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Background of the event.
The sixty-fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted on 9 December 1948, provides an important opportunity for the international community to draw the attention of all States to the significance of the Convention and to invite them to redouble their efforts to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. As of January 2014, a total of 144 Member States have ratified or acceded to the Convention.
The crime of genocide is described in the Convention as an “odious scourge” that has inflicted great losses on humanity. The Convention recognizes that further international cooperation is required to facilitate the timely prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide. Furthermore, genocide is defined in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as one of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. The Rome Statute also acknowledges the role of the Court and other relevant international criminal tribunals in helping to increase accountability for the crime of genocide. The importance of the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence to the prevention of genocide should be noted, and perpetrators of this crime should be held criminally accountable at the national or international level.
Significant progress has been made by the international community in the past sixty five years, including by the United Nations system, in developing relevant mechanisms and practices to prevent and punish the crime of genocide, thereby contributing to the effective implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. An important element of the prevention of genocide is the identification of the root causes of genocide, as well as early warning signs. The Analysis Framework developed by the Office of the Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide is one of the tools available to assess the risk of genocide in any situation. Member States and regional and sub-regional organizations are encouraged to use relevant frameworks, as appropriate, for guidance in their prevention work.
Mandate
In Human Rights Council Decision 22/22, adopted on 18 March 2013, the Council requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize, from within existing resources, a high-level panel discussion dedicated to the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide during its twenty-fifth session, with the participation of Member States, relevant United Nations bodies, agencies and other relevant stakeholders. It also requested the Office of High Commissioner to prepare and submit a summary report on the panel discussion.
Objective
Based on the request of the Human Rights Council, the panel discussion will be dedicated to the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Program Chair
Opening Statements
Panelists
- Mr. Baudelaire Ndong Ella, The President, United Nations Human Rights Council
- Ms. Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
- H.E. Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Republic of Armenia
- Ms. Esther Mujawayo, Sociologist, author and the Rwanda Genocide Survivor: Shares experiences as a survivor of the Rwanda Genocide, and discusses efforts that States, civil society organisations and other stakeholders should take for the implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, thus to prevent any future occurrence of such heinous crimes.
- Mr. Adama Dieng, Special Representative of the Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide: Discusses the significant progress that has been made by the international community in the past sixty five years, including by the United Nations system, in developing relevant mechanisms and practices to prevent the crime of genocide, thereby contributing to the effective implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
- Dr. Claudia Paz y Paz, Attorney General, the Republic of Guatemala: Discusses the importance of investigation and prosecution of the crime of genocide at the national level for combating impunity and as a preventive measure, thereby contributing to the effective implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
- Mr. Jonathan Sission, Senior Advisor, Task Force for dealing with the past and prevention of atrocities, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs: Discusses efforts of States for the implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
- Mr. Youk Chhang, Director, Documentation Center of Cambodia, Cambodia and Member of the Board of Trustees of the Budapest Centre: Discusses importance of truth-telling and the role of civil society to continue to disseminate knowledge of the principles of the Convention; with reference to good practices and lessons learned from the Cambodian experience.
For the video recording of the event please follow this link: English recorded video
