Patriarch blasts Iraqi government, international community for failure to help persecuted Christians : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

Catholic World News - September 04, 2014

The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has renewed his criticism of the Iraqi government and the international community for their failure to address the persecution of Iraq’s Christians.

“The curtains have been drawn on the painful events, and 120,000 Christians are uprooted from their historical homeland because the political Islam does not want them there, and the world is silent, standing still, either because it approves or because it is incapable of acting,” said Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako.

“The suffering of the displaced Christians and other minorities is mounting: their needs are escalating and their fears of an unknown future of their shocked children, seized towns, and looted houses keep them sleepless,” he added.

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Patriarch blasts Iraqi government, international community for failure to help persecuted Christians : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Former Israeli leader proposes united religious effort against terrorism : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

Catholic World News - September 04, 2014

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres proposed a worldwide organization uniting religious leaders against terrorist violence, during a September 4 meeting with Pope Francis.

The Pope also met on the same day with Jordan’s Prince El Hassan Bin Talal, to discuss the work of the Arab leader’s Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies. Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, later told reporters that the Jordanian leader’s work is entirely directed toward interreligious dialogue and commitment to peace, in the current context of violence.”

Shimon Peres said that his plan for a “United Religions” initiative reflected the need for a new organization to promote world peace. “The UN has had its time,” he told reporters after his meeting with the Pope. He suggested a new group that would “establish in the name of all the faiths that slitting people's throats or conducting mass slaughters, like the ones we have seen in recent weeks, has nothing to do with religion.”

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Former Israeli leader proposes united religious effort against terrorism : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

August 11 Report on the Situation in North Iraq; Threat of Cholera Outbreak

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AINA) -- The Hammurabi Human Rights Organization* has issued its latest report, dated August 11, 2014, on the situation in North Iraq.

Mosul

ISIS ordered all families to obtain approval before burying their dead. Approval must be obtained from ISIS "princes" and burials must be in accordance with procedures specified by the "princes."

The city saw the remarkable appearance of completely veiled women accompanied by a male family member, and there has not been a sighting of any woman out alone even in markets or for other tasks.

The Nineveh Plain

The number of people who have left the areas of Baghdede and and the Nineveh Plain is nearly 200,000; they have fled to Arbel, Dohuk and Sulaymaniyah. Some have traveled to the Iraqi-Turkish border crossing of Port Ibrahim, hoping to leave their country.

There is no information on the fate of the families and individuals who remained in Baghdede, Tel Kepe, and Karemles. Verified reports indicate that ISIS gathered these families in the Tawheed mosque in Baghdede and ordered them to convert, pay jizya or be killed.

ISIS is providing gasoline for a number of families to facilitate their flight. This has occurred in several towns and villages.

According verified reports, there are Yazidis still in flight, walking in forests and barren lands, hoping to meet officials from the offices of the United Nations.

Reliable sources report that the number of women who have been kidnapped by ISIS is increasing on a daily basis, and there are armed women with ISIS whose duty is to inspect the faces of the girls and women and select and isolate the beautiful ones to sell them or forcibly marry them to the ISIS fighters.

General Condition of Refugees

The situation of the refugees is past critical and is now a humanitarian crisis. Aid must be delivered immediately to prevent thousands of deaths. According to an Iraqi General, 70% of the Yazidis on Mount Sinjar are dead.

Water is the most critical component, as there is not enough for the needs of the tens of thousands of refugees, who have already begun using unpurified, stagnant and dirty water. The threat of a cholera outbreak now looms large on the refugees.

While the bulk of the refugees in Dohuk and Ankawa (Arbel) are Assyrian Christians, there are a great number of Yazidis, Turkmen and Shabaks as well.

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August 11 Report on the Situation in North Iraq; Threat of Cholera Outbreak

* The Hammurabi Human Rights Organization (HHRO), an NGO based in Baghdad, Iraq, monitors the human rights situation in Iraq, particularly of minorities such as Assyrians, Turkmen, Yazidis and Shabak. Founded in 2005, HHRO works for human rights observation and documentation, in addition to implementation of humanitarian relief in Iraq.

HHRO works with various Iraqi and international institutions on variety of issues.

HHRO publishes annual reports on Human Rights situations focusing on Minorities. In 2013, HHRO was recognized and awarded as the best NGO by the United States State Department for its major achievements in the most difficult situations for the year 2012 in Baghdad.