80 Years After Liberation Of Auschwitz-Birkenau

For the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, our co-founder Dr Ewelina Ochab published a few reflections in Forbes. Read it all here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2025/01/25/80-years-after-liberation-of-auschwitz-birkenau/

January 27, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Over one million people were murdered there, most of them were Jews, but also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and people of other nationalities.

Auschwitz was the biggest Nazi camp. The camp was founded in early 1940 in response to the growing number of arrests and the overcrowding of prisons and other institutions across Europe. The first prisoners were Poles. However, in 1942, Auschwitz was turned from a concentration camp into a death camp (extermination camp) for the purposes of “Endlösung der Judenfrage” (the final solution to the Jewish question). Over the years of its existence, the camp significantly expanded to become a complex consisting of three parts: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau and Auschwitz III-Monowitz. Ultimately, over a million people lost their lives in the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex before Soviet troops liberated the few survivors on January 27, 1945… (Full article here:https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2025/01/25/80-years-after-liberation-of-auschwitz-birkenau/)

House of Lords Debate on the Policy Towards China

On 19 December, the House of Lords will debate the policy towards China, especially in relation to human rights and security issues arising from China’s actions in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, and the South China Sea, and against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. 

The Coalition for Genocide Response, together with the IBAHRI, produced a briefing commenting on the situation of the Uyghur community and called for comprehensive responses from the UK government.

CGR Joins The UPR Submission on Iraq

The Coalition for Genocide Response joined the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, the Free Yezidi Foundation, Yazda and the Sinjar Academy in a submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Iraq. The UPR is a unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council that calls for each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4.5 years. Iraq is due to have its 4th review in January 2025.

Marking The 10th Anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide

On 22 and 23 July 2024, the Coalition for Genocide Response will co-host two sessions in the UK Parliament to mark the 10th anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide.

The sessions, co-hosted with the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and the British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union, are to commemorate victims and survivors of the atrocities perpetrated by Daesh and emphasise the ongoing need to address the crimes with comprehensive responses.

Speakers include Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws LT KC, Brendan O’Hara MP, Hewan Omer (Free Yezidi Foundation), Ahmed Khudida (Yazda), Alex Crawford OBE (Sky News), Dr Ewelina Ochab, among others.

On 22 July 2024, the session is hosted in the Lord Speaker’s House. The event is by invitation only.

On 23 July 2024, the session is hosted in the IPU Room. In-person and online participation are accommodated.