Leading Palestinian human rights groups have accused the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide of failing to fulfil her mandate after she issued only one statement on the war in Gaza – largely supportive of Israel – that has claimed 26,000 Palestinian lives.
In a statement issued in October, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, a Kenyan, omitted any criticism of Israel.
In a letter sent to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Wednesday, 16 Palestinian groups, including the umbrella body the Palestinian human rights council, said there had been a “glaring absence of any action in response to the sustained mass atrocities endured by Palestinians in Gaza”, and that this raised “significant concerns about the special adviser’s capability to execute her mandate with due effectiveness and impartiality”.
More broadly, the groups accused Nderitu of a dereliction of duty in failing to warn of a potential genocide, and said there had been a deafening failure by her to speak out about what had happened in Gaza.
For instance, she has made no comment on the international court of justice’s interim ruling in January on a case brought against Israel by South Africa, which provided a strong indication that the judges believed there was a credible risk to Palestinians under the genocide convention.
The letter claims Nderitu and her office are not engaging with Palestinian groups, accusing her of cancelling planned meetings, refusing to respond to correspondence expressing concern and failing to attend official meetings within the UN building in New York at which the threat of genocide in Gaza is being discussed.
Given Nderitu’s specific responsibilities at such a sensitive time, at a minimum her comparative silence is in stark contrast to other UN rapporteurs, who have frequently warned about how Israel has conducted its offensive.
The Palestinian groups said nine other UN special rapporteurs had highlighted the imminent risk of genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza in a statement on 19 October.
A further eight UN special rapporteurs expressed a conviction on 2 November that the Palestinian people faced a grave risk of genocide. Similarly on 16 November, 41 UN independent experts openly called upon the international community to take action to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The Palestinian groups said Nderitu had laid herself open to a charge of double standards by issuing a statement after an ICJ ruling on genocide in Ukraine but not commenting on January’s interim Gaza ruling. The “principles of genocide prevention must be universally applied, without making any special allowances or exceptions for anyone, including Israel”, the groups wrote.
“The foundation of the special adviser’s mandate is grounded in the lessons learned from past failure by the international community as a whole, including the UN, to undertake meaningful preventive efforts ahead of the genocide in Rwanda or Srebrenica.”
In her one statement on the Gaza war, Nderitu highlighted the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October and made no criticism of Israel, though she did say “innocent civilians should never pay the price of a conflict for which they bear no responsibility”.
The formal task of the special adviser is to advance national and international initiatives to safeguard populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and the incitement thereof.
Israel’s government has rejected accusations of genocidal behaviour in Gaza. Responding to the ICJ preliminary ruling in January, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said: “The charge of genocide levelled against Israel is not only false, it’s outrageous, and decent people everywhere should reject it.”
Guterres and the UN as an institution have repeatedly been accused by Israel of anti-Israel bias.
The UN office has been approached for a comment.
