Archbishop Jeanbart of Aleppo joins Christians worldwide in asking UN to intervene in Christian genocide

 

Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo, Syria and other religious leaders including Nigerian Bishop Joseph Danlami Bagobiri joined representatives of CitizenGO outside the U.N. to deliver a petition to the office of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“We’re here at the United Nations headquarters to file more than 400,000 signatures from citizens from all over the world asking the Security Council of the United Nations to declare what’s happening right now with ISIS in Syria and Iraq a genocide,” said Ignacio Arsuaga, president of the advocacy group CitizenGO.

The petition asked the U.N. to “take a step forward to protect Christians and other religious minorities that live there,” so that “religious freedom may prevail in that region of the world” and called for member nations to act “to stop the war in Syria”

It urged the office of Ban Ki-moon to press the U.N. Security Council to:

  • declare that genocide is occurring against Christians and other religious minorities by ISIS
  • enforce mechanisms to protect genocide victims and prosecute the perpetrators
  • create safe havens for internally-displaced persons
  • rescue kidnapped and enslaved Christian and Yazidi women and girls
  • help internally-displaced persons in Iraq and Syria return to their homes

The event was part of a three day-long conference on international religious freedom, #WeAreN2016, or “we are all Nazarenes.”  The “N” stands for the Arabic letter “nun,” which ISIS jihadists mockingly spray-painted on the homes of Christians in Mosul, Iraq, referring to them as “Nazarenes” and targeting them specifically for persecution

The #WeAreN2016 international congress on religious freedom took place on 28-30 April in New York City. It was the second annual conference held to bring attention and awareness to the plight of Christians and other persecuted religious minorities, particularly in the Middle East.  The congress was held at the United Nations headquarters and sponsored by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the U.N. It featured horrific descriptions of ISIS atrocities including testimonies on the persecution of Christians from victims of ISIS, missionaries in Syria and other religious and civic leaders.

 

 

 ACN Malta