SJ0021 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SJ0021 LRB102 16874 ECR 22282 r

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Assyrians, an ethnic minority group, are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia and have lived in the Middle East since ancient times, including in what is today Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria; and

WHEREAS, Today, Assyrians, also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs, live around the world, including over 600,000 who live in the United States and over 80,000 who live in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Between 1914 and 1923, the Assyrian Genocide occurred; during this time, the Ottoman Empire murdered over 300,000 Assyrian men, women, and children by methods that included mass executions, death marches, torture, and starvation; and

WHEREAS, During the Assyrian Genocide, also known as the Seyfo Genocide, the Ottoman Turks and their Kurdish allies also systematically raped and enslaved Assyrian women and girls, forced the Assyrians from their ancestral lands, and pillaged and destroyed their communities; and

WHEREAS, The killings of over two million Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Christians, and other religious minority populations represented the culmination of a series of violent persecutions dating back to the late 1800s; and

WHEREAS, The year 2021 marks the 106th anniversary of the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides of 1915; these genocides were part of the planned eradication of those indigenous communities by the Ottoman Turkish Empire; yet, to this day, Turkey has still not recognized these genocides; and

WHEREAS, August 7, 1933 is recognized by the International Association of Genocide Scholars as the date on which as many as 6,000 Assyrians were killed at the orders of the Iraqi government in an event known as the Simele Massacre; this massacre continued the legacy of persecution exemplified by the 1915 Assyrian Genocide; and

WHEREAS, August 7th, globally observed by the Assyrian community as Assyrian Remembrance Day, is in remembrance of the Simele Massacre and of all persecution the Assyrian people have faced as a result of their distinct and ancient ethnic and religious identity; and

WHEREAS, The persecution against Assyrians continues until this day in their ancestral homeland, where they are continually targeted for persecution by state and non-state actors such as the Republic of Turkey, the Republic of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the so called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL; and

WHEREAS, ISIL has persistently destroyed culturally and historically significant locations and items, including UNESCO world heritage sites such as the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud; and

WHEREAS, The United States House of Representatives and United States Senate concurrently resolved that "the atrocities perpetrated by ISIL against Christians, Yezidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide"; and

WHEREAS, The denial of genocide is widely recognized as the final stage of genocide; this denial maintains impunity for the perpetrators of these atrocities and demonstrably paves the way for future genocides; and

WHEREAS, The resilience and endurance of the Assyrian people, despite being victims of a genocide that the Islamic State continues to perpetuate to this day, is commendable and praiseworthy; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that RESOLVED, That we recognize the Assyrian Genocide of 1915 as a genocide and as a reprehensible crime against humanity, and we honor the memory of the hundreds of thousands of Assyrians who were murdered; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois recognizes the Simele Massacre of 1933 as a genocide and reprehensible crime against humanity and honors the memory of the thousands of Assyrians who were murdered during the Simele Massacre of 1933; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois deplores the persistent, ongoing efforts by any person, in this country or abroad, to deny the historical fact of the Assyrian Genocide or any other genocide; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois respectfully calls upon the President of the United States to formally and consistently reaffirm the historical truth that the atrocities committed against the Assyrian, Armenian, and Greek populations of the Ottoman Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted genocide; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois encourages education and public understanding of the facts of the Assyrian Genocide, including the United States' role in humanitarian relief effort and the relevance of the Assyrian Genocide to modern day crimes against humanity; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we declare August 7, 2021 as "Assyrian Remembrance Day" in the State of Illinois.