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Daesh still committing genocide against Izadis: UN panel

Displaced people from the minority Izadi group, fleeing violence from Daesh militants in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border on August 10, 2014. ©Reuters

A United Nations investigative panel says the Daesh terrorist group is still committing genocide and other crimes against the Izadi minority group in Iraq.

In a Wednesday statement, a UN commission of inquiry into human rights abuses warned against ongoing crimes by Daesh against the Izadi minority and urged action to prevent further deaths and suffering of the persecuted group.

The commission's statement was released on the second anniversary of the initial Daesh attack on Sinjar area in Iraq, where the Izadi minority group is mostly based.

The commission of inquiry said crimes such as genocide are still being committed against the Izadis, and called for a refocus on the "rescue, protection of, and care for" the community.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people staged a demonstration in the German capital Berlin to voice anger at the violence committed against the Izadi community by the Daesh terrorist group.

The UN says about 5,000 Izadi men were killed and thousands more, mostly women and children, were taken into captivity by Daesh when the Takfiri militant group took control of Iraq's northwest two years ago.

In August 2014, Daesh terrorists overran the Iraqi town of Sinjar and systematically massacred, captured and enslaved thousands of Iazidis.

The UN panel's statement said that more than 3,200 women and children from the minority group being held by Daesh are "subjected to almost-unimaginable violence," including sexual enslavement of girls while young Izadi boys are forced to fight for the terror group.

Over the past few months, several mass graves containing bodies of people, including members of the Izadi minority group, have been uncovered in Iraq and Syria.

Bones, believed to belong to members of Iraq's Izadi community, are seen in a mass grave on the outskirts of the town of Sinjar, Iraq, November 30, 2015. ©Reuters 

The Izadis, who are mostly based around the Sinjar mountains in northern Iraq, are a religious sect whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions.

Daesh militants have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, such as public decapitations and crucifixions, against all communities in areas under their control in Iraq and Syria.


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