HRC 49th Session: Item 3 – A/HRC/49/L.11 Introductory Statement on the draft resolution Prevention of Genocide: Delivered by H.E. Andranik HOVHANNISYAN, Permanent Representative - Embassy of Armenia to Switzerland and Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN office at Geneva

HRC 49th Session: Item 3 – A/HRC/49/L.11 Introductory Statement on the draft resolution Prevention of Genocide: Delivered by H.E. Andranik HOVHANNISYAN, Permanent Representative

31 March, 2022

31 March 2022

HRC 49^th Session: Item 3 – A/HRC/49/L.11

Introductory Statement on the draft resolution Prevention of Genocide

Delivered by H.E. Andranik HOVHANNISYAN, Permanent Representative

President,

It is an honor to present the draft resolution L.11 entitled Prevention of Genocide, which enjoys wide co-sponsorship from all five regional groups. We would like to express our gratitude to all co-sponsors, both traditional and new.

The draft resolution is a manifestation of Armenia’s continuing and resolute commitment to the international efforts for prevention of genocide and a call to prevent deterioration of the human rights violations into such a heinous crime as genocide is.

Martin Luther King famously said that “the ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people”. In this regard we have a joint mission to ensure the application of justice that the victims and their descendants deserve, including through recognition, accountability, truth, reparation, guarantees of non-recurrence and preservation of historic memory.

In our view the international community should set objectives and criteria towards the prevention of genocide. One of them could be universalization of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Our initiative is firmly grounded on this premise and the larger framework of international law.

With this resolution the Council will note with concern that the progress with ratifications and accessions to the Convention has slowed down in recent years. We will encourage States and UN system to intensify conflict risk analysis for the assessments of the risks of the perpetration of genocide. We will further encourage them to closely cooperate with civil society and faith‑based organizations and religious leaders.

In its current iteration the HRC resolution on Prevention of Genocide addresses misuse of new technologies, in particular social media platforms, and disinformation and misinformation spread through them. This has been an issue of major concern widely discussed both at this and other multilateral fora for the past two years.

The Council will decide, inter alia, to convene an intersessional meeting to mark the 75th anniversary of the Convention and to discuss the role of social media platforms and their instrumentalization by those seeking to spread hate leading to discrimination and violence.

President,

Armenia cherishes the international consensus on this file, since it is the only right signal that this Council can send to the world today. Last but not least, we would like to express our profound gratitude to all States and other stakeholders that participated in the informal consultations and enriched this initiative with their valuable and constructive contribution.

I thank you.

MFA RA
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