With the general election fast approaching, UNA-UK has joined forces with other civil society organisations to shine a spotlight on UK political parties' commitment to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and atrocity prevention.
Genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are intrinsically unacceptable. These atrocity crimes are increasingly prevalent in conflicts today from the Central African Republic to Syria and Iraq, and are also clearly visible in Burma and North Korea. The fall-out from such atrocities threaten the UK's security and prosperity through international instability and the threat of terrorism.
In 2005, UN member states endorsed R2P, recognising that every state is responsible for protecting its population from atrocities and that the international community has a duty to take action to prevent and respond to such crimes. However, a report commissioned by UNA-UK in 2014 found that the current UK strategy on preventing conflict and promoting stabilisation does not mention R2P, or the prevention of genocide or atrocity crimes as a goal.
The UK needs a comprehensive strategy that places atrocity prevention squarely on the agenda as a goal of stabilisation and conflict prevention. As part of our wider campaigns and advocacy work in the lead up to the election, UNA-UK invited civil society organisations to sign a joint letter to party leaders calling for their commitment to R2P.
International Alert, Minority Rights Group International and The Great Initiative are among those who have signed the letter, which asks party leaders to declare the prevention of atrocity crimes a strategic national interest of the UK and a goal that reflects the country's humanitarian values.
The letter was sent to the Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, Green Party, Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and the UK Independence Party.
This page will be updated as we receive responses from the parties.
Click on the link below to read the joint letter.
