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Statement by Raimonda Murmokaitė, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nation UN Security Council briefing Threat to International Peace and Security: Prevention and Fight against Genocide 16 April, 2014 I would like to thank you, Madame President, for organising today’s briefing on the prevention of and fight against genocide. I also thank Ambassador Colin Keating for his statement.  As we mark the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, this briefing is an opportune occasion to reflect on the lessons drawn and applied, or failed to apply since this horrendous tragedy took place.  

Reeling from the horrors of World War II, the international community adopted the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948. However, ever since the gap between the intent and implementation persisted with tragic consequences. Names like Khmer rouge, Srebrenica and Rwanda among others evoke the breathtaking failures of the international community to stop genocidal carnage. In Rwanda twenty years ago at least 800 000 people were slaughtered in mere weeks.   

It is our moral duty as human beings to keep the memory of this tragedy alive for generations to come, in order to educate, prevent, and protect.  We cannot give life back to the victims of those unspeakable horrors. But we can and must honor them by learning from past failures and applying the lessons learned in order to preserve the lives of those who can still be saved.

The first and fundamental lesson of the Rwanda genocide is that it could have been prevented. There had been plenty of early warning signs of what was about to come, but they were systematically ignored. Necessary action was not taken, or when taken, it was too little too late. And so the carnage went ahead, wiping out as much as 20 percent of Rwanda’s total population, and 70 per cent of the Tutsis. A year later, horrendous atrocities took place again, this time in Srebrenica.

It would seem that we’ve come a long way since.  At the World Summit of 2005, member states embraced the concept of Responsibility to Protect.  Early warning offices were set up in the UN structure. Special Advisers of the Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide and on the Responsibility to Protect were appointed.  We commend the work of the two Special Advisers for their dedication and resolve in carrying out their life-saving work. 

Furthermore, mediation and preventive diplomacy capacities have been strengthened, including at regional organization level. Peacekeeping has continued to evolve, and today protection of civilians has become an integral part of peacekeeping mandates. The Security Council expanded its tools by developing instruments such as horizon scanning, which if used systematically would contribute significantly to early warning and prevention.  

The most recent building block of preventive action is the “Rights up front” initiative, aimed at strengthening early response and organizational preparedness to counter human rights violations, which as we know well, are a key early warning sign of conflict and atrocities to come. With all those mechanisms and instruments in place, the world today is in a much better position than twenty years ago to prevent mass atrocities and genocide.

And yet, we are all witnesses to the harrowing story of suffering of Syria’s civilian population as the conflict entered its fourth year. Late last year, the Council had to take urgent action to reinforce protection efforts in South Sudan. At the same time, a particularly dire humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic was unfolding, reaching new levels of brutality and decimating the country’s Muslim population. We welcome the decision of the Security Council to establish UN Peacekeeping Operation in CAR which will reinforce the protection efforts undertaken by MISCA and Sangaris.

If only they could, those who were brutally hacked or starved to death, those tortured, mutilated, and left to rot by the roadside, those forcefully disappeared and those who suffered massive displacement - all because of their ethnicity,  religion or creed- in these and other  conflict zones would argue that even today  too little and too late was done to protect them.

Madame President,

All of this speaks to the fact that further progress is needed in translating the concept of responsibility to protect, this “most important and imaginative doctrine to emerge on the international scene for decades”, as Louise Arbour calls it, into action. With adequate information, mobilization, courage and first and foremost, political will genocide can be prevented.  We, the international community, must cultivate and build that political will or else even the best of concepts and conventions will fail to protect from crimes against humanity and genocide.

The responsibility to protect to which the member states committed themselves in 2005 must be honored and acted upon consistently. National governments bear the primary responsibility to protect their populations, including through human rights education, preventive measures, such as countering incitement, extremism and hate speech, intolerance, and discrimination as well as themselves practicing accountability before their citizens.

A critical ingredient of prevention of mass atrocities is the existence of legitimate and accountable national institutions that are inclusive and credible in the eyes of the population, as well as the enabling foundation of the rule of law, good governance, and respect of all human rights for all. 

Add to that justice and accountability. Accountability must be assured both nationally and internationally, through the supporting decisions of domestic courts and international tribunals. If justice is not done and perpetrators go unpunished, they will continue to kill, maim, rape, and commit atrocities.

Through ad hoc international criminal tribunals and especially the International Criminal Court, the international community delivers a stern warning to all perpetrators that there is no escaping impunity. This in itself will be an important deterrent for those who may consider engaging in acts of violence. 

In this respect, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) did an important work in pursuing justice  and has set important precedents in the development of international criminal law, such as the first ever prosecution of rape as an act of genocide.

A significant number of the perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda, including former high level officials, have been brought to justice. Such a state of affairs should be the rule, and not an exception. Sadly, to many victims of unspeakable crimes around the world closure through justice is still beyond reach.

Today, through the adoption of the resolution marking the 20 anniversary of genocide, we stand with the people of Rwanda in commemorating the victims and expressing solidarity with the survivors. The international community has the duty and moral responsibility to make sure that there should be no more place for genocide  and crimes against humanity in the 21 century.

I thank you Madame President.