Citation

Strauss E. Genocide Stud. Prev. 2018; 11(3): e1504.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, University of Toronto Press)

DOI

10.5038/1911-9933.11.3.1504

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In September 2013, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon adopted the Human Rights Up Front (HRUF) initiative and communicated his decision in a letter to staff in November through a recommitment, on behalf of the senior leadership and all staff, to uphold the responsibilities the Charter assigns them whenever there is a threat of serious and large-scale violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. His successor, Secretary-General Gutierrez appears determined to continue the initiative based on his explicit reference to it in his vision statement as a means to mainstream human rights and his congratulating his predecessor in general terms on HRUF during his remarks on taking the oath of office. Given the confidentiality that surrounds the initiative arising from fear of adverse Member States' reaction, it remains difficult to identify all of its elements and assess its current status of implementation. However, based on publicly available UN documents, recent academic writing and public statements by UN officials, it is possible to attempt a preliminary evaluation of the impact of the HRUF initiative and its potential contribution to the prevention of genocide and other mass atrocity crimes.

Language: en