[JURIST] A UN-mandated human rights inquiry reported Thursday that the Islamic State (IS) has been committing genocide [press release] against the Yazidi people, in addition to a carrying out a variety of other war crimes and human rights violations. The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria [official website] issued a 41-page report [text, PDF], entitled “‘They came to destroy’: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis,” which was based largely on IS in Syria, and included a factual and legal analysis detailing how the crimes of IS amounted to genocide and war crimes. In particular, the report focused on how IS had a “specific intent” to destroy the Yazidi people, citing the events of August 3, 2014, in which IS had “few military objectives” when they attacked Sinjar and Tel Afar. The article noted that IS had instead “focused their attention on capturing Yazidis.” The report closed with recommendations urging states to utilize existing law and also called for the creation of protocols to protect the Yazidi people, prosecute those who attack them, and ensure that international human rights laws are followed.

IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has been accused of war crimes on a massive scale in Iraq and Syria. In March US Secretary of State John Kerry said[JURIST] that IS “is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims.” Also, in March the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution [JURIST report] denouncing the actions of IS as “genocide” and calling for the establishment of international and domestic tribunals by UN member states. In December Amnesty International said that IS is in possession of a “large and lethal” arsenal [JURIST report] due to decades of reckless arms trading and the poorly regulated international flow of weapons into Iraq. In November IS claimed responsibility for a series of coordinated attacks in Paris [JURIST report] that killed more than 120 individuals. In September members of Iraq’s Yazidi community met with International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and urged the court to open a genocide investigation [JURIST report] into IS actions in Northern Iraq.