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.

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.

On 29 April 2024, the Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill introduced by our patron Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws LT KC, will have its committee stage before the House of Lords.

The committee stage is where a detailed examination of the Bill takes place. 

Read more about the bill here:

One year after the devastating war in Sudan began, the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights (RWCHR) released the world’s first inquiry into breaches of the Genocide Convention in Darfur, Sudan, to hold the chief perpetrators to account. Our co-founder Dr Ewelina Ochab contributed to the review process and endorsed the report.

The report can be read here:

On 15 April 2024, some of the world’s leading international lawyers and cross-party UK parliamentarians sent a public letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary David Cameron, urging them to support the Genocide Determination Bill that is currently under discussion in the House of Lords. 

The Genocide Determination Bill is a private members’ bill introduced in the House of Lords by our patron Lord Alton of Liverpool. The bill was first introduced in 2015. The Genocide Amendment to the Trade Bill in 2020/21 was based on the previous drafts of the Genocide Determination Bill.

The letter can be found here:

A briefing on the bill can be found here:

On 8 April 2024, the Coalition for Genocide Response joined the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute in submissions to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Ethiopia, North Korea, and the DRC.

The UPR is a unique mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council that calls for each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4-5 years. The UPR provides each State the opportunity to regularly:

• report on the actions it has taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to overcome challenges to the enjoyment of human rights; and
• receive recommendations – informed by multi-stakeholder input and pre-session reports – from UN Member States for continuous improvement.

Civil society organisations with ECOSOC accreditations can make submissions to the UPR – and so raise human rights concerns and make recommendations.

The submissions on Ethiopia and North Korea engaged on the issue of genocide. The submission on the DRC comments on the issue of conflict-related sexual violence and impunity.

The submissions can now be found below.

April 7 marks the U.N. International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. It was established to remember members of the Tutsi community, an African ethnic group, who were killed or injured in the atrocities. In 1994, as many as one million people – overwhelmingly Tutsi, but also Hutu and others who opposed the genocide – were systematically killed in 100 days of the atrocities, and thousands more were injured. Among those, it is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 women were subjected to systematic rape and sexual violence. These statistics send a strong message. The speed of the killings confirms that the atrocities were planned. The implication is that the destruction of the Tutsi people, an ethnic minority group, was the intention. 2024 also marks the 30th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Read more from our co-founder, Dr Ewelina Ochab, here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2024/04/01/genocide-against-the-tutsi-in-rwanda30-years-later

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2024/04/01/genocide-against-the-tutsi-in-rwanda30-years-later/: Genocide Against The Tutsi In Rwanda -30 Years Later

On 22 March 2024, Baroness Kennedy’s Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill will have its second reading at the House of Lords. The Genocide (Prevention and Response) Bill, which is a private member’s bill supported by the Coalition for Genocide Response, is to make provisions about how the government monitors and reports on activities to prevent and respond to genocide and other atrocity crimes.

The Bill can be accessed here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3521.

A briefing from the House of Lords library can be found here:

(Source: https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/lln-2024-0015/#:~:text=The%20Genocide%20(Prevention%20and%20Response,genocide%20and%20other%20atrocity%20crimes.)

In January 2024, China is being reviewed by the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). UPR is a process under which all UN member states undergo a review of their human rights compliance. China is now undergoing its fourth review.

The UPR can be watched here: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1z/k1z43db5bt

The Coalition for Genocide Response, together with the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) made a submission to the UPR, identifying some of the concerns and making recommendations to China.