On the too-long road to the prevention of genocide

By Francesca Merlo

On 9 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), making it the first treaty to codify genocide as a crime and a landmark human rights instrument.

76 years later, as we mark International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, states and their leaders are still being accused of genocide, described as the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race.

Unfortunately, while the UN’s convention helped to identify and criminalise such acts, it has been unable to prevent it completely. In fact, since 1948, various populations worldwide have continued to face genocide.
Most recently, fears of genocides being committed in Palestine and in Sudan’s Darfur region have risen to the forefront.
In May 2024, the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, raised an “alarm” about the situation in Sudan, telling the Council that it “bears all the marks of risk of genocide, with strong allegations that this crime has already been committed.” Nderitu said, “Civilians are far from protected. Civilian populations are targeted on the basis of identity. In Darfur and El Fasher, civilians have been attacked and killed because of the colour of their skin, because of their ethnicity, because of who they are.”

Meanwhile, as the Israeli offensive persists in Gaza, several rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called the acts being perpetrated by Israel on the Palestinian people genocide, a claim Israel denies, describing it as a “fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies." 

According to the United Nations and other rights groups, the violence occurring in both these parts of the world can be defined as ethnic cleansing and targeted violence—allegations that reflect past genocides across the world. Whether more recent, such as the Rwandan genocide, or less so, such as the Armenian genocide, the scars of violence, mistreatment, and neglect from the international community can still be felt.

Armenia, 1915-1923

“The first genocide of the 20th century was that of the Armenians.” With this statement, and in recognising the atrocities committed by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923, on April 12, 2015, Pope Francis commemorated the centenary of the Armenian Genocide in a special Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Pope Francis acknowledged the suffering and legacy of the 2 million Armenians who were killed during the eight years of violence. The genocide began in 1915 when Ottoman authorities began arresting and executing Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in an effort to eliminate the Armenian population. The genocide targeted the Armenian ethnic group, which had lived in the region for centuries, long before the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Over the next several years, Armenians were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands. They were often sent on death marches to concentration camps in the Syrian desert. Along the way, many died from starvation, disease, or exposure to harsh conditions. At the same time, Ottoman soldiers massacred men, women, and children in brutal, horrific killings.

Rwanda, 1994

More recently, just 30 years ago, in 1994, extremist Hutu militias in Rwanda murdered over 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in violence recognised as the Rwandan Genocide. The genocide was sparked by the assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana and was carried out by people, including members of the government and military, to eliminate the Tutsi minority and anyone seen as opposed to their ideology. The 100-day-long genocide involved atrocities such as mass executions, sexual violence, and the destruction of entire communities.
Despite clear evidence of what was unfolding, the international community was very slow to act. The United Nations peacekeepers that were present in Rwanda were ineffectively deployed, and Western governments failed to intervene as the killing persisted.
Pope John Paul II was Pope at the time of the Rwandan genocide and Bosnian war. He described the events in Rwanda as a “tragic genocide” and expressed profound sorrow for the suffering of the Rwandan people.

As the atrocities played out, the West remained distant. In the US, Brazil won the football World Cup, and Jeff Bezos launched Amazon. The first SMS was sent, and the PlayStation was released in Japan. At the same time, the Maastricht Treaty came into effect in Europe, and Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa. Meanwhile, Rwanda's people suffered unimaginable brutality.
The international community, including its major powers, was distracted by other issues, such as the Bosnian War, which led to the Srebrenica massacre, during which Bosnian Serb forces overran the UN-designated safe area of Srebrenica and executed approximately 8,000 Bosniak men and boys. This massacre, along with others throughout the war, is recognised by many states and institutions as a genocide.

Recognition of failure and measures taken

In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, the international community recognised the failures in responding to the crisis, leading to significant reforms in UN peacekeeping missions and the development of the "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) doctrine. The doctrine emphasises that the international community has a responsibility to prevent and intervene in situations where populations are at risk of mass atrocities.

It is important, however, to also focus on the successes of the international community in intervening and working to bring an end to conflicts. In the case of the previously mentioned Bosnian War (1992-1995), international intervention, notably by NATO forces, helped bring an end to the violence after the Srebrenica massacre. While the international community was initially slow to act, the subsequent military intervention played a crucial role in forcing parties to the negotiating table and ending the bloodshed.

Hope

It is impossible not to recognise the extent of violence and misery plaguing our world today, as well as the lack of attention that certain areas, including Sudan, receive from the Western world. However, with the resolutions in place and the continued humanitarian efforts, some lessons have been learned. The facts tell us that we still have a long way to go, but they do not remove the hope that the international community may come together to recognise the atrocities being committed worldwide - whether these can be officially and legally classified as a "genocide" or not. As Pope Francis has often repeated, “War is always a defeat. Always.”.