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“IF NOT NOW, WHEN?”:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In Paris during December 1948, in the aftermath of the
Second World War and the Holocaust, the fledgling United
Nations adopted two aspirational documents – the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention.
In the 70 years since their adoption, norms, laws and structures
for protecting against human rights abuses and genocide have
evolved, moving from signed commitments to a variety of
national and international policies, practices and institutions.
And yet, the threat of genocide persists. Nearly every decade
since the signing of the Genocide Convention has featured at
least one conflict where a genocide was perpetrated. The post-
Holocaust promise of “Never Again” proved to be hollow for the
victims of genocide in Cambodia, Iraq, Rwanda, as well as at
the Bosnian town of Srebrenica. More recently, there have been
a growing number of attacks on international law and human
rights, with an alarming increase in mass atrocity crimes in
Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Central African Republic and a
number of other countries.
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In this paper Dr. Simon Adams tests the resilience of the
international community’s commitment to defending human
rights and upholding its Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against
humanity and war crimes. The paper highlights the failure to
respond to patterns of discrimination that eventually led to a
genocide in Myanmar (Burma) during 2017. But it also draws
attention to other recent situations, such as in the Gambia,
when the international community seized the moment to
respond in a timely and decisive manner to an emerging threat
of devastating conflict. In doing so, Adams emphasizes that
even when bodies such as the UN Security Council appear
paralyzed and inert, a mobilized international community can
still act to prevent atrocities, protect vulnerable populations,
and hold the perpetrators accountable
