Seminar on Preventing Genocide

2-3 April 2007, UN Headquarters

Against the backdrop of the evolution of the UN agenda in the field of peace and security, notably the endorsement of the Responsibility to protect in the 2005 World Summit Outcome document, this seminar will examine how the international community can prevent genocide. The focus will be on both the structural and operational aspects of prevention. Looking at the legal, educational, economic, political and military tools and mechanisms that the international community has at its disposal, the seminar will discuss the crucial questions of “Who should act, how and when?”.

This Seminar on Preventing Genocide is part of the Peace and Security Seminar Series organized by UNITAR in 2007. It is implemented in collaboration with Dr. David Hamburg, Chair of the UN Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention and President Emeritus of the Carnegie Corporation, and generously funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.

Contact: Sarah Rosengaertner

Further information

Information note (pdf) on the Seminar's focus and organization

Programme (pdf) of the Seminar

Summary report (pdf) on the outcomes of this Seminar

PRESENTATIONS

Introductory remarks (pdf)
Dr. David Hamburg, Chair of the UN Advisory Committee on Prevention of Genocide

Preventing Genocide© (pdf)
Dr. Gregory Stanton, President, Genocide Watch

The Genocide Convention and the role of the ICC in the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (pdf)
Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor, International Criminal Court (ICC)

Preventive Strategies, Preventive Diplomacy and the Prevention of Genocide (pdf)
Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Structural Prevention (pdf)
Dr. David Hamburg, Chair of the UN Advisory Committee on Prevention of Genocide

Framing a Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Role for the Private Sector (pdf)
Ms. Canan Gunduz, Programme Officer, Peacebuilding Issues Programme, International Alert

The Conflict Early Warning And Response Mechanism for the IGAD Region (pdf)
Ambassador Abdelrahim Khalil, Director, CEWARN

The role of targeted sanctions (pdf)
Ms. Loraine Rickard-Martin, Senior Political Affairs Officer, Security Council Affairs Division, Department of Political Affairs

Conflict Resolution and Genocide Prevention (pdf)
Dr. Andrea Bartoli, Director, Center for International Conflict Resolution

The international prevention architecture: Gaps and challenges (pdf)
Mr. Juan E. Mendez, former Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide

Closing remarks (pdf)
Dr. David Hamburg, Chair of the UN Advisory Committee on Prevention of Genocide

Background Material

Eight Stages of Genocide By Gregory H. Stanton (Originally written in 1996 at the Department of State; presented at the Yale University Center for International and Area Studies in 1998) (pdf)

ICISS's -International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (pdf)

Carnegie Commission Executive Summary "Preventing Deadly Conflict" (pdf)

Global Action to Prevent War -Program Statement 2003 (pdf)

International Alert - Executive Summary "Understanding Conflict and Building Peace" (pdf)

Du Massacre au Processus Génocidaire by Jacques Sémelin (CNRS/CERI) (pdf)

Promotion and Protection of Human Rights :Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Five Point Action Plan and the activities of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (pdf)

CDA-Steps Toward Conflict Prevention Project: Case Study Resistance and Protection: Muslim Community Actions During the Rwandan Genocide (pdf)

A United Nations Emergency Peace Service To Prevent Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity by Robert C. Johansen, Rapporteur (pdf)

Journal of Genocide Research (2003), 5(2), 000–000. Toward a vocabulary of massacre and genocide by Jacques Sémelin (pdf)

Related Links:

Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide

Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict

Stockholm International Forum 2004: Preventing Genocide

UN Emergency Peace Service to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity

Genocide Watch

International Alert: Conflict-Sensitive Business Practice: Guidance for Extractive Industries

International Alert: Local Business, Local Peace: the Peacebuilding Potential of the Domestic Private Sector

International Criminal Court (ICC)

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)