The following remarks were delivered by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect’s Executive Director, Savita Pawnday, at the panel discussion on Early Warning and Genocide Prevention during the 58th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland on 5 March 2025.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Excellencies, distinguished delegations, dear colleagues,

Today’s discussion lies at the heart of the idea of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) that emerged to bridge the gap between early warning and effective action. As we mark the 20^th anniversary of R2P, we stand on the cusp of a shifting world order, marked by relentless attacks against international norms and institutions created to safeguard humanity. Now more than ever is the time to take stock and renew our commitment to principled diplomacy and multilateralism. It is in this context that I would like to share a few reflections.

Thanks to the work of civil society organizations like mine, we have a more sophisticated understanding of the dynamics of how atrocity crimes are committed in contexts as different as Afghanistan, the Sahel, Venezuela or the Occupied West Bank and the factors that can mitigate their commission. In the case of the crime of genocide, our understanding has evolved beyond the frameworks used to study the Holocaust to better understand how 21^st century genocides against the Rohingya, the Yazidis, the Uyghurs or against Palestinians in Gaza have been orchestrated and committed. In many of these cases, while perpetrators often pursue policies of mass killings and ethnic cleansing, genocides have also been perpetrated through the erasure of a group’s identity and their cultural destruction. Recognizing these evolving methods is essential for effective prevention and response.

We also have a much better understanding of the diversity of tools available at the multilateral, regional and national level to respond to emerging or protracted crises. The international community has increasingly leveraged accountability mechanisms, including sophisticated ways to monitor and preserve evidence. Peacekeepers have often stood as shields between perpetrators and victims, and we have developed more effective strategies to protect women and children.

Yet, all too often, responses to atrocity risks remain selective and shaped by political interests. Broad cross-regional solidarity with Ukraine demonstrated that when there is sufficient will, governments are able to quickly mobilize and uphold R2P. However, this stands in sharp contrast to the failure of many to prevent, acknowledge and condemn the genocide in Gaza and apartheid policies in place against Palestinians.

Meanwhile, many cross-regional governments, while rightly criticizing Western bias, remain silent on mounting evidence of atrocity crimes against the Rohingya, Uyghurs or non-Arab communities in Darfur.

The selective application of international law erodes the credibility of the multilateral system created to uphold it. The consistent application of double standards dilutes protection regimes and makes everyone less safe.

The divide between Geneva and New York also remains a barrier to cohesive action. As mentioned often today, early warning information produced by Geneva-based mechanisms are not consistently funneled into decision-making processes in New York, including in discussions at the UN Security Council. Bridging this gap is essential to ensuring more holistic and effective responses to atrocity risks.

Allow me to also share a few words of the critical role of civil society organizations, human rights defenders and affected communities. These actors are often the first to detect and respond to early warning signs, document atrocities and defuse tensions, even amid escalating violence. When violence erupts, they lead unarmed protection strategies that save lives and, in the aftermath, drive advocacy for justice, accountability and reconciliation.

Despite their expertise and frontline experience, human rights defenders and affected communities are often excluded from formal decision-making processes. In addition to practical barriers that prevent civil society organizations from engaging directly with decision-makers, affected communities are frequently directed between various UN offices without receiving clear guidance or adequate support regarding the functioning of the system, how they can effectively engage with it and what outcomes they can reasonably expect. One example is the pending follow-up on the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s referral of the situation in the Uyghur Region to the Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect.

Excellencies,

Reinvigorating our collective responsibility to protect populations from atrocity crimes requires principled positions on crisis situations, bridging institutional divides and embedding the perspectives of affected communities at the heart of decision-making.

Over the years, the HRC has taken important steps to respond to emerging crises, often through the rapid establishment of investigative mechanisms and fact-finding missions (FFMs), such as most recently in the context of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, too often, this initial action is treated as the end of the process, rather than the beginning of sustained international engagement on a crisis. Once these mechanisms deliver their findings, meaningful political follow-up is frequently lacking. The decision to terminate investigations into Ethiopia at the very moment its experts reported that atrocity risks remained imminent is a stark example of this failure.

Let us learn from it.

As we are gathered here today, Darfur is on the brink yet again. While the establishment of the FFM was an important first step towards accountability and preventing recurrence, more must be done to translate the findings and analysis into meaningful and timely political action.

R2P is not just a principle – it is a promise to the world’s most vulnerable populations. Let us honor that promise not with words, but with action. The credibility of the very system that made us gather here today, and the lives of countless people, depend on it. Protecting populations from atrocity crimes requires courage, not convenience.

Thank you.