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From Never Again

In progress: collaboration very welcome - but it's meant to be useful so try to keep it brief!

We all feel helpless when we see a crisis unfolding in front of us. As individuals we may have little power to effect immediate change. But whatever country we are in, it has some sphere of influence in the wider world and we all have representatives who are accountable to us. This article is designed to give Never Again members the tools to respond consistently to crimes against humanity and genocide in the world.

What is genocide?

Genocide is a legal definition of an intentional attempt to destroy a group of people. Proven examples of the 21st century are the Holocaust against Jews and the Rwandan Genocide against Tutsi Rwandans. It has been an international crime since the 1950s. However, its status as a legal instrument makes it very difficult to prove during a crisis situation and therefore countries have hesitated to intervene.

More: Wikipedia article on genocide

What are crimes against humanity?

The Rome Statute defines Crimes Against Humanity as being the following actions, with intent: (a) Murder; (b) Extermination; (c) Enslavement; (d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population; (e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; (f) Torture; (g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; (h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; (i) Enforced disappearance of persons; (j) The crime of apartheid; (k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

More: Wikipedia article on Crimes against humanity

What should my country be doing about these things?

In September 2005, the countries of the UN General Assembly signed a reform document that said every country "has a 'responsibility to protect' its citizens and those within its jurisdiction from genocide, mass killing, and massive and sustained human rights violations." Where the country itself fails to do so, the outside world has a duty to intervene.

While the implications of this are controversial, complex and still to be worked out, from our point of view it means that the world no longer has any right to do nothing while people suffer. In 2005 members of Never Again, mainly from the Great Lakes, put together a set of recommendations to the United Nations calling for a consistent, appropriate and decisive approach to crimes against humanity and destructive conflict.

What can I do?

• Identify your elected representatives at different levels and consider whether they have influence in your area of concern.

UK

• • Local councillors: no influence internationally
  • National members of parliament: the right to ask questions of the UK government and vote on legislation and Early Day Motions.
  • Members of the European parliament: A co-decision role in passing European legislation, which often dictates UK law. Also an involvement and the right to find out about European activities on the world stage.

Write to the most relevant representative, outlining your concern and asking for a response. Their responses could be contributed to this website, on this page.

• If you have a weblog or other ways of publishing, write articles or just highlight your area of concern to try and raise it in the public domain. You don't have to be an expert: refer people to your trusted information sources or to the recommendations of people you trust.

• Write to newspapers, magazines or news websites about your area of concern. Keep letters short and relevant and ideally hook them into an area of their coverage. If editors think people are interested and concerned, they will be more likely to cover important stories.