Knights of Columbus CEO Issues Statement on Liberation of Towns in Iraq's Nineveh Plain

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Carl Anderson, the CEO of the Knights of Columbus and a leader in national and international efforts to aid and advocate for the victims of genocide in the Middle East, issued the following statement on the liberation of towns in the Nineveh Plain, Iraq:

"While welcoming the ongoing liberation of the Nineveh plain and Mosul, we must not forget that the genocide begun by ISIS will continue through attrition and neglect unless the United States and international community prioritize those groups that were targeted for extermination and risk disappearing altogether. This must include direct financial support from our government that actually reaches endangered groups like Christians and Yazidis. Those Iraqi citizens who belong to these groups also need to be given equal rights based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We must also insist that the two-tiered system of rights - resulting in the second class citizenship of Christians and other non-majority religious groups - end if we really want to ensure that such genocide never again occurs in this region. Celebrations over the ongoing liberation of the historically Christian towns of the Nineveh should not obscure the fact those minority groups who lived there for generations are now displaced and in danger of disappearing."

While raising more than $11 million in support of Christian refugees, especially those from Iraq and Syria, the Knights of Columbus also produced (in concert with In Defense of Christians) a nearly 300-page report documenting the genocide occurring against Christians at the hands of ISIS and related groups. That document was presented to the U.S. State Department in March and has been widely credited for being instrumental in securing the U.S. government's genocide designation, delivered by Secretary of State John Kerry on March 17. The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal group.

Donations can be made to the Knights' efforts at ChristiansatRisk.org.

SOURCE Knights of Columbus