them. We have to because we get our seeds and fertilizer from them. During times of drought, we get food aid from them. If we don’t vote for them, we can’t eat.” He went on to tell me about his neighbor who voted for the opposition in the 2010 election and shortly thereafter was denied food aid, was denied treatment at a government health clinic, and eventually was displaced from his land for an investment project run by a government cadre. The justice system provides no check on the government. Courts have shown little independence during politically charged trials. Many opposition politicians, journalists, and activists have been convicted under the repressive 2009 anti-terrorism law and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Acquittals are rare, credible evidence is often not presented, and trials are marred by numerous due process concerns. Mistreatment and torture are common in Ethiopia’s many places of detention. Just two weeks ago, Dr. Merera Gudina, the chair of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), a legally registered political opposition party, was charged with “outrages against the constitution.” A former fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Merera joins many other senior opposition leaders currently facing politically motivated criminal charges. Among those presently standing trial is OFC deputy chairman Bekele Gerba. Prosecutors included as ostensible evidence of his crimes a video of Bekele at an August 2016 conference here in Washington, DC, where he spoke of the importance of nonviolence and commitment to the electoral process. Like Merera, he has been a moderate voice of dissent in a highly polarized political landscape. This begs the question: what avenues are left in Ethiopia to express dissent, to question government policies or to voice concern over abusive practices and how can the United States help strengthen free expression and association rights in Ethiopia? I speak to you to today 16 months after large-scale and unprecedented protests started in Ethiopia’s largest region of Oromia in November 2015, spreading to the Amhara region in July 2016. Ethiopian military forces and police cracked down on these largely peaceful demonstrations, killing hundreds and detaining tens of thousands. The protests were a predictable response to the systematic and calculated suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms. On October 2, the protest movement took a devastating turn. In Bishoftu in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, security forces mishandled a large crowd at the Irreecha cultural event causing a stampede that killed scores of people as they fled security forces. In the days that followed, angry mobs of youth destroyed government buildings and private property. Ethiopia was on the brink of chaos. One week after the Irreecha tragedy the government announced a state of emergency that remains in place. It prescribed sweeping and vaguely worded restrictions on a broad range of actions undermining rights to free expression, association, and peaceful assembly. It goes far beyond what is permissible under international human rights law and signaled a continuation of the militarized response to the expression of grievances. While the state of emergency has halted both the destruction of properties and the protests themselves, underlying grievances remain. No one should deny there are serious risks that more unrest could occur. Since imposing the state of emergency, the Ethiopian government has repeatedly committed publicly to undertake “deep reform” and engage in dialogue with opposition parties to address grievances. In short, the authorities are saying the right things. But the only changes the government has made so far are largely cosmetic and fall dramatically short of the protesters’ calls for the protection of basic human rights. The continuation of the state of emergency – furthering crushing the space for free expression and divergent views of governance – is not conducive for the open dialogue that is needed to address Ethiopia’s ongoing crisis. The government announced that it arrested over 20,000 people since the state of emergency began, although there has been little corroboration of these numbers, which could be higher. These mass arrests along with politically motivated trials of key opposition leaders, reinforces the message that the government is continuing along the path of suppressing dissent by force and not engaging in genuine and meaningful dialogue with opposition groups. The Ethiopian government’s responses to all of these abuses have been consistent. The allegations are routinely denied without meaningful investigation, the government claiming they are politically motivated, while simultaneously restricting access for independent media and human rights investigators. In a report to parliament last June, the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission, a government body, concluded that the level of force used by federal security forces was proportionate to the risk they faced from protesters. This is contrary to all available evidence, including that contained in the US State Department’s recently released Human Rights Country Report for Ethiopia. No one has seen a written version of the Commission’s report that would justify such a conclusion. While we are speaking today about the lack of accountability over the brutal crackdown in Oromia and Amhara regions over the last 16 months, Ethiopians in other regions have also been victims of serious abuses, most often without any meaningful investigations by the government. For example, Human Rights Watch documented possible crimes against humanity committed by the Ethiopian army in 2003 and 2004 in the Gambella region. There was no credible investigation into the extrajudicial executions, rape, and torture. In Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State, the Ethiopian military committed war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity between mid-2007 and 2008 during their counterinsurgency campaign against the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). The Liyu police, a paramilitary force formed in 2008 that reports to the president of the Somali Regional State, have been implicated in numerous extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and attacks on civilians accused of backing the ONLF. No meaningful investigations have been undertaken into any of these alleged abuses in the Somali Regional State. International scrutiny of Ethiopia’s rights record has also been lacking despite its June election to the UN Security Council, and its membership on the UN Human Rights Council – which requires it to uphold the “highest standards of human rights” and cooperate with UN monitors. Ethiopia has refused entry to all UN special rapporteurs since 2007, except the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea. There are outstanding requests from the special rapporteurs on torture, freedom of opinion and expression, and peaceful assembly, among others. In total, 11 UN Special Rapporteurs have outstanding requests for access to Ethiopia. Despite abundant evidence of serious and growing repression by the Ethiopian government, particularly since the 2005 election, the US government has been a muted critic. Quiet diplomacy proven ineffectual and has coincided with the dramatic downward spiral in human rights and a serious constriction of political space that has led to the crisis Ethiopia is in today. It is time for a new US approach to Ethiopia in which Congress can play a leadership role in seeking a more balanced policy and requiring more deliberate oversight as it has done in other countries in crisis, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Egypt. As a starting point, members of Congress should speak out strongly and publicly against abuses by the Ethiopian government. House Resolution 128 and the resolutions introduced last year are steps in the right direction and contain many important elements. While non-binding, they are impactful because they let the Ethiopian government know there are repercussions for brutality against their own citizens – brutality that undermines US priorities in the Horn of Africa, including security, development, and economic growth. These partnerships are dependent on long-term stability in Ethiopia. Opposition to the ruling party’s repressive rule – as witnessed in the last 16 months – is a glaring indication that Ethiopia’s governance model marked by lack of respect for basic rights, is incapable of ensuring that stability. International legitimacy is very important to the Ethiopian government – it wants to be a key player on the international stage and condemnation of its human rights record contradicts that image. So consistent, sustained and vocal pressure is critical. It is crucial that the US makes it clear that if Ethiopia is going to remain a strong US partner it needs to open up legitimate political space and allow for critical voices to be heard. To begin with, members of Congress can and should call for the release of all political prisoners, including those like Bekele and Merera who should be part of any credible dialogue between the government and opposition parties. Members of Congress should also call for the release of all journalists unjustly jailed and call for the repeal or substantial amendment of repressive laws used to stifle critical voices. Any meetings with the Ethiopian ambassador to the US should include these points, as should any meetings with other Ethiopian officials, whether in DC or elsewhere. As the FY18 budget process gets underway, US support to the Ethiopian government should be conditioned on making progress in these and other areas of concern. Members of Congress should use available opportunities to tell Ethiopia to stop hiding its own human rights record from international scrutiny. As a member of both the Human Rights Council and the Security Council, Ethiopia should cooperate fully with UN special mechanisms, in particular the rapporteurs on peaceful assembly and torture. As expressed in House Resolution 128, members of Congress should reiterate the call of the UN high commissioner for human rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and others for an independent international investigation into the crackdown in Oromia and Amhara regions. Such action will send a powerful message to the Ethiopian government that its security forces cannot shoot and kill peaceful protesters with impunity. It will also send an important message to the victims and families, that their pleas for justice are being heard. I’ll close by saying that I am aware of concerns expressed by some in the administration – and even here in Congress – that a more public stance on Ethiopia’s domestic situation might undermine the bilateral partnership between Addis Ababa and Washington – including cooperation on development, security and peacekeeping. But the United States has often underestimated its own leverage and been overly cautious as a result. Some of Ethiopia’s international partners have made strong public statements in the last year and these statements have not undermined their strategic partnerships. Far from it. The US may need Ethiopia – but Ethiopia needs the US too. The US should send a strong signal of support to the many Ethiopian citizens and Ethiopian Americans who seek the protection of their rights, greater political space, and democracy but whose fight for dignity and freedom has been crushed time and again through brutal force. Thank you. (c) Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization 2017

Officially, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An died yesterday Wednesday, a statement that fell at 6:30 pm. He would have turned 67 on 16 April. His death is a page that turns, that of the Cambodia of the Paris Agreements of 1991. Helen Jarvis, in particular adviser since 1999 of the one who was named Samdech Vibol Panha earlier this week - title that can be translated as "lord of The greatest wisdom - does honor to the Lepetitjournal.com by tracing the life of this man often qualified as the right arm of Hun Sen. Sok An had been Deputy Prime Minister since 2004 and had been Minister of the Cabinet Office since 1993 (as a co-minister from 1993 to 1998). In 1980 he was the personal secretary of Hun Sen (then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs), then secretary-general of the Foreign Office, then Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister of the Interior, Of the Cambodian People's Party (PCP) and Ambassador to India (1985-1988). He was also Secretary General and one of the two representatives of the State of Cambodia on the Supreme National Council (1989-1993). Since 1993 he was the PPC deputy in the National Assembly for the province of Takeo, and a member of the Central Committee since 1992 and the Standing Committee of the Party since 1996. One of Sok An's main achievements was the preservation and preservation of Cambodia's cultural heritage, including the successful listing of Angkor (1992) and Preah Vihear (2008) as World Heritage sites. Since its creation in 1993, he has held the position of President of the APSARA National Authority, which manages the 40,000 hectare park in Angkor. He was elected Chair of the World Heritage Committee in 2012 and chaired his 37th session this year in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. I successfully chaired the World Tourism Conference on Cultural Tourism in 2013. Since 1999, Sok An has been mandated by the Prime Minister to bring the genocide of the Khmer Rouge to justice. As chairman of the working group on the Khmer Rouge trials, he led the sometimes difficult negotiations with the United Nations, which culminated in the creation of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Cambodian Courts. It obtains the national political and popular support necessary to undertake a historic and unusual step of inviting judges and foreign personnel into a national jurisdiction to deal with this most sensitive subject, known as the "dark chapter in the history of Cambodia". The initial adoption in 2001 of the law and its 2004 amendment on the establishment of Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia was the first piece of legislation to obtain the unanimous support of the National Assembly. At the same time, it had to face vigorous opposition from some NGOs and critics who opposed the creation of this "national court with international characteristics". Instead, they preferred a purely international jurisdiction and continued to complain about the ECCC. Prior to the Khmer Rouge regime, Sok An graduated from the Royal University of Phnom Penh with a degree in geography, history and sociology (1972), then graduated in Ecole Normale Supérieure (1973) and then in diplomacy at Ecole Nationale d 'Administration. Like most of his Cambodian compatriots, Sok An lived the hardships and sufferings of the Khmer Rouge regime. With his new wife Theng Ay Annie, they were forced to leave Phnom Penh and suffered famine in the labor camps. Succeeding in survival, they return to Phnom Penh with a little girl and commit themselves to help rebuild the country. They have since had four sons and, since 2015, seven grandchildren. Those who know Sok An personally know his keen interest in agriculture. He cultivated orchids, fruits and raised chickens, fighting cocks, river lobsters and cattle in his Soma farm in Takeo (named after his daughter). He was a passionate and bird lover. He often received guests on his farm or in the Phnom Penh family home where large aviaries were installed. He liked to evoke the tiny Chatomuk Tailorbird - discovered only in 2013 in Phnom Penh - or to bring a light interlude to intense discussions commenting on the beauty or prowess of his latest acquisition. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 Lepetitjournal

Marking the Anniversary of the U.S. Government’s Recognition of the ISIS Genocide in Iraq and Syria The Genocide Coalition is partnership of organizations and advocates for the religious minorities in Iraq and Syria targeted by ISIS for genocide. On March 14, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously “that the atrocities perpetrated by ISIL against religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria include war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.” On March 17, Secretary of State John Kerry found that ISIS “is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims. Daesh is genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology, and by actions — in what it says, what it believes, and what it does.” ISIS has been pushed back, but the genocide continues. Many of the indigenous religious and ethnic communities targeted by ISIS are still unable to return to their homes – and many, nearly three years later, are still not receiving U.S. aid. Before peace and reconciliation efforts can begin, the victims of genocide must be able to return safely to their homes. The Genocide Coalition calls on the Trump Administration and the international community to take swift action to secure, stabilize, and economically revitalize these communities, as part of a larger effort to stabilize Iraq; to identify and punish those who aided and abetted ISIS in its campaign of genocide and terror; and to appoint to key positions qualified persons who will pursue these and related humanitarian and national security priorities. DATE: Thursday, March 16 LOCATION: Capitol Visitor Center, HVC 201-AB TIME: 3:30 PM to 5:30PM Participating Members of Congress: Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) Participating Genocide Coalition Experts: Nadia Murad Yazidi Genocide Survivor Philippe Nassif In Defense of Christians Robert Nicholson Philos Project Nina Shea Hudson Institute Rev. Johnny Moore Author of Defying ISIS Dr. Greg Stanton Genocide Watch Naomi Kikoler U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Adlay Kejjan Yazidi American Women Organization Master of Ceremony: Prof. Robert Destro Genocide Coalition Other Speakers and Members of Congress Being Confirmed To register go tot he link below: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marking-the-anniversary-of-the-us-governments-recognition-of-the-isis-genocide-in-iraq-and-syria-tickets-32868507591 In Defense of Christians (IDC) is a non-profit, non-partisan 501 (c) (3) organization whose mission is to heighten awareness among policymakers and the general public of the existence of ancient and often persecuted minority communities in the Middle East, particularly Christians. IDC will also conduct policy advocacy for vulnerable Christians and other religious minorities. Find out more about our organization atwww.indefenseofchristians.org. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 In Defense of Christians (IDC)

A Rohingya boy walks at a refugee camp in Sitwe, in the state of Rakhine, Myanmar March 2, 2017. Picture taken March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun The European Union called on Thursday for the United Nations to send an international fact-finding mission urgently to Myanmar to investigate allegations of torture, rapes and executions by the military against the Rohingya Muslim minority. A U.N. report last month, based on interviews with survivors in Bangladesh, said the Myanmar army and police had committed mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya in a campaign that may amount to crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The EU draft resolution, submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council, strengthens language in an earlier draft circulating that stopped short of demanding an international probe into alleged atrocities. The 47-member forum, currently holding a four-week session, is to vote on resolutions from March 23-24. If adopted, the Council would "dispatch urgently an independent international fact-finding mission" to Myanmar to investigate violations "with a view to ensure full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims". Some 75,000 people have fled Rakhine state to Bangladesh since Myanmar's military began a security operation last October in response to what it says was an attack by Rohingya insurgents on border posts in which nine police officers were killed. The UN security council will be briefed behind closed doors on Friday on the situation in Rakhine State, at the Request of Britain, diplomats said in New York. The EU resolution calls on the government of Aung San Suu Kyi to "fully cooperate with the fact-finding mission, including by making available the findings of the domestic investigations". Activists say that national efforts have not been credible and have called for an international inquiry. Myanmar has denied almost all allegations of human rights abuses in northern Rakhine and says a lawful counterinsurgency campaign is under way. Yanghee Lee, U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar, told the council on Monday that the government may be using bureaucratic means to get rid of the Rohingya. She cited dismantling of homes and use of a household survey whereby those absent may be struck off the list that could be the only legal proof of their status. A panel led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said earlier on Thursday Myanmar should immediately start allowing Rohingya to return home and ultimately close rundown camps for the displaced. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) 2017 Reuters