ODVV Statement on Religious and Sectarian Violence

 The violence in Iraq goes unabated almost on a daily basis, with suicide bombings in the Capital and the Kurdish city of Irbil. There is no question that the nature of these violent terror attacks are nothing but sectarian, Sunni against Sunni, Sunni against Shia, Sunni against Christian. But these so-called Sunni terrorists are not real Muslim devotees. Because all the acts that they commit, despite their justifications, are nothing to do with Islamic teachings.
The Syrian internal unrest has been raging on for over two years now which has left over 100,000 people dead. The international community is in a big split, with some major powers staunchly supporting and through some regional nations openly training and arming fighters, and some major powers and regional key countries stressing and calling for an end to hostilities and the start of a serious and vigorous diplomatic and political dialogue and solution to the crisis.
It is no secret that the so-called Free Syria Army is made up of a tiny minority of defectees from the Syrian Army. The main rebel force which is much better organized and equipped is made up of over a dozen extremist volunteer groups the majority members of which are from European, North African, Middle Eastern and even South-Central Asian countries. The main objective of these extremist groups is the overthrow of the Syrian government and institutions and their replacement with Taliban model sharia governance. We have all seen what these groups do to the residents of the towns and cities they have occupied – public executions, floggings, enforcement of strict sharia laws. On camera cannibalism of corpses! And yet the major European and American players have been campaigning hard for an approval for a military attack against the Assad regime, which is doing nothing but defending the integrity of the country and all ethnic and religious groups. Also lately we saw false and still unfounded accusation s of the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime! Thankfully with the diplomatic expertise and wisdom of Russia the plans for an outside military attack against Syria failed to be carried out. We witnessed the horrors of the terror attack on the shopping mall in Nairobi were tens of innocent people were killed and many still missing. Terrorists launched a brutal attack against university students in Nigeria killing students as they slept in their dormitories.
In 2001 the United States launched global war on terror, which resulted in the occupation of Afghanistan in the same year, and Iraq two years later. The ensuing results as we saw unfold and continue unfolding are completely contrary to the objectives the United States had in mind. And not only has terrorism not been eradicated from the world, but very clearly international terrorism has reached levels never seen before in the history of Mankind.
The international community and moreover the United Nations Security Council, General Assembly and Human Rights Council are abysmally failing to realise the gravity of the situation - so grave that it could lead to world war three - and worse still no serious efforts are made in taking resolute action to stop or at the very least reduce the ongoing bloodshed around the world.
We also believe that countries that are affected by these relentless terror attacks are also failing to adopt necessary measures and courses of action in providing their citizens with their most basic and fundamental of rights: right to life and right to security.
While extending its deepest sympathies to the victims and the families of all terror attacks, the ODVV condemns in the strongest terms these attacks and calls for the whole of the international community, key players, and international, regional and national organizations to come together and find a realistic and applicable solution to sectarian violence and terror attacks.
As a human and humanitarian rights NGO active at national, regional and international levels the ODVV declares its readiness to fully participate and cooperate towards finding lasting solutions for these senseless inhuman crimes and criminal activities.