UK to step up recognition of ISIL atrocities

The UK government has pledged to step up its game in officially recognising the acts of genocide being committed by the so-called Islamic State. The announcement follows a unanimous Commons vote which condemned the persecution of Christians and Yazidis. Conservative MPs ignored orders to abstain in the vote, and the event is one of the few times the actions of ISIL has been declared as genocide. The MPs have called on the government to make an immediate referral to the UN Security Council in order to give jurisdiction to the International Criminal Court, which will allow perpetrators to be brought to justice. Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood agreed that the atrocities being committed in Iraq and Syria were acts of genocide. However, he added: "This ultimately is a matter for courts to decide. It is not for governments to be the prosecutor, the judge or indeed jury." Ellwood maintained that ISIL would be ‘held to account for its barbaric crimes against the majorities and minorities involved - Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, Kurds and other groups by being defeated and exposed as a failing organisation.’ Conservative MP Fiona Bruce, who tabled the Commons motion, said: "Genocide is a word of such gravity that it should never be used readily. It is rightly known as the crime above all crimes. "For this reason it is incumbent upon us to prevent the term from devaluation or overuse. But such caution must not stop us from naming a genocide when one is taking place. Recognising the actions of Daesh as genocide should therefore help inject further momentum into the international efforts to stop the killings.” "It would hopefully lead to more active safeguarding of those members of religious minorities on the ground whose lives and very communities currently hang in the balance. "It may also make new recruits including those from the UK think twice about joining given the ramifications of being caught."