ICC Note: In March 2016, Secretary of State, John Kerry declared ISIS as the perpetrator of genocide in the Middle East. Such a declaration comes with the requirement of action on behalf of the government making the declaration. Now, six months later, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is suing the state department for not disclosing any information that shows action against the Islamic State in an effort to curb the genocide.

09/01/2016 United States (Town Hall): In March, Secretary of State John Kerryofficially declared ISIS is carrying out a genocide against Christians and other religious minority groups in the Middle East and north Africa.

Governments around the world are hesitant to make this type of decision because an official declaration comes with legal requirements to act and stop the genocide taking place.

Six months later, the State Department is being sued by the American Center for Law and Justice for failing to provide information about what is being done to stop the genocide.

“In July, the ACLJ sent the State Department a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests all aimed at uncovering government records that would show any action by the State Department to respond to or stop the genocide,” the organization released in a statement this week. “The State Department has ignored those requests and today the ACLJ filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C. to force the State Department to show what it has done to confront the ISIS genocide and protect the Christian victims and other religious minorities, or confirm that it hasn’t really done anything at all.”

Disturbing reports from the Associated Press this week revealed the existence of a number of mass graves carrying up to 15,000 bodies in areas of Syria and Iraq.

“This Administration continues to refuse to acknowledge the enemy and won’t engage and eliminate ISIS – which continues its unabated genocide of Christians,” ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow  said. “We participated in a concerted effort to pressure the Obama Administration to finally recognize this slaughter and publicly recognize this eradication as ‘genocide.’  But what is the Obama Administration doing to stop the genocide? The United States should be a leader in defending and protecting Christians. The world is watching as Christians are put to death simply because of their religious beliefs. That’s why it is so important to hold the Obama Administration accountable and to find out exactly what is being done to bring an end to this horrific practice.  And that is why we have gone to court to unearth the truth.”

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