IS committed genocide against Yazidis in Iraq

Karim Khan, head of a UN team investigating Islamic State (IS) crimes in Iraq, said Monday that there is "clear and convincing evidence" that the terrorist group committed genocide against the Yazidi people, reported Xinhua.

"I'm able to announce that, based upon independent and impartial investigations, complying with international standards and UN best practice, there is clear and convincing evidence that the crimes against the Yazidi people clearly constituted genocide," Khan told the Security Council in a briefing.

"More particularly, we have identified specific perpetrators that clearly have responsibility for the crime of genocide against the Yazidi community," he said.

The intent of the IS to destroy the Yazidi -- physically and biologically -- was manifest in the ultimatum that was repeated in so many different villages in Iraq: to convert or to die, said Khan, who heads the the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/Islamic State (UNITAD).