- Experts call for renewed and robust action beyond recognition and remembrance
- ISIS-affiliated groups and individuals inspired by its ideology remain active across multiple regions
- “Justice for victims, protection for vulnerable communities, and accountability for perpetrators remain unfinished tasks,” states ADF International expert, calling for decisive action.
Brussels (4 February 2026) – Today, the international community marks the tenth anniversary of the 2016 recognition of the genocide committed by ISIS against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Syria and Iraq by the European Parliament. While this recognition was a historic milestone , experts warn that ongoing ISIS-affiliated violence worldwide shows that the international community must move beyond remembrance toward renewed and robust action.
Beginning in 2014, ISIS carried out a coordinated campaign of mass executions, sexual enslavement, forced displacement, and the systematic destruction of religious and cultural heritage, with the explicit aim of eradicating long-established religious communities. These crimes were later recognized by multiple parliaments and international bodies as genocide under international law, triggering clear obligations to prevent further atrocities and ensure accountability.
"ISIS ideology has not disappeared, and religious minorities continue to pay the price when the international community fails to act decisively."
“Ten years ago, governments acknowledged what international law requires us to name: that ISIS committed genocide against Christians, Yazidis, Shia Muslims, and other religious minorities in Syria and Iraq. Recognition matters because it affirms the dignity of victims and establishes legal obligations. But recognition alone is not enough. ISIS ideology has not disappeared, and religious minorities continue to pay the price when the international community fails to act decisively,” said Kelsey Zorzi, Director of Advocacy for Global Religious Freedom at ADF International.
ISIS-threat is global, persistent, and explicitly religious
ADF International played a key role in providing legal advice prior to and during the negotiations of the European Parliament’s 2016 genocide resolution and subsequently supported similar recognitions by the UK Parliament, the US Congress, and within the United Nations system. These recognitions affirmed that the ISIS atrocities were not isolated acts of violence, but crimes of the gravest legal character.
Despite the military defeat of ISIS territorial control, ISIS-affiliated groups and individuals inspired by its ideology remain active across multiple regions. In recent years, Christians and other religious minorities have been targeted in coordinated attacks in Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and beyond. These attacks demonstrate that the threat is global, persistent, and explicitly religious in nature.
“The continued targeting of Christians, Yazidis, Jews, and other religious minorities shows that the lessons of the ISIS genocide have not yet been fully learned,” said Adina Portaru, Senior Counsel for ADF International in Europe. “When early warning signs are ignored and accountability is delayed, extremist violence resurges. International law requires vigilance, prevention, and protection — not only condemnation after the fact.”
“Commemorating the genocide must not become a substitute for action”
As the international community reflects on the tenth anniversary of the genocide recognition, ADF International experts urge governments and institutions to strengthen the rule of law and fully implement existing commitments to protect freedom of religion or belief. In the European context, this includes the urgent reappointment of the EU Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU — a position created directly in response to the 2016 genocide resolution and left vacant for over a year during the current Commission and for over four years under von der Leyen’s two mandates as President of the European Commission.
ADF International also calls for the full implementation and evaluation of the EU Guidelines on Freedom of Religion or Belief, as well as stronger engagement by states and international bodies to monitor and respond to ISIS-affiliated violence worldwide.
“Commemorating the genocide must not become a substitute for action,” Portaru added. “The anniversary is a reminder that protecting religious freedom is not optional — it is a legal and moral obligation. Justice for victims, protection for vulnerable communities, and accountability for perpetrators remain unfinished tasks. Recognition was the first step. The responsibility to act continues. The international community must ensure that ‘never again’ is more than a slogan.”
