Don’t Turn a Blind Eye on Mass Murder

            The ongoing divide in Iraq between the two dominant religious groups, the Sunni and the Shia, has caused countless human rights violations, including the most recent mass murder of Sunni prisoners. Human Rights Watch, a news source that follows human rights violations, stated, “Iraqi security forces and militias affiliated with the government appear to have unlawfully executed at least 255 prisoners in six Iraqi cities and villages since June 9, 2014.” While a staggering 255 deaths is deplorable, there is much more to the story than numbers can tell.

            The heated conflict between the Sunni and Shia has caused many problems thus far. Recently, an uprising rebel group known as ISIS, led by the Sunni, has escalated this problem. Because the majority of military in Iraq is Shia and ISIS is a Sunni group, problems like these are nearly unavoidable; however, we should not turn a blind eye on mass murder. Human Rights Watch reported that at least eight of the 255 deaths were boys under the age of 18. How can a government brutally take away an adolescent child’s life in cold blood? In America, we remain utterly unexposed to controversy leading to large-scale government mass murder. Therefor, it is easy for some to view the controversy in the Middle East as benign. However, all of the people killed still shared the same joy out of their first-born child, the happiness at their daughter’s marriage, and the laughs derived from kicking the ball in the back yard. The 255 people mowed down by their government were people exactly like you and me, except born on the losing team.

            For these reasons, it is obvious how we should react. Although the controversy between Sunni and Shia has existed for hundreds of years, we should not turn our backs on mass murder of people exactly like you and me. It is our duty as humans on this large green and blue planet to uphold our inherent rights.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/11/iraq-campaign-mass-murders-sunni-prisoners