When Violence Based On Religion Or Belief Amounts To International Crimes

Forbes

3 days ago

August 22nd marks the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, a day established by the United Nations General Assembly to condemn acts of violence targeting individuals on the basis of or in the name of religion or belief. Such violence is ever-growing around the world and requires urgent and comprehensive responses. On this day, we remember all victims and survivors of such violence and call upon the international community to address the crimes.
Violence based on religion or belief will have multiple and diverse manifestations. In its extreme forms, such violence may amount to international crimes, including crimes against humanity and even genocide. Such crimes require comprehensive responses, including steps to ensure justice and accountability.
The last decade has seen a multitude of such extreme manifestations of violence based on religion or belief.
In Nigeria, Boko Haram and other militia groups have been spreading havoc and targeting anyone who does not subscribe to their interpretation of Islam. Among their victims are Christians, who are a minority in the states where the terror group operates. The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) recognized the gravity of the crimes by Boko Haram when, in 2020, it concluded the preliminary examination and sought formal investigations. The next steps have been stalled for the last five years as the ICC has been waiting for domestic authorities to investigate the crimes.
In Syria, reports suggest a new wave of atrocities committed against religious minorities, including violence against Christians, the Alawites and the Druze.
In Iraq, Yazidis continue to fight for justice and accountability, some eleven years after the Daesh genocide, with close to 2,600 Yazidi women and children still enslaved to this day.
In China, Uyghurs are said to be moved from forced indoctrination camps to forced labor camps, with the products tainted by this slavery flooding Western markets.
In Afghanistan, religious minorities such as Christians, Ahmadiyas, and Baha'is, among others, are effectively extinct in the country after many of them were evacuated when the Taliban was taking over, with a small number of their members going underground. Hazara Shias, a numeric minority group, although going into millions of members, continue to be subjected to targeted attacks by the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (IS-KP) and other groups. The Taliban, while not claiming responsibility for these attacks, is responsible for failing to prevent them.
In Iran, Baha'is are considered to be apostates and face persecution, marked by extreme violence including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. Baha'is are denied equal rights, which affects all aspects of their lives in the country.
This year has also seen an increase in Islamist attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as perpetrated by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) fighters, part of the Islamic State's Central African Province. One of such attacks, on a church in the town of Komanda, resulted in some 40 worshipers killed.
To name a few.
All such attacks, which meet the legal definitions of international crimes, must be addressed by states and the international community as a whole. However, as we see too often, responses are rare and often too late to make a difference in the lives of individuals, let alone whole communities. Investigations and prosecutions of those responsible are an exception to the rule, with the rule being impunity. Prevention of these atrocities is a faraway goal with little to no preparatory work being undertaken by States.
In relation to the crime of genocide, States have a legal duty to prevent, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The duty to prevent requires States to take 'all means reasonably available to them, so as to prevent genocide so far as possible', with the trigger for this duty being 'the serious risk of genocide.'
A similar legal duty to prevent will be imposed in relation to crimes against humanity, once the draft treaty on crimes against humanity is adopted. This process may take some 5-10 years.
In addition, States have the political commitment of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), which should trigger responses, especially where the duty to prevent genocide does not reach. Unfortunately, as seen too many times over the years, prevention is a promise yet to be fulfilled. Too often, States choose their own interest over their legal duties or political commitments and fail to act. Such an approach is contrary to the duties themselves and the spirit of the commitments States made voluntarily.
As we mark the UN day, and stand with victims and survivors of acts of violence based on religion or belief, we must call out the hypocrisy of the international community by screaming 'Never Again' but doing nothing and allowing the atrocities to happen again and again.