According to a new report from the Center of Studies of New Religions, Christians were the most persecuted religious group around the world in 2016. More than 90,000 Christians were murdered because of their faith last year.
In March 2016 Secretary of State John Kerry declared ISIS was carrying out a genocide against Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East and North Africa.
Secretary @JohnKerry: Daesh is genocidal, responsible for crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing https://t.co/RzXILVgCyw
— Department of State (@StateDept) March 17, 2016
Since the official declaration, the State Department and U.N. have done little to fulfill requirements to stop it.
A 1948 treaty, signed by the US and 147 other nations, declares genocide a crime under international law and states that countries need to work together "to liberate mankind from this odious scourge."
In any case, there are still issues that the US has to work through, considering that a genocide designation could "require an adjustment to US military strategy," according to Yahoo.
Yahoo News reported last year that the US "has historically been reluctant to invoke the genocide treaty because of concerns it might create a moral, if not a legal, obligation to act in ways that previous administrations were not prepared to do."