At an event on genocide prevention at UN Headquarters yesterday, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Genocide Prevention Adama Dieng, and Ambassador Eugene-Richard Gasana, Permanent Representative to the UN of Rwanda joined an audience of over 100 diplomats and human rights experts in welcoming a new publication by the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI). The archived webcast of the event is available here.
The publication, a Manual on Human Rights and the Prevention of Genocide is available here.
At the event, Deputy Secretary-General Eliasson expressed concern about the many recent episodes of horrific violence and suffering occurring around the world characterized by violence targeting people, based on their identity, ethnicity, religion or race. He called the JBI Manual an impressive and important tool for helping governments make better use of the work of UN human rights mechanisms to improve their protection of human rights in cases where warning signs of a risk of mass atrocities are evident, and thereby preventing the worst from happening. He also highlighted the Secretary-General’s “Human Rights Up Front” initiative, which he has spearheaded at the UN as one that, like the JBI Manual, is also aimed at making the United Nations more effective in providing early warning about the risk of mass atrocities.
Special Adviser Dieng lauded the Blaustein Institute's longstanding support for his work and that of his predecessors, noting how the Manual demonstrates that the UN’s independent human rights experts are not only engaged in routine monitoring of human rights conditions; rather, they also have a role to play in detecting serious human rights violations. Dieng stressed that the Manual“makes excellent use of already existing human rights mechanisms and puts the expertise that comes from these mechanisms at the service of all who are engaged in efforts to prevent genocide” and called on all Member States to recognize its utility.
The meeting was opened by Jerry Biederman, Chair of JBI's Administrative Council, and moderated by Felice Gaer, JBI's Director.
Since 2008 JBI has worked with the Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide to clarify the scope of the obligation to "prevent genocide" in the Genocide Convention. JBI created the Manual at the urging of the Special Adviser to advance this objective. It identifies 21 patterns of serious human rights violations that can trigger States' responsibility to prevent genocide. It also provides guidance on steps States can take to prevent such violations from spiraling out of control, all of which is derived from the work of independent UN human rights experts. The Manual was prepared by JBI Associate Director Christen Broecker with the assistance and guidance of an expert Steering Committee, including members of the JBI Administrative Council and current and former UN officials. The Steering Committee members include Thomas Buergenthal, Adama Dieng, Walter Kaelin, Roberta Cohen, Bertrand Ramcharan, Edward Luck, Laurie Blank, Naomi Kikoler, and Irwin Cotler, among others.
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