Top official cites violence, rhetoric, hate speech, drive atrocity crimes in Ukraine, beyond

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau

UNITED NATIONS, 22^nd June.  UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Ms. Wairimu Nderitu on Tuesday briefed the members of the Security Council by expressing concerns over “the heightened risks” of sexual violence, and trafficking, which are “significantly impacting women and children”, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February which was voiced by other senior UN officials at the meeting held in New York.

Wairimu Nderitu said that hateful and contentious narratives that form in the wake of growing hostility, violence and discrimination, could have a “devastating impact” on societies at large.

“We saw it in the lead up to the Holocaust, in Rwanda in 1994” and also in the ethnically-charged Bosnia conflict between Muslims, Serbs and Croats in the mid-1990s, she said.

She reminded that “ending wars require sustained actions”, including countering acrimonious rhetoric, hate speech online and offline, and rights violations that impact lives and livelihoods.

Wairimu Nderitu recounted that the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which in 1948, “emerged out of the shadows of the Holocaust,” identifies as punishable offences, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide and complicity in genocide.

“This is done in full respect to the essential right of freedom of expression as provided under international human rights law,” she said.

On Ukraine, Ms. Nderitu highlighted the important role regional and international in addressing the ongoing humanitarian crisis and stressed the importance for all States to adhere to international human rights and international humanitarian law and principles.

She recalled the Secretary-General’s visit to the region, his call for a cessation of hostilities and her office’s work in supporting inter-communal dialogue efforts with the UN Country Team.

She noted that “the continued deterioration of the situation,” has prompted the Special Adviser to urge all in a position of influence to “redouble their efforts to contribute to the restoration of peace”.

Top official called on religious leaders to use their influence to support efforts to solve the ongoing conflict, not to inflame it further and reminded that advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, is prohibited under international law.

She said that in terms of allegations that could constitute the possible commission of genocide and war crimes in Ukraine that could only be decided “by a court of competent jurisdiction.”

Ms.  Wairimu Nderitu added that her office “does not carry out criminal investigations on specific incidents, present or past”.

She called for “an end to this war, to ensure the protection of civilians and to accelerate diplomatic efforts to make both possible”.

“Prevention focuses on the future, and on the past too, and the outpouring of hostility in response to this war means we must work harder to protect everyone,” she said.

She urged the Council and concerned parties to “articulate an inclusive vision, propose a roadmap…that is not indifferent to injustice”.

She reiterated that a “solution is possible with commitment on the part of everyone,” that with every continued delay “the escalation of human suffering continues”.

Liubov Tsybulska, Head of the Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security, a Ukrainian Government-established think-tank, said that “thousands” of pieces of evidence were now pointing to Russian war crimes.

She cited “genocidal rhetoric” gleaned from Russian media that refers to Ukraine as a “fake nation” that does not “deserve to exist”.

She recalled Soviet-era tactics to starve the enemy, she accused Russia of “bringing famine”, and said that some Russian troops were expressing “pride and approval” over abuses being committed.

Ms. Tsybulska highlighted the efforts to destroy Ukrainian culture and wondered: “Why do the Russians hate us?”.

Jared Cohen, CEO of Jigsaw and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the US Council of Foreign Relations, spoke in depth about cyber warfare and how it has been waged during the Ukraine war.

“Like air, land and sea, the internet has become a critical domain to occupy during war,” he said.

He described what Ukraine has experienced as “a crystal ball of what is likely to come” in the future.

He zeroed in on “vectors of attack,” including on critical infrastructure, via “traditional hacking”; distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, or malicious attempts to disrupt normal website traffic; and midsized and large attacks – or “microfloods” – that can significantly ramp-up the complexity of attacks.

Mr. Cohen pointed to the online effort to undermine Ukraine’s Government and leadership.

He added that “deep fakes of alleged cocaine addiction were used to cede and feed a harassment campaign against President  Volodymyr  Zelenskyy” to undermine his credibility, in a bid to tip support toward Russia.”.