UN 'cannot stand by' during 'crime against humanity' in Mosul, says Chaldean Patriarch
July 24, 2014
In an urgent message to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako has said that the UN “cannot stand by and be a witness to the ongoing atrocities committed against Christians” in Iraq.
While thanking the UN leader for his public condemnation of the violence against Christians in areas controlled by the Islamic State, the Chaldean prelate asked for energetic international pressure to stop the persecution. He emphasized that “the militants want to wipe out the Christian community.”
“The instability in Iraq threatens the entire region,” the Patriarch reminded the UN leader. He pleaded for diplomatic action to end the violence, and to ensure that Iraq’s government respects the rights of minorities.
In a separate message, the Chaldean Patriarch joined with the Christian leaders of Mosul in statement expressing shock and pain at “what happened to the innocent Christians of Mosul because of their religious affiliation.” Citing the statement by Ban Ki-moon, the Church leaders said that the violence in Mosul was “a crime against humanity.”
“We are waiting for practical acts to reassure our people, not for statements of condemnation and denouncement,” the Church leaders said.
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