{"id":309593,"date":"2025-12-15T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T12:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=309593"},"modified":"2025-12-10T06:41:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T06:41:18","slug":"global-atrocity-risks-rising-warns-new-united-nations-adviser-on-genocide-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/12\/global-atrocity-risks-rising-warns-new-united-nations-adviser-on-genocide-prevention\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Atrocity Risks Rising, Warns New United Nations Adviser on Genocide Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>8 Dec 2025\u00a0<\/em>– The world is witnessing an alarming erosion of respect for international law, with conflicts increasingly targeting civilians and heightening the risk of atrocity crimes<\/strong>, warns the United Nations\u2019 newly appointed Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Chaloka<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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UN Photo\/Ariana Lindquist | Chaloka Beyani (at podium), Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, addresses the dedication of the \u201cFlower of Srebrenica\u201d Memorial at UN Headquarters honouring the victims of the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
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In his first interview since assuming the post in August, Chaloka Beyani reflected on the origins of his mandate, created by the UN Security Council<\/a><\/strong> in the wake of the genocides in Rwanda and Srebrenica, and drew sobering parallels with the crises unfolding today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing massive violations of international human rights law, direct attacks on civilians, and blatant noncompliance with international humanitarian law,\u201d Mr. Beyani told UN News <\/em>recently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\u201cThe risk of atrocities, and the actual happening of atrocities, is very, very high.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He cited the worsening violence in Sudan<\/strong> as one of the most urgent examples. The Darfur conflict, first investigated by a UN commission in the 1990s, continues to spiral decades later. \u201cNothing has changed,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fall of the civilian government has only exacerbated the crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Families<\/div>\n
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\u00a9 UNICEF\/Mohammed Jamal | Families fleeing violence in Darfur arrive at a camp for displaced people.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Early warning system<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Office on the Prevention of Genocide\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0Responsibility to\u00a0Protect\u00a0functions as an early warning system within the UN. It alerts\u00a0the Secretary-General, the\u00a0Security\u00a0Council\u00a0and the wider UN system \u2013 in that order \u2013 when\u00a0the risk of atrocity crimes,\u00a0including genocide,\u00a0is detected.<\/p>\n

Drawing on\u00a0the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0legal opinions on genocide-related court cases, the\u00a0Office monitors\u00a0and analyzes\u00a014 factors\u00a0ranging from armed conflict involving ethnic or religious groups,\u00a0to hate speech,\u00a0and the collapse of\u00a0the\u00a0rule of law, among others.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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What is genocide?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Greek prefix genos (people, race or tribe) and Latin suffix cide (killing)<\/p>\n

According to international law, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:*<\/p>\n

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  1. Killing members of the group<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part<\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group<\/strong><\/li>\n
  5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    *Article II of the genocide convention.<\/em><\/p>\n

    When\u00a0these\u00a0risks\u00a0show a violent pattern,\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Beyani\u00a0issues advisories and coordinates responses with\u00a0UN officials,\u00a0maintaining\u00a0close links with\u00a0regional organizations\u00a0like the African Union and the European Union, and\u00a0other\u00a0international mechanisms.<\/p>\n

    \u201cOnce our\u00a0Office sounds the\u00a0alarm,\u00a0it\u00a0signals that the threshold is about to be crossed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

    \u201cOur role is not to determine genocide but to prevent it,\u201d\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Beyani\u00a0emphasized, stressing that his Office\u00a0defers to international courts\u00a0to\u00a0determine\u00a0whether the crime has been committed.<\/p>\n

    Breaking the silence<\/h2>\n

    The Special Adviser\u00a0also underscored the\u00a0important role\u00a0of courts\u00a0and justice\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0protection\u00a0of\u00a0vulnerable\u00a0people.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe one thing that you want to do in the context of dealing with atrocities is to make\u00a0aware\u00a0those who are participating in conflicts that they\u2019re being watched and monitored,\u201d\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Beyani\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

    An example is\u00a0the International Criminal Court<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s\u00a0conviction<\/a><\/strong> of Congolese<\/strong> warlord Thomas Lubanga\u00a0in 2012\u00a0for recruiting child soldiers. This\u00a0led other warlords\u00a0to\u00a0publicly\u00a0denounce\u00a0child recruitment.<\/p>\n

    He also\u00a0referenced\u00a0the\u00a0International Court of Justice<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0provisional measures issued under the obligation of prevention of genocide in the application of the Genocide Convention\u00a0in Gaza<\/strong>, in the case of South Africa versus Israel.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Among other cases, the\u00a0ICJ<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0will next year hear the\u00a0full\u00a0case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar<\/strong>,\u00a0also on the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201cPrevention includes accountability,\u201d the Special Adviser said.<\/p>\n

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    \"Governments<\/div>\n
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    Unsplash\/Priscilla du Preez | Governments and Internet companies are failing to meet challenges of online hate.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Emerging threats<\/h2>\n

    Among\u00a0emerging threats\u00a0which Mr.\u00a0Beyani\u2019s\u00a0Office monitors are\u00a0misinformation\u00a0and\u00a0hate speech. His Office works with technology companies like Meta and Google to address online incitement, and with religious and community leaders to counter hate narratives at the local level.<\/p>\n

    Environmental degradation and climate change are also becoming catalysts for conflict.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    He said that the UN Security Council was right to be looking at environmental degradation as a security risk, as it did during a debate on 6 November: \u201cWe are seeing resource-based tensions, from the Sahel to small island states at risk of submersion. Climate change itself is not causal, but it amplifies other risk factors.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The adviser noted that indigenous communities, often targeted in disputes over land and natural resources, are among the groups most in need of protection<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \u201cExtraction industries\u00a0and deliberate actions against them\u00a0put them at enormous risk,\u201d <\/strong>he said. \u201cTheir identity and way of life make them particularly vulnerable.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Despite the gravity of his mandate, the Special Adviser remains focused on diplomacy and prevention over public condemnation.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThis Office was designed to engage quietly, to advise the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council, and to make public statements when necessary,\u201d he explained. \u201cStates see it as threatening in some respects.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Looking ahead, the Special Adviser emphasized that prevention requires memory as\u00a0much as\u00a0action.<\/p>\n

    \u201cCommemoration of past genocides reminds us of the UN\u2019s founding promise of \u2018never again,\u2019\u00a0and the basis upon which the Genocide Convention stands\u201d he said, noting preparations for the International\u00a0Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0on December 9.<\/p>\n

    \u201cBut remembrance alone is not enough. We must strengthen our tools, build trust, and act early.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Go to Original – human-wrongs-watch.net<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    8 Dec 2025\u00a0– The world is witnessing an alarming erosion of respect for international law, with conflicts increasingly targeting civilians and heightening the risk of atrocity crimes, warns the United Nations\u2019 newly appointed Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":309594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[865,1643,3214,3542],"class_list":["post-309593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-united-nations","tag-genocide","tag-genocide-convention","tag-genocide-studies","tag-international-association-of-genocide-scholars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309593"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309596,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309593\/revisions\/309596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}