Interactive Dialogue with Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide
Alice Wairimu Nderitu
Statement by the Delegation of the United States of America
As Delivered by Ambassador Michèle Taylor
Human Rights Council – 53rd Session
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Special Adviser Nderitu, for your important work on the prevention of genocide and other atrocity crimes.
Since the Holocaust, after which the term genocide was coined, the international community has repeatedly said “never again;” yet genocide and other grievous crimes have continued.
For example, in Myanmar, members of the military have committed genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing against Rohingya.
The August 2022 report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights outlined in alarming detail the human rights violations and abuses occurring in Xinjiang, concluding that they “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”
Those responsible for these and other atrocities must be held accountable. But the international community must also proactively engage in upstream prevention. As outlined in the Secretary General’s June 6 report, member states should leverage development assistance for atrocity risk assessment, early warning, preparedness, and response.
We can and must do more to prevent atrocities. Because what happens when genocide occurs, what happened to my own family in the Holocaust, doesn’t just happen to the those targeted; it happens to all of humanity.
Special Adviser, in November 2022, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination referred the situation in Xinjiang to your office under its early warning and urgent action procedure. How does your office plan to address the CERD referral on the situation in Xinjiang?
I thank you.
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