AGBU Lebanon Hosts Seminar for International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime

The seminar, The Crime Against Genocide and the MENA Region: Lessons Learnt for Prevention or Protection,brought together experts for a day of panel discussions

On December 9, AGBU Lebanon—in collaboration with the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut (AUB), the Foundation for Human and Humanitarian Rights in Lebanon, and the Lepsiushaus Potsdam Research Center for Genocide Studies in Germany—organized a seminar entitled The Crime of Genocide and the MENA Region: Lessons Learnt for Prevention or Protection on the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.

The seminar brought together experts for a day of panel discussions on the theme of genocide in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The day opened with welcome remarks by AGBU President Berge Setrakian, who stressed the importance of the event: “We took this initiative because December 9 is declared as the day to commemorate genocides around the world. Genocides will go on if they are not condemned. We have a duty to stand up, especially if the international community has failed.All problems in the world are caused by very few people. The silent voices of the society have to be more vocal and step up their responsibility in speaking up against genocides and making up for the failing existing systems.”

Panels were held on the topic of MENA and Gross Human Rights Violations: Realities in the Past, Case Studies, Failures and Successes, The International Protection System: Its Contributions and Shortages to Prevent and Punish the Crime of Genocide, How to Prevent Genocides? and What Is Next for MENA: Final Discussion and Conclusion. The speakers explored multiple genocides in historical perspective, while also discussing examples institutional mechanisms in the prevention of genocide and contemporary acts of mass violence, including cases in present day Iraq and Syria. Dr. NidalJurdi, of the OHCHR and AUB, investigated why genocide continues to occur today despite international laws and conventions: “Still there are challenges in the MENA region because there are impunities; conventions are not incorporated into domestic law and there is a culture of impunity. I hope this will end soon, but we need to continue the fight.”

At the conclusion of the seminar, participants developed recommendations for the prevention of genocide, including basing rules on natural laws and on the principle of justice; questioning, regulating, and holding politicians accountable for their actions; looking for the root cause of radicalization; thinking of alternatives,such as capacity-building awareness sessions to prevent radicalization; and further activation of the role of civil society. “The fact that there is no justice by the international system will affect the future of these cycles of violence. It boils down to the pressure that civil society puts on the government and bold individuals who can make major decisions at their own risk. We must continue to document these crimes and these incitements to hatred as they happen. It is our role to question and continue to build pressure to send the message that it is the responsibility of the state and judiciary to be addressing these questions, creating laws to prevent these crimes and holding the people who commit them accountable,” said Lynn Maalouf, the Deputy Director of Research at Amnesty International.