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Iraq: Genocide

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

UIN 31932, tabled on 6 July 2022

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the findings of the Yazidi Justice Committee's report on State Responsibility and the Yazidi Genocide, published on 6 July 2022, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of that report's findings that (a) the Islamic State Group committed acts of genocide towards the Yazidis in Iraq and Syria and (b) that this genocide is ongoing.

Answered on

11 July 2022

We note the Yazidi Justice Committee's report on State Responsibility and the Yazidi Genocide. It is the long-standing policy of the British Government that any judgment as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent national or international court, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. However, we will continue to use our position at the UN, including as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to raise situations of concern and to support the deployment of all appropriate tools available to the UN in dealing with potential mass atrocities.

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