NEVER AGAIN

“Never again”: Preventing genocide and punishing those responsible

“Preventing genocide is a collective and individual responsibility. Everyone has a role to play: Governments, the media, civil society organizations, religious groups, and each and every one of us. Let us build a global partnership against genocide. Let us protect populations from genocide when their own Government cannot or will not.”


Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide

Background – The crime of genocide under international law

The need to prevent genocide and punish those who are responsible came to the forefront of the international community’s attention after the end of the Second World War, during which some 12 million people were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime for reasons of their ethnicity, sexuality or other characteristics.

Since then, UN Member States have agreed on international treaties intended to contribute to its prevention, including the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (known as the “Genocide Convention”), [our treaties known as the “Geneva Conventions”, adopted in 1949, and two Protocols, which identified further actions as illegal under international law.

The Genocide Convention of 1948 places an obligation upon all States to prevent or punish acts of genocide whether committed in times of war or peace. Genocide is the intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such, by:

  • killing members of the group;
  • causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
  • deliberately inflicting on the group the conditions of life calculated
    to bring about its physical destruction in whole or part;
  • imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
  • forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The Genocide Convention imposes individual criminal responsibility for:

  • genocide;
  • conspiracy to commit genocide;
  • direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
  • attempt to commit genocide;
  • complicity in genocide.

As the Genocide Convention has the status of customary international law it binds all States. The Four Geneva Conventions and the additional Protocols of 1977 thereto are aimed at protecting people who do not take part in hostilities (civilians, aid workers etc.) and those who can no longer fight (e.g. wounded soldiers and prisoners of war). Each of the Four Geneva Conventions places an obligation upon contracting parties to prevent or punish what are identified as “grave breaches” of that Convention. Under the Conventions “grave breaches” include:

  • willful killing, torture or inhumane treatment;
  • willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health
  • extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified
    by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;
  • taking of hostages;
  • unlawful deportation or transfer (what is commonly referred to
    as “ethnic cleansing”).

The obligation upon States to prevent or punish “grave breaches” requires the State to enact legislation to effect penal sanctions for persons committing or ordering the commission of grave breaches; and to search for alleged perpetrators and to try those persons before their own courts, or alternatively to hand them over to another contracting State. In addition, Additional Protocol I requires State parties to provide mutual assistance with criminal proceedings brought in respect of “grave breaches”, including cooperation in matters of extradition. As the “grave breaches” regime of the Geneva Conventions is recognized as customary international law, the obligation to prevent or punish applies to all States.


Understanding genocide

Genocide is not something that happens overnight or without warning. Students of genocide have learned that genocide is in fact a deliberate strategy and one that has been mostly carried out by governments or groups controlling the state apparatus. The very State which is responsible for protecting its citizens becomes their killer and the potential victims can only turn to others to seek protection. The effects of genocide are felt beyond the borders of the affected country as it negatively impacts the safety and security of people in neighbouring countries. The consequences for future generations are truly enormous.

In the case of Rwanda, minority ethnic Tutsis living in exile in neighbouring countries sought to return to Rwanda in the 1980s, but were prevented from doing so. Some joined the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a largely Tutsi rebel army that invaded Rwanda in 1990, seeking the right of exiles to return. Tutsis in Rwanda were arrested and harassed as accomplices of the invasion. Extremist radio and print media depicted all Tutsis as helping the invading force. A peace deal was signed in August 1993 in Arusha, Tanzania, between the RPF and the Rwandan government, designed to end the civil war. The UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) was sent in to oversee implementation of the accords. However, the accords had overlooked the growing threat of Hutu extremism in the army, the media and sections of government.

On 11 January 1994, UNAMIR Commander Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire alerted UN Headquarters that extremist militia were preparing for mass killings and had assembled weapons for that purpose. Dallaire stated his intention to seize the weapons, but was denied permission since such action was considered outside the force’s mandate. A plane carrying President Habyarimana was shot down on 6 April, triggering the start of the genocide. Soldiers in the presidential guard targeted moderate Hutu leaders, including the Prime Minister, within hours. An extremist Hutu government was put in place by the military, and from then on the Tutsi population became the focus of the killing. There was no surprise.

Today, the effects of the genocide in Rwanda are still felt in many different ways both inside the country and in neighbouring states, including in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where large areas of South Kivu province are still controlled by Hutu militia from Rwanda and their local allies. Alongside other fighters in the Congo war, they continue to commit serious human rights violations, including abductions, killings and rape. Sexual violence, particularly against women and children, is widespread.


Recognising genocide

Understanding the way genocide occurs and learning to recognize signs that could -- in the right environment -- lead to genocide are important in making sure that such horrors do not happen again. Iqbal Riza, former UN Chef de Cabinet, acknowledged that, “We did not give the information [the warning of impending genocide in Rwanda] the importance and the correct interpretation it deserved. We realized only in hindsight”.

Experts agree that genocide is a crime rooted in intolerance of a group (ethnic, racial or religious or other). Often in multi-ethnic and multi-cultural societies different groups learn to work together peacefully. They develop democratic ways to share wealth and power, to resolve disputes peacefully and prevent violence.

However, in times of political or economic uncertainty, trust between communities begins to weaken, relationships break down. People can develop fears and prejudices. When such fears and prejudices are reinforced and manipulated by governments for political purposes, one group can turn against another group, made up of people who just yesterday were their friends and neighbours.

Even then, such hostility rarely leads to genocide. Several other factors must come together before genocide becomes more likely.

The UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, working with other genocide experts, has compiled a list of warning signs that could indicate that a community is at risk for genocide or similar atrocities. It includes:


  • the country has a totalitarian or authoritarian government where only one group controls power;

  • the country is at war or there is a lawless environment in which massacres can take place without being quickly noticed or easily documented;

  • one or more national, ethnic, racial or religious group is the target of discrimination or is made a scapegoat for poverty or other serious social problems now facing the country;

  • there is a belief or an ideology that says the target group is less than human. It “dehumanizes” members of this group and justifies violence against them. Messages and propaganda supporting this belief are spread through the media or at rallies (“hate media” and “hate messages”);

  • there is a growing acceptance of violations of the target group’s human rights or there is a history of genocide and discrimination against them. This gives the violators and abusers a sense that if the perpetrators of the earlier crimes got away with it, they will get away with their abuses this time.


Preventing Genocide

On 7 April 2004, the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan outlined a five-point plan for preventing genocide:

  • 1. Prevent armed conflict;
  • 2. Protect civilians in armed conflict;
  • 3. End impunity through judicial action in national and international courts;
  • 4. Gather information and set up an early-warning system;
  • 5. Take swift and decisive action in a range of areas, including military action.


    • 1. “Prevention is better than cure”
      In the belief that it is easier to prevent conflict than to stop it once it has begun, United Nations’ Member States are pressing for more effective ways to prevent conflict using both short- and long-term strategies.

      Efforts are being made to strengthen regional organizations (such as the African Union and the European Union), sub-regional groups (like the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS) and the UN, so they are better able to mediate disputes and help to formulate workable and peaceful solutions before conflict breaks out. The Secretary-General is aiming to more frequently send fact-finding missions to areas of tension to facilitate short-term crisis-preventive action.

      Conflicts often break out in countries where governments are weak or rule in a way that is blatantly unfair to some groups. The best way to prevent this is to promote “good governance” -- to advocate for healthy and balanced economic development; respect for the human rights of all, including those of minority groups; and for political arrangements in which all groups are fairly represented. Any illicit transfers of weapons, money or natural resources undermine good governance and should be forced into the limelight.

      The international community is strengthening its peace operations to make them more effective, and more responsive to conflict situations. Targeted sanctions aimed at the individuals or groups involved in the conflict rather than the general population, are being used against the people who carry out or incite others to violence. Finally, international law and human rights law must be fully enforced to make sure that vulnerable peoples are better protected and gross violations do not go unpunished. A country’s national sovereignty can not be used to shield people who wantonly violate the rights of their fellow human beings.


    • 2. Protect civilians including through empowering UN peacekeepers
      From 2000 onwards, the UN Security Council has frequently expanded the duties given to UN peacekeepers so that they can physically protect civilians who are threatened with violence. This capacity is however limited in practice with regard to the available resources. Today, UN peacekeeping missions regularly:

      • monitor and report violations of humanitarian, human rights and criminal laws;

      • help to establish effective arrangements for investigating and prosecuting serious violations of the law;

      • disarm and demobilize fighters and help to reintegrate them into the community;

      • enforce special measures to protect women and girls from violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence;

      • report on and work to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation of women by humanitarian workers and peacekeepers;

      • establish systems to monitor the media and reporting of any “hate media”;

      • take steps to stop messages, including in the broadcast media, inciting people to genocide, crimes against humanity or other violations of international humanitarian law.


    • 3. Laws alone are not enough: ending the culture of “impunity”
      If the criminal law is to be effective, it must deter people from committing crimes. For that to happen, those who do commit such crimes must be brought to justice and be seen to pay a price for their acts.

      In 1949, following the close of the Nuremberg Trials, which tried and punished the Nazis who played key roles in the Holocaust in Europe, there was no international court with the power to try individuals suspected of acts of genocide or crimes against humanity.

      Several courts were set up by the UN to prosecute those responsible for the genocides in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Rwanda and the horrors carried out in the war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002) and in Cambodia (1975 - 1979). The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (1993), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1994), the Special Court for Sierra Leone (2000) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (2006) are now trying people suspected of committing crimes within those countries.

      At the same time, the United Nations worked to establish the long-hoped-for International Criminal Court, which came into being in 2002. By 1 January 2007, 104 governments had ratified the Rome Statute, the Court’s founding document, with more than thirty others having signed but not yet ratified.

      Among the accomplishments of these courts so far:

      • The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTFY) has convicted 48 former government leaders and military personnel from all sides of the conflict, acquitted six and is in the process of trying 61 others.

      • The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has convicted and sentenced 25 former government and military leaders and owners of media organizations involved in hate media, including Jean Kambanda, the prime minister during the genocide, and Jean Paul Akayesu, who is the first person to be convicted of rape as a crime against humanity. Five people have been acquitted of the charges against them; the trials of 43 others are under way.

      • The Special Court for Sierra Leone has charged 11 people, including Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, for crimes committed during the decade-long war. President Taylor’s trial will be conducted by the Special Court in facilities available to the International Criminal Court (ICC). All other cases are ongoing.

      • The International Criminal Court (ICC) has now issued six warrants. These include charges against leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army of Northern Uganda for crimes against humanity. Thomas Lubanga, a militia leader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who is charged with three counts of war crimes for using child soldiers in his army. The ICC has also issued summons for the arrest of two senior Sudanese officials. Ahmad Harun, the Government’s minister of state is accused of arming, financing and directing the pro-government “janjaweed’ militia forces’ attacks on civilians in Darfur. Ali Kushayb is accused of being a senior commander of the janjaweed militia forces in Darfur. They are under investigation for 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, murder, torture, persecution, forcible transfer, attacks against the civilian population of Darfur, and more.


      These early cases are beginning to send a message: if you commit serious violations, you will be punished, if not by your own government then by an international court.

    • 4. Set up early warning systems
      Since 1994, the system for providing advance warning of potentially genocidal conflicts has been improved and strengthened. Earlier, a number of independent organizations monitored and analysed problem situations, but their information was rarely used by policy makers. No one was responsible for compiling the information and ensuring that it was seen by the Security Council in time for preventative action to be taken.

      The Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide was set up by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the tenth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda in order to remedy this situation.

    • 5. Take swift action, including use of military force
      The international community depends on the UN Security Council to make decisions about when, where, and how to intervene militarily in domestic situations where genocide or massive abuses of human rights are taking place.

      In September 2005, at the United Nations World Summit, all Member States formally accepted the responsibility of each State to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

      At the Summit, world leaders also agreed that when any State fails to meet that responsibility all States (the “international community”) are responsible for helping to protect peoples threatened with such crimes and that they should first use diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful methods. Then, if peaceful methods are inadequate and if national authorities are “manifestly failing” to protect their populations, they should act collectively in a “timely and decisive manner” -- through the UN Security Council and in accordance with the Charter of the UN -- by using force.


    What you can do:
  • Help to educate other people about the signs of genocide;

  • Help to monitor and report any abuses of human rights (including rape) in your country;

  • Help to educate your community to support the victims of rape and to report men who rape and abuse others;

  • Support any peacekeepers in your country, educate your community as to why peacekeepers are there; report any abuses you see peacekeepers engaging in to the UN and to local authorities;

  • Hold your elected politicians, your police officers, judges, soldiers and community leaders accountable for carrying out their duties fully, responsibly and honestly;

  • Help to ensure that all people including the smallest minority groups -- including women -- are able to fully take part in the political, economic and social life of your country;

  • Help to make sure that the prisons in your country are fit for humans and that prisoners are given food, drinking water and that their lives are not at risk;

  • Support your local media -- help journalists report stories honestly and openly;

  • Hold the media accountable if journalists become involved in “hate speech”; let the UN know if this happens; tell journalists when they are doing a good job.