Twenty five years ago, on February 19, 1986, the US Senate ratified the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. But this ratification was not easily accomplished. Nor was it a foregone conclusion.
On February 7, 2011, Sudanese authorities released the final results of the near-unanimous vote for southern independence from the North, and President Bashir reiterated his commitment to respect the South’s decision. The process was largely peaceful and well-organized, an important achievement given Sudan’s recent history of war, but its conduct also raised questions about the political challenges that now await Southern Sudan. Jort Hemmer, of the Conflict Research Unit in the Netherlands, observes:
Yesterday afternoon, David Kato, a prominent Ugandan gay rights activist, was beaten to death in his home near the capital, Kampala. His death comes four months after his picture, name, and home address—along with similar information for several other people—were published on the front page of a local tabloid under the headline “Hang Them.”
In an op-ed for Politico, the Museum's Mike Abramowitz and Mark Hanis, president of the Genocide Intervention Network / Save Darfur Coalition, offer some reflections to mark this year's International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
As the political standoff in Côte d’Ivoire enters its seventh week, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) issued a second statement on Wednesday about human rights violations in the aftermath of disputed presidential elections. “We remain gravely concerned about the possibility of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Côte d’Ivoire. We believe that urgent steps should be taken, in line with the 'responsibility to protect', to avert the risk of genocide and ensure the protection of those at risk of mass atrocities,” the statement said.
This past weekend, referendum voting on the future of Southern Sudan came to a peaceful and orderly close. Although final results are not expected until mid-February, early returns suggest overwhelming support for independence.
With great euphoria at this long-awaited moment, South Sudanese began voting on Sunday in a referendum on independence from the North. Over the next week, more than three million people are expected to go to the polls, and, so far, voting in the South has been peaceful and smooth. One man cycled for two days to cast his vote in Rumbek, the capital of Lakes state, where herders sometimes move long distances with their animals. “Some of those traveling from the cattle camps had arranged for relatives to look after their cattle before rushing back and swapping so that others could travel to vote,” reports the BBC.
On January 5th, the Museum issued a press release urging leaders in Sudan's North and South to call for calm in advance of South Sudan's referendum.
In The Washington Post, Mike Abramowitz, Director of the Museum's genocide prevention program, writes about international efforts to prevent violence in Sudan around the January 9th referendum -- and our ability to respond if those efforts fail. The Washington Post also profiles a video by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Lucian Perkins, who recently traveled to South Sudan with Abramowitz on a Museum-sponsored bearing witness trip.
On December 22, 2010, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed S.Con.Res.71, a non-binding resolution that recognizes genocide prevention as a national security interest of the United States and urges the President and senior government leaders to rededicate efforts to “anticipate, prevent, and mitigate acts of genocide and other mass atrocities.” With a coalition of over a half-dozen organizations, the anti-genocide community worked actively to support the resolution’s passage.
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