Human dignity trampled in Iraq

#935 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 3 Aug 2014.

Senior Sydney church leaders have issued strong calls for action by the Australian government and the international community to address human rights abuse of Christians in Iraq.

Persecution by members of the militant Islamist group ISIS against Christians has escalated in recent days, especially in Mosul in northern Iraq, near the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh.

The President of the NSW Council of Churches, the Reverend Dr Ross Clifford, called for an end to religiously-based violence and oppression in Iraq, and asked Christians in Australia to support their Iraqi brothers and sisters in prayers for peace and justice.

“This is a trampling of the basic human right of religious freedom and peaceful religious coexistence which all people of goodwill find not only frightening but a threat to universal human dignity,” Dr Clifford said.

He called on the federal government to oppose the brutality in the strongest terms.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.