DHAKA: The US says the Islamic State (IS) group has committed genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said IS was “genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology and by actions”, reports the BBC.

He, however, did not say whether his declaration would lead to a change of US policy in the Middle East.

But he did call for an independent international investigation and criminal charges for those thought to be responsible for the atrocities.

“Naming these crimes is important,” Kerry said, “but what is essential is to stop them.”

Kerry also said IS was responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq.

He said his conclusions had been based on a wealth of evidence provided by the US state department, intelligence teams and other sources.

Article II of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention says genocide means any of the following acts committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such”. They are:

    Killing members of the group.
    Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
    Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
    Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
    Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

BDST: 0326 HRS, MAR 18, 2016
SR