https://sway.office.com/KOA447qHJcS2GCxT?ref=Link
https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/
The newsletter, which aims to illustrate United Nations Office on Genocide
Prevention and Responsibility to Protect’s key policy and programmatic initiatives
focused on atrocity prevention.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has often expressed concern
on what he rightly calls the negative impact of “the tsunami of hate” – on
progress made in advancing peace, security, and inclusivity globally. Hate speech
draws on divisions and sometimes pits people who have previously co-existed
peacefully against each other. Hate speech makes those targeted more
vulnerable to violence, exposes them to exclusion and discrimination,
exacerbates underlying social and economic inequalities, and undermines social
cohesion. Throughout history, hate speech has been known to stigmatize,
marginalize, and ultimately incite hate crimes and large-scale violence. Hate
speech affects every segment of the society and is amplified at an
unprecedented rate by digital technology and social media. Hate speech is a toxic
contamination, but one which can and must be addressed, and countered.
On 18 June 2019, Secretary-General António Guterres launched the United
Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, and nominated my Office,
the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, to be the
United Nations Focal Point to implement this Strategy. Indeed, my Office has
been working on hate speech since the mandate was established and our
Framework of analysis for Atrocity Crimes identifies hate speech as both a
trigger and an indicator for the risk of genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity.
As the United Nations Focal Point on Hate Speech, leading an office with a global
mandate outlined in the 2004 letter addressed by the Secretary General to the
President of the Security Council (S/2004/567) referencing the source of the
mandate as Security Council resolution 1366 (2001), I know that hateful
narratives constitute a challenge globally. It is hence my priority to integrate
addressing and countering hate speech into the work of the United Nations
system, including at the country level, to advance all relevant UN agendas. This
is done in full respect of the essential right of freedom of expression as provided
under international human rights law.
On 18 June 2022, we commemorated the first-ever International Day for
Countering Hate Speech and a High-Level informal meeting of the General
Assembly convened by the President of the 76th General Assembly H.E.
Ambassador Abdulla Shahid, on 20 June 2022. My office and the Permanent
Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco – the driving force behind General
Assembly’s Resolution A/RES/75/309 which established this international day –
also co-sponsored, on 17 June 2022, a side event in the Trusteeship Council
Chamber on the ‘Role of education to address the root causes of hate speech and
advance inclusion, non-discrimination, and peace’.
On Monday, 19 June 2023, the International Day for Countering Hate Speech
will be commemorated through a high-level event co-organized by the Permanent
Mission of Morocco and the President of the 77th General Assembly, Ambassador
Csaba Kőrösi.
With this in mind, we have chosen to focus this very first newsletter on our
actions in leading the implementation of the United Nations Strategy and
Plan of Action to Counter Hate Speech. We are also launching a 60-day
conversation on countering and addressing hate speech with a thematic topic for
every week.
Hate speech and incitement to violence is a threat to peace and security, human
rights, and sustainable development. By tackling hate speech in full respect of
international human rights law, we can achieve peaceful and inclusive societies
without discrimination of any kind.
This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the 9 December 1948 Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – the first human rights
treaty adopted by the General Assembly – followed one day later by the adoption
of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. We shall have a special newsletter
dedicated to this anniversary, too.
I hope that everyone reading this snapshot of the work we do will find it inspiring
to advance prevention globally and protect human rights without discrimination."
Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and
Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide
Q.What is the work of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide?
The mandate of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide is mainly outlined in a 2004 letter addressed by the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council (S/2004/567). This followed the Security Council’s invitation, in its Resolution 1366 (2001).
The Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide:
- Collects existing information, in particular from within the United Nations system, on massive and serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law of ethnic and racial origin that, if not prevented or halted, might lead to genocide.
- Acts as a mechanism of early warning to the Secretary-General, and through him to the Security Council, by bringing to their attention potential situations that could result in genocide.
- Makes recommendations to the Security Council, through the Secretary-General, on actions to prevent or halt genocide.
- Liaises with the United Nations system on activities for the prevention of genocide and work to enhance the United Nations capacity to analyse and manage information relating to genocide or related crimes.
The methodology employed would entail a careful verification of facts and serious political analyses and consultations, without excessive publicity. This would help the Secretary-General define the steps necessary to prevent the deterioration of existing situations into genocide. The Special Adviser would not make a determination on whether genocide within the meaning of the Convention had occurred.
Q.What is the work of the Special Adviser for Responsibility to Protect?
In 2007 the Secretary-General addressed a letter (S/2007/721) to the President of the Security Council in which he designated a Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect on a part time basis with the primary role of conceptual development and consensus- building.
Q. Are the Special Advisers on Prevention of Genocide and for Responsibility to Protect the same as the Special Rapporteurs?
No, the Special Advisers are United Nations staff members. On the other hand, the Special Rapporteurs are a mechanism of the Human Rights Council, the Special Procedures, and are appointed as independent experts.
Q.Does the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide have a mandate to qualify past or current situations as genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes?
The Special Adviser does not have judicial or quasi-judicial powers and is therefore not in a position to determine whether specific situations, either ongoing or from the past, legally qualify as the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Instead, the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide through employing a methodology that entails a careful verification of facts and serious political analyses and consultations and without excessive publicity, makes assessments as to whether there is risk of any of those crimes occurring in a particular situation, with the objective of preventing or halting those crimes in case they are suspected to be already occurring
