The European Parliament has approved Iraq's proposal to dedicate an international day of solidarity with the victims of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced Sunday (June 24th).
"The European Parliament in its general session on June 20th approved a proposal submitted by the Iraqi embassy in Brussels to dedicate an international day for the victims of ISIS," the ministry said in a statement.
The proposal will be voted on during the European parliament’s session that will be held in Strasbourg from July 2nd to the 6th, it said.
"The embassy will work in co-ordination with the European Parliament to choose an appropriate date that will serve as an annual commemoration day of ISIS’s victims in Iraq and the world," it added.
The dedication of an international day to ISIS’s victims is a "positive, successful initiative", said Independent High Commission for Human Rights spokesman Ali al-Bayati.
"This day will be an important annual occasion to remember the atrocities committed by that brutal group against innocent people," he told Diyaruna.
Such a step "is necessary to declare our rejection of terrorist crimes under any pretext and to step up efforts to prevent their recurrence", he said.
It will also help "introduce new generations to the humanitarian disasters caused by terrorists", al-Bayati said.
He expressed hope that the international day of solidarity will serve as an occasion to support ISIS victims and affirm the commitment to stand by their side.
The European approval of the Iraqi proposal to dedicate a day to ISIS’s victims "is a major achievement credited to Iraqi diplomacy, and a step forward", said al-Bayati.