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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Islamic State group is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria. That's the conclusion today from Secretary of State John Kerry, who met a congressional deadline for a decision on that issue.
It's a declaration that has long been sought by Congress and by human rights groups. But it doesn't obligate the United States to take further action against Islamic State militants.
Kerry said that in his judgment, the group "is responsible for genocide against groups in territory under its control." He outlined a series of atrocities that he said the militants had committed against people and religious sites -- as well as threats they had made. The Islamic State group, he says, "is genocidal by self-acclimation, by ideology and by practice."
But he said he's "neither judge nor prosecutor nor jury" -- and that any potential criminal charges against the extremists would have to come from an independent international investigation.
Just yesterday, the State Department had said Kerry would miss today's deadline. It was an announcement that had been criticized by lawmakers and others who had advocated for the finding.
The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Ed Royce of California, says Kerry "is finally making the right call." He says President Barack Obama needs to "step up" with a new plan to destroy the Islamic State.
%@AP Links
169-w-36-(Mark Smith, AP White House correspondent, with Secretary of State John Kerry)--The Obama administration has formally determined the Islamic State group is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria. AP White House Correspondent Mark Smith reports. (17 Mar 2016)
<<CUT *169 (03/17/16)££ 00:36
162-a-11-(Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking to reporters)-"what it does"-Secretary of State John Kerry says both the rhetoric and the horrific behavior of the Islamic State group meets the legal definition of genocide. (17 Mar 2016)
<<CUT *162 (03/17/16)££ 00:11 "what it does"
166-a-15-(Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking to reporters)-"their ancestral land"-Secretary of State John Kerry says naming these crimes is important -- but stopping them, and caring for their victims, is even more so. (17 Mar 2016)
<<CUT *166 (03/17/16)££ 00:15 "their ancestral land"
APPHOTO DCSA103: Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to reporters at the State Department in Washington, Thursday, March 17, 2016. Kerry has determined that the Islamic State group is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria, as he acted to meet a congressional deadline. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (17 Mar 2016)
<<APPHOTO DCSA103 (03/17/16)££
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