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‘Rights Up Front’: A New UN Strategy for Prevention of Genocide

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 20 2013 (IPS) - The United Nations Thursday took rigorous steps to launch a new a six-point action plan called ‘Rights up Front,’ seeking to revamp preventive strategies which play a vital role in sending out quick responses to human rights violations.

With Thursday’s attack of a United Nations peacekeeping base in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, which killed many, and the continuous bloodshed in Syria and the Central African Republic (CAR), dark shadows loom over the UN with memories of its failed attempts at ending the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

 

Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, told reporters Wednesday the UN’s lack of broad and timely political support was one of the main impediments to early and effective action to prevent human rights crises. He said that if the UN cannot fulfill its obligations of acting early in these dire situations, then there will ultimately be even more devastating effects.

“Those horrendous events led us all to say ‘never again’, and calls for a more alert, flexible and coordinated UN System – both on the ground and at headquarters. This is what the ‘Rights up Front’ initiative aims to accomplish,”  Eliasson said.

 

Since the start of Syria’s three-year civil war, over 100,000 people have been killed and eight million have fled the country. Inter-communal and religious conflicts have claimed thousands of lives in the Central African Republic (CAR) and have left more than 600,000 people displaced. “These inhumane atrocities are reminders that serious human rights abuses are often the clearest early warning of emerging conflict,” he added. “Violence is spreading and could spread even further.”

 

The ‘Rights up Front’ strategy, initiated by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, includes the strengthening of actions with the General Assembly, the Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council in order to achieve more coherence. He said that providing earlier and more logical support to ground-level teams is essential, before any crisis materializes. Ban called for the reorganization of human rights staff to sharpen their skills in order to quickly identify risks of serious violations of human rights, which inevitably lead to atrocities.

According to Eliasson, the ‘Rights up Front’ initiative is related to the UN Charter; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the 1994 Rwandan genocide; as well as the occurrences in Srebrenica in 1995.

As he listed some of the six points of the initiative, he mentioned that all member states need to be doing a better job of meeting core responsibilities. He calls for maintaining diplomacy when contacting the Security Council in order to come to an agreement of knowing when to act on threats to international peace and security, and how to respond to human rights violations.

One other element is the protection of civilians, he said. If the UN becomes lax in taking note of early warning signals on human rights it becomes an issue, there will inevitably be more uprisings and endless fighting. Another element was the UN’s organizational structure and preparedness for such monstrosities before they escalate into unmanageable situations. He suggested the creation of inter-departmental and inter-agency working groups and the full training of staff so that they become aware.

In closing, Eliasson said the entire initiative involved the reinforcement of all the elements of ‘Rights Up Front’ so that there will be better information management and the planning of necessary operational activities.

“This is a political crisis and urgently needs to be dealt with through political dialogue,” Eliasson added. “When people in today’s world are at risk or subject to serious violations, they expect and request the United Nations to act – and we do.”

 
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