The United Nations Secretary-General has appointed two special advisors with respect to human rights issues – a Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and a Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect. Their responsibilities include the collection of information on situations where there may be a risk of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide
In July 2012, Adama Dieng of Senegal was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as his Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide.
The Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide along with the Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect (see below) collect information on situations where there may be a risk of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, based on the risk factors outlined in the document Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes.
The offices of the Special Advisors were created following the genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia in response to an invitation from the UN Security Council “to refer to the Council information and analyses within the United Nations system on cases of serious violations of international law” and on “potential conflict situations” arising from “ethnic, religious and territorial disputes” and other related issues.
The current and previous Special Advisors have issued statements concerning a number of countries where there is a risk of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity including Yemen, Burundi, Syria, Sudan and South Sudan, Libya, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka and Democratic Republic of the Congo. More information is available here.
Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect
In July 2013, Ms. Jennifer Welsh of Canada was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as his Special Adviser at the Assistant Secretary-General level on the Responsibility to Protect.
Ms. Welsh works under the overall guidance of the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, to further the conceptual, political, institutional and operational development of the responsibility to protect concept, as set out by the General Assembly in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome document. Additional information on the Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect is available here.