Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)

10/14/2026

In this week's issue of Atrocity Alert:

🇲🇲 Atrocity risks rise in Myanmar amid attacks in Rakhine State and repatriations
🇸🇾 Israeli incursions into Syria intensify amid continued concern over war crimes
⚖️ US imposes institution-wide sanctions on the International Criminal Court

Full issue: https://bit.ly/4yUvjke

10/13/2026

📢 🇺🇳 Today, the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICR2P) released a new Call to Action urging UN member states to translate their commitments to preventing genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing into meaningful action during the General Assembly's 81st session.

At a pivotal moment for UN reform and the selection of the next Secretary-General, the Coalition calls on states to:

🔹 Put protection at the center of UN reform and leadership, preserving and strengthening dedicated atrocity prevention capacities.

🔹 Strengthen prevention across the multilateral system, including through early warning, accountability and sustained political engagement.

🔹 Center civil society and affected populations in decisions on prevention, response and recovery.

🔹 Protect human rights in the digital and AI era, ensuring emerging technologies do not facilitate repression, violence or atrocity crimes.

Read more ⬇️

The UN was established to uphold international peace and security, protect human rights and advance international cooperation. These commitments were reinforced at the 2005 World Summit, when member states committed to a collective Responsibility to Protect (R2P), affirming their obligation to safeg...

10/13/2026

🆕 Today, the UN General Assembly elected 15 states - 🇧🇷Brazil, 🇧🇮Burundi, 🇩🇴Dominican Republic, 🇩🇪Germany, 🇬🇭Ghana, 🇮🇪Ireland, 🇯🇵Japan, 🇯🇴Jordan, 🇰🇼Kuwait, 🇳🇵Nepal, 🇳🇬Nigeria, 🇲🇩Republic of Moldova, 🇺🇦Ukraine, 🇺🇾Uruguay and 🇿🇲Zambia - to the Human Rights Council for the 2027–2029 term. With these elections, 23 of the Council’s 47 members will be Friends of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).

The new composition presents an opportunity to strengthen the HRC’s contribution to atrocity prevention. Yet, despite its extensive human rights mechanisms, the Council’s effectiveness continues to be undermined by a lack of political will, inconsistent political engagement, limited follow-up to investigative findings and gaps between early warning and international action.

Our new publication, UN Human Rights Council Elections for 2027–2029 and R2P , examines how the incoming Council can make more effective use of its existing tools to protect populations at risk. The re-election of Burundi, despite its documented record of serious human rights violations, persistent impunity and failure to cooperate meaningfully with HRC mechanisms, further underscores the challenges facing the Council in upholding consistent standards of human rights.

🔗 Read our analysis and recommendations:

Today, 13 October 2026, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) elected Brazil, Burundi, Dominican Republic, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Nepal, Nigeria, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Uruguay and Zambia to the Human Rights Council (HRC) for the 2027-2029 term. With their election, 23 of th...

10/09/2026

📢 🇵🇸 One year after its agreement, the ceasefire in Gaza is in name only. The genocide and suffering continues, with Israeli forces killing and injuring Palestinians daily, and ongoing blocks to the entry of lifesaving aid, medical supplies and other vital repair equipment and building materials.

This is not a ceasefire.

The killing and deprivation in Gaza must not be normalised under the cover of an agreement. The international community’s responsibility does not end with an agreement on paper.

We've joined 100+ other organizations in calling for an end to the violence.

https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/gaza-ceasefire-exists-in-name-only-say-more-than-100-organizations/

10/09/2026

We warmly congratulate Navanethem “Navi” Pillay on being awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to international law, human rights and justice.

Throughout her distinguished career, from her pioneering work at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court to her leadership as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Pillay has been a steadfast advocate for accountability and the protection of populations from atrocity crimes.

In 2014, we had the privilege of welcoming Pillay to deliver the Fourth Annual Evans-Sahnoun Lecture on the Responsibility to Protect, where she reflected on her experience as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the imperative of preventing mass atrocities.

More than a decade later, her message remains as relevant as ever. At a time when international law and accountability mechanisms face mounting challenges, her recognition serves as an important reminder of the enduring need to defend human rights, uphold international justice and translate the responsibility to protect into meaningful action.

This is such a fitting honor for someone who has consistently stood on the right side of history, championing justice, accountability and the dignity of those most at risk.

Revisit her 2014 Lecture, “Stopping Mass Atrocities and Promoting Human Rights”: https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/4th-annual-gareth-evans-lecture-speech/

10/09/2026

10 October marks one year since the ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza. Yet, for Palestinians, this has meant one year without meaningful protection. Continued attacks, displacement, restrictions on humanitarian assistance and the destruction of the little remaining infrastructure necessary to sustain life have compounded the crisis.

More than 1,400 Palestinians have reportedly been killed by Israeli forces since the agreement took effect. Not a single hospital is fully operational and thousands remain unable to access urgently needed medical care. Families continue to live in tents, makeshift shelters and the ruins of their homes.

A ceasefire cannot be measured by the existence of an agreement, but by whether civilians are actually protected.

As the international community turns its attention toward reconstruction and recovery, it must not lose sight of the ongoing atrocities, including evidence of genocide, and the urgent need for accountability.

For Palestinians in Gaza, peace cannot simply mean surviving another day. It must mean an end to the killing, unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance and the ability to rebuild their lives with safety and dignity.

For more see our recent Atrocity Alert: https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/atrocity-alert-no-497/

10/08/2026

🚨 🇪🇹 As large-scale fighting intensifies across northern , civilians are once again facing the threat of mass atrocities. The renewed hostilities, coupled with ongoing violence in other regions, risk repeating the devastating patterns of the 2020–2022 war: a conflict marked by widespread atrocities for which victims and survivors have yet to see meaningful accountability.

We've joined 35 other civil society organizations in urging the UN Human Rights Council to urgently convene a special session on Ethiopia.

We call on the Council to establish an independent advisory panel of experts to rapidly assess ongoing violations, recommend preventive measures and identify steps toward accountability. The termination of the UN's previous investigative mechanism, despite warnings of continued atrocity risks, left a critical gap in international scrutiny. As violence escalates once again, that gap must not become another excuse for inaction.

Read more:

To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland) Excellencies, As armed hostilities have resumed on a large scale in Ethiopia, with risks of repetition of the atrocity crimes documented during the 2020-2022 conflict, we,...

10/07/2026

In this week's issue of Atrocity Alert:

🇪🇹 Civilian casualties escalate as fighting in Ethiopia fuels regional tensions
🇮🇱 🇵🇸 Nearly one year after the ceasefire, Israel’s atrocities in Gaza persist
🇺🇳 Outcomes of the UN Human Rights Council’s 63rd session

Full issue: https://bit.ly/4y8KEMH

10/05/2026

: Check out our September issue of in Focus featuring updates from and more including:

🇺🇳 Opening of the 81st UN General Assembly
🗣️ UNGA81 Events
🤝 High-level Engagement on Atrocity Prevention
🇻🇪 Venezuela: Advocacy for Continued International Scrutiny
🎙️ New episodes of Expert Voices on Atrocity Prevention podcast

Catch up here: https://gcr2p.cmail20.com/t/j-e-yhcduly-eiuitllhu-jd/

10/02/2026

Artificial intelligence is changing the tools available to perpetrators, but it has not changed who is most at risk. During High-Level Week, our Deputy Executive Director Jaclyn Streitfeld-Hall spoke about what an atrocity prevention lens can bring to conversations on AI governance.

As Jaclyn emphasized, the harms are not hypothetical. AI-enabled surveillance, targeting systems, drones and information manipulation are already affecting populations around the world. These technologies can act as a force multiplier, increasing the speed and scale with which state and non-state actors surveil, identify, repress and target populations.

"These harms are not hypothetical, and AI itself is not the perpetrator: the critical questions are who is deploying these tools, against whom and for what purpose. Our analysis therefore needs to center the agency of perpetrators rather than treating the technology itself as an autonomous source of risk."

As she concluded, protecting populations in the age of AI will require the political courage to constrain technologies that expand perpetrators’ capacity and the political will to act when those same technologies expose clear warning signs of atrocity risk.

Read her full remarks: https://bit.ly/4hye5By