JBI Human Rights

China's 'Unconscionable' Campaign Against the Uyghurs: Stopping the Genocide Occurring on Our Watch

On May 5, 2021, Felice Gaer, Director of the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI), delivered the presentation below entitled, “China's 'Unconscionable' Campaign Against the Uyghurs: Stopping the Genocide Occurring on Our Watch.” Gaer discusses the reports of serious human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese government against the Uyghur population and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang. She describes the legal components of the crime of genocide and the justifications that have been provided by the analysts and governments that have determined that China's conduct constitutes this crime. 

 

Gaer also discusses the reactions and measures taken by the U.S. and other governments in response to these allegations, as well as China’s reaction. Gaer also reviews the measures that JBI and other non-governmental organizations have taken to express concern about the situation facing the Uyghurs and to call for action to protect them, as well as additional measures that could encourage China to change course.

 

JBI Calls for Release of Baha'i Leaders Unjustly Imprisoned in Iran

With the release of a new State Department report on religious freedom around the world, the U.S. government revealed the shocking fact that 116 members of the Baha’i faith are unjustly imprisoned in Iran solely for their beliefs. Among them, sadly, are seven prominent Baha’i leaders unfairly incarcerated since 2008.

Prior to their arrest, the two women and five men ranging in ages from 40 to 80 — Fariba Kamalabadi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Mahvash Sabet, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm — worked together to attend to the basic spiritual needs of Baha’is in Iran such as marriages, divorces and Baha’i children’s spiritual education. After five years of confinement, it is time for members of the international community to demand an end to this injustice.

In an effort to call attention to the plight of the Baha’is in Iran, members of the United States Congress introduced legislation on March 12, S.Res.75 and H.Res.109 condemn the state-sponsored persecution of Iran’s 300,000-member Baha’i minority, which contravenes Iran’s international obligations as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other international instruments. Additionally, the resolutions call on the president and secretary of State to demand the immediate release of prisoners held solely on account of their religion and to sanction Iranian officials directly responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses against the Baha’i community in Iran.

JBI and Africa Institute Condemn Murder of Ugandan LGBT Activist

The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (JBI) and the American Jewish Committe's Africa Institute condemn the murder of David Kato, a prominent Ugandan human rights defender. 

Kato faced threats and harassment in the months preceding his death, fueled in part by a local newspaper’s publication in late 2010 of the names, images, and addresses of a number of LGBT activists, including Kato, alongside statements explicitly calling for them to be hanged.  Despite this, pending completion of the police investigation, Ugandan authorities have not yet attributed the motive of the killing to discrimination. 
 
“President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda should respond to this horrible event by ordering a thorough, impartial investigation and ensuring that those who murdered David Kato are apprehended and punished,” said Felice Gaer, Director of JBI.  “Only by countering hate-filled rhetoric against and harassment of LGBT individuals, and publicly reaffirming that all Ugandans are entitled to equal enjoyment of their rights, can Museveni hope to ensure that others do not share Kato’s tragic fate.”

Iran: UN Race Committee Examines Discrimination

A rather anodyne set of recommendations on Iran were issued August 27 by the UN treaty body on racial discrimination (CERD) based in Geneva. The conclusions and recommendations  are here.

The Committee distinguishes between racial discrimination (which includes ethnicity, according to its definition) and religious discrimination -- hence Bahais don't even get mentioned. The most significant conclusions are in paragraphs 15-17, citing discrimination against certain communities (Azeris, Arabs, Baluchis, Jews) and demands for political loyalty before allowing jobs in public positions.

CERD also criticized France for its expulsion of Roma and issued conclusions on Bosnia,Morocco, Uzbekistan, and others.

JBI on Preventing Genocide and Mass Atrocities

The Jacob Blaustein Institute’s Genocide Prevention Project is working to clarify the extent of state obligations in terms of genocide prevention. At the request of the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, JBI has under taken an extensive legal review, including consultations with a team of legal specialists and human rights experts, of the many indicators of genocide in order to identify the corresponding legal norms that can be invoked to remind governments of their obligations. 

The "risk factors" consist of a compilation of human rights abuses which have been recorded in the lead up to past genocides and their corresponding legal norms. The precursors can include a history of mass atrocities in a particular country; targeted violence against members of a particular group; the state-condoned use of dehumanizing, discriminatory hate speech against members of a particular group; employment and education practices that discriminate against specific groups; denial of citizenship to members of targeted groups; among other such practices. This list is not exhaustive, and pre-genocidal situations will have significant contextual differences that will require case-by-case analysis. The international community acknowledged the importance of establishing early warning mechanisms to effectively prevent the onset of genocide, most recently in the World Summit Outcome Document of 2005. 

States must be reminded that they have obligations to prevent genocide based on internationally accepted norms with which they are expected to comply. They must be provided with the information necessary to make them aware of the precursors to genocide and of the preventive steps they must take to halt potential genocidal acts. The importance and relevance of a normative framework for the prevention of genocide will better equip the Special Advisor to respond to situations that may appear pre-genocidal.

The "risk factors" listed in the Compilation are derived from international legal norms found in the major international and regional human rights treaties and jurisprudence. The risk factors do not refer to random acts but to severe and systematic abuses of human rights. Many of the rights associated with the risk factors are non-derogable as set forth in Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Though all of the risk factors in the compilation constitute violations of human rights and humanitarian law, each one in and of itself is a “necessary but not sufficient causal factor” of genocide. However, when one and/or more risk factors appears in combination with others and in certain circumstances including deteriorating political, economic and legal conditions in a society, they may well contribute to the onset of genocide. The presence of one or more risk factors therefore does not necessarily mean that genocide will take place, but it should serve as an early warning to a state that it should take measures to mitigate the risk.

The Compilation of Norms is in its near-final stages of review. It will serve to clearly set out the legal basis for genocide prevention within already existing norms of international law, and facilitate with identifying specific situations of possible concern.