Kaka'i Leadership Sign 'Interfaith Statement on Victims of Da'esh'

Under-Secretary-General Adama Dieng and Special Adviser Karim A. A. Khan QC today applauded the endorsement of the “Interfaith Statement on the Victims of ISIL” by the leadership of the Kaka’i community in Iraq.  

Upon signature of the Interfaith Statement by Mr. Sardar Arjmand Fattah Agha, of the Kaka’i Community, Under-Secretary-General Dieng and Special Adviser Khan emphasized the landmark status of the Statement in collectively condemning and repudiating the violence of Da’esh. Senior religious leaders in Iraq emphasized that the ideology of hatred espoused by Da’esh and crimes committed are contrary to the core principles of their individual faiths and basic tenets of humanity. Under-Secretary-General Dieng and Special Adviser Khan further noted that the Statement, for the first time, provided a common commitment by religious communities across Iraq to ensure that all victims of ISIL, including those impacted by sexual and gender-based violence as well as children affected by their crimes, are fully supported and do not suffer from any stigmatization.

Mr. Sardar Arjmand Fattah Agha, of the Kaka’i community joins other religious leaders who have endorsed the Statement, including His Beatitude Louis Raphaël I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans and Head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, His Eminence Sheikh Abdul Mahdi Al-Karbala’i, Representative of the Shia religious authority in Karbala, His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Hassan al-Taha, Chairman of the Iraq Jurisprudence Council, and His Holiness Baba Sheikh Khurto Hajji Ismail, Yazidi Supreme Spiritual Leader.

The Interfaith Statement was agreed following extensive engagement with religious authorities by Special Adviser Khan as well as the visit of Under Secretary-General Dieng between 1–6 March.

Under-Secretary-General Dieng and Special Adviser Khan emphasized that the Interfaith Statement remains a living document, and they called upon all religious leaders in Iraq to sign and endorse this historic document. Doing so would demonstrate again the essential unity of all faiths in denouncing Da’esh acts that constitute international crimes and underscore the need for justice and support for the victims and survivors of these crimes.  

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