The US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that ISIS treatment of Christians and other minorities is a genocide.
In a televised address, John Kerry said that the terrorist group was committing acts of genocide against believers as well as Shia Muslims and Yazidis, an ethno-religious group.
Mr Kerry said: "Daesh is genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology and by actions, in what it says, what it believes and what it does.
"Daesh is also responsible for crimes against humanity against these same groups."
John Kerry's declaration does not force the United States to act militarily against ISIS, nor does it impose legal guilt, but it will add pressure on President Barack Obama and other world nations - such as Britain - to take stronger action against the terrorist group.
It comes after the House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution condemning IS atrocities as genocide earlier this week. Every member voted in favour of the resolution.
According to the 1948 UN Convention, a group is committing genocide against another if there are: "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group."
ISIS has repeatedly murdered, kidnapped, raped, sold into slavery and driven minorities from their homes, and has destroyed churches and other Christian artefacts.
Today's announcement marks only the second time a US administration has declared that a genocide was being committed during an ongoing conflict.
The first was in 2004, when then-secretary of state Colin Powell determined that atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region constituted genocide.
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source : Agencies
Thursday
17 March 2016
3:06:28 PM
741693
The US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that ISIS treatment of Christians and other minorities is a genocide.