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Le chef du PiS, Jarosław Kaczyński, fait pression sur le président polonais Andrzej Duda pour qu’il organise des élections anticipées qui permettraient au PiS de reprendre le pouvoir, perdu l’année dernière face au Premier ministre Donald Tusk.

Genocide Convention @75: A call for its application as a 'living force in world society'.
 
“Large countries can defend themselves by arms; small countries need the protection of laws.” Raphael Lemkin, the Polish lawyer who gave the crime of genocide its name, knew well what he was conveying with that note as he approached the diplomats at the United Nations ahead of the first regular session of the General Assembly in 1946.

By Alice Wairimu Nderitu
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 1 2024 (IPS)

It was a notion which haunted him well before the Second World War – from the history books his mother would read him, to the following of the 1921 trial of young Armenian Soghomon Teilerian.

Why, Lemkin asked his law school Professor, is there a name for the killing of one person, murder, but none for the killing of several people on the basis of their identity? The horrors of the Second World War, in which he lost forty-nine members of his family, further refined his understanding that genocide – a crime without a name – was a coordinated plan with different actions aiming to annihilate individuals because they belonged to a certain identity group.

On 9 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – its first human rights treaty – by unanimous vote. It affirmed that genocide is a crime under international law, whether committed in times of peace or in times of war.

Alice Wairimu Nderitu

In just a few years, Lemkin named the nameless crime (using the prefix Greek genos-, meaning race or tribe, and the Latin suffix –cide, meaning killing), further defined it in hopes that it could be used at the Nuremberg trials, came to the United Nations to advocate for and contribute to the drafting of the Convention, and encouraged delegates to finally adopt this cornerstone text.

Despite this recognition, Lemkin was not restful. “The nations which have ratified the Genocide Convention must now make this convention a living force in their societies by introducing appropriate domestic legislation which will carry in itself a great educational message of respect, love and compassion for human beings beyond their boundaries, irrespective of religion, nationality and race.”

Lemkin was on point and his call could not be more urgent today. As back then, ratifying the Convention constitutes a first step but it is far from being enough. Ratification must be followed by concrete implementation, including through domestication at national level through establishing national legal and policy tools aimed at identifying and addressing early warning signs and ensuring accountability when the crime has been committed.

We know today that the commission of genocide constitutes the end result of a process for which there are warning signs. We also know that whether or not States have ratified the Convention, they are bound by the principle that genocide is a crime under international law, and they have an obligation to prevent and punish it.

In the 75 years since the adoption of the Convention, we have seen that when protection fails, it fails those who need it most. We are seeing this today, live-tweeted and streamed from more than a few places across the world.

Yet, nothing is preordained, and no outcome is inevitable, and the call for prevention resonates today even more strongly when and where the risk of this crime is higher.

At this juncture time in history, while acknowledging the tremendous challenges which continue to hinder our collective ability to prevent and respond, we must also pause to reflect on the road that has been traveled.

Since the moment of its adoption, the Convention has played a vital role in the development of international criminal law as we know it today. It defined the crime of genocide as the intended destruction, in whole or in part, of a racial, national, ethnic or religious group.

The formal definition of the crime in the Convention has been subsequently included in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998, as well as in the statutes of other jurisdictions, such as the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, and the Extraordinary Chambers in Cambodia.

It has been ratified or acceded to by 153 States. Yet, 41 United Nations Member States have not done so.

As every 9 December, which is now a date internationally marked as the Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, we will continue honoring all those who have lost their lives to genocide, the “crime of crimes.”

On the particular occasion of this 75th anniversary, with the legacy of the Convention at hand, we are urging all nations to renew their commitment to the Genocide Convention as a ‘living force’ in our societies.

There is much work ahead, for which the lessons learned from these past 75 years

Alice Wairimu Nderitu is Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide to the United Nations Secretary General.

Source: Africa Renewal, United Nations

IPS UN Bureau

 

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This article introduces the EIT, outlines successes to date, explains how the EIT helps innovators to transform ideas into reality while mentioning some key initiatives related to relevant innovation challenges, before ending on plans for the future and an invitation to attend the EIT Summit 2024.

The national-conservative ECR group may overtake the liberal Renew Europe group as the fourth-largest political force in the European Parliament if the liberals’ downward trend persists, according to Europe Elects' latest projection for Euractiv. 

La Commission a proposé officiellement mercredi (31 janvier) de mettre en place des mesures de sauvegarde pour plafonner les importations de produits alimentaires ukrainiens, et accepte la proposition de la France de déroger « partiellement » à l’obligation sur les jachères.

Several hundred journalists rallied in front of the government headquarters in Zagreb on Wednesday in protest against a bill tabled by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s ruling conservative party HDZ (EPP), which seeks to criminalise leaks from ongoing corruption investigations.

Restrictions on commercial mark-ups to various essential foods were extended, as this measure has curbed speculative price increases, contributed to reducing inflation, and safeguarded the population’s purchasing power, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Wednesday.

Les restrictions sur les marges commerciales de divers aliments essentiels ont été prolongées en Roumanie, car cette mesure a freiné les hausses spéculatives des prix, a contribué à réduire l’inflation et a sauvegardé le pouvoir d’achat de la population, selon le Premier ministre Marcel Ciolacu.

Former Prime Minister Igor Matovič, who gained EU fame for allowing Sputnik vaccines to be administered, which ultimately cost him his seat, threw his hat into the upcoming presidential elections but admitted it is not his ‘dream’ and that he is doing it to mobilise pro-democratic voters to support the right candidate.

The parents of a Swedish EU diplomat facing the death penalty in Iran on spying charges urged the Swedish government on Wednesday (31 January) to consider a prisoner swap to secure their son's release.

An urgent dialogue on the future of European winemaking and a common EU approach towards the excise duty has been called for by the Czech Grape and Wine Producers Association in an open letter addressed to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders met with Spanish Justice Minister Félix Bolaños in Brussels on Wednesday in a last attempt to mediate between the ruling Socialist Party and Partido Popular, the main opposition, to bring about the renewal of the judges’ governing body, which has been operating on an interim basis for over five years.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he will “definitely” have the opportunity to talk to his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán to discuss Sweden’s NATO bid on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, where much is expected of Hungary’s turbulent leader.

PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński is exerting pressure on President Andrzej Duda to call a snap election that might enable PiS to regain the power it lost to Prime Minister Donald Tusk last year.

After Marine Le Pen (RN party) slammed the German AfD party for allegedly advocating for ‘remigration’, the party has tried to ease tensions among the EU far-right on Wednesday, ahead of an upcoming peace summit with RN representatives, with an official clarification saying there was previous confusion.

Ce jeudi (1er février), les agriculteurs belges entendent bien paralyser Bruxelles, où se tient un sommet extraordinaire des dirigeants européens, avec le renfort de certains de leurs collègues européens. Des milliers de manifestants sont attendus dans la capitale belge.

The Bulgarian counterintelligence agency SANS has been accused of failing to act on reports by a high-ranking local politician of a potential channel that allows Russian spies to infiltrate Europe by getting  Bulgarian citizenship thanks to false documents.

While EU leaders will seek on Thursday (1 February) to seal a deal with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to offer predictable long-term financing to Ukraine, they are ready to go it alone.

Le Premier ministre suédois Ulf Kristersson a déclaré qu’il aurait « certainement » l’occasion de s’entretenir avec Viktor Orbán pour discuter de la candidature de la Suède à l’OTAN en marge du sommet de l’UE à Bruxelles, où l’on attend beaucoup du dirigeant hongrois.

This week, the Beyond the Byline podcast delves into what happened with the Cutro shipwreck that happened on 26 February 2023 and led to the death of 94 people.