UN ends contract of special adviser on the 'Prevention of Genocide' for allegedly refusing to accuse Israel of genocide
Despite being a recognized authority on the subject, UN special adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu will not have her contract renewed. The decision allegedly follows her consistent refusal to label Israel's actions in Gaza as genocidal.
Nderitu, who hails from Kenya, Africa, has served in the UN role since 2020 and has become a “recognized voice in the field of peace building and violence prevention” according to her UN profile. She made strong remarks condemning the Hamas terror attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but has not been willing to call out Israel’s response in Gaza against the Palestinian terror group as genocidal.
The Wall Street Journal published a scathing editorial defending Nderitu, describing her as “an accomplished mediator” and her tenure as having been “marked by careful study of humanity’s worst crime.”
Tracing both her career and the definition of genocide, the WSJ slammed Nderitu's dismissal as a “political choice” influenced by those in the United Nations who are hostile towards Israel.
The editorial warned, "Beyond Ms. Nderitu’s fate, the damage here includes defining genocide down. The word has become a weapon of political propaganda that will erode its moral authority when it’s needed to describe genuine horrors."
In 2022, Nderitu’s office released a paper entitled, “When to refer to a situation as genocide”: A brief guidance note. The document urged officials to “adhere to the correct usage” of the word, given “its frequent misuse in referring to large scale, grave crimes committed against particular populations.”
The paper outlined the origins and definition of the term “genocide,” which includes historical massacres such as the Holocaust, the Hutus’ genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, the Serbian slaughter of Bosnian Muslims and the massacre of Armenians in the mid-1890s. From a legal point of view, the label 'genocide' requires demonstrated intent.
According to this UN guidance paper, Israel’s military actions to defend itself “doesn’t qualify,” the WSJ insisted.
“The war against Hamas has had many deaths, but Israel’s strategy is intended to dismantle a terrorist regime, not eliminate an ethnic group. The Jewish state has gone to great lengths to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties, even as Hamas uses civilians as shields so their deaths can be used as propaganda.”
In a statement from October of last year, Nderitu condemned the Hamas attack as “unacceptable,” adding, “Violence against innocent civilians is always inexcusable and cannot be justified. Such violence is particularly vicious when it is targeted on the basis of identity.”
In line with her UN role of advancing initiatives to “safeguard populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and the incitement thereof,” she warned, “Compliance with international law must be prioritized and innocent civilians should never pay the price of a conflict for which they bear no responsibility. Their most basic rights must be protected and preserved. Their humanitarian needs must be met.”
However, shortly after her statement, 16 Palestinian groups, including the umbrella body – the Palestinian Human Rights Council – wrote a letter to the UN secretary-general criticizing Nderitu's words of condemnation as having a “glaring absence of any action in response to the sustained mass atrocities endured by Palestinians in Gaza.”
The Palestinian groups stated they had “significant concerns about the special adviser’s capability to execute her mandate with due effectiveness and impartiality,” accusing her of a dereliction of duty to warn of a potential genocide according to the Guardian.
A UN statement in response later read: “Alice Nderitu is leaving the UN as her contract is expiring,” without describing the decision as a dismissal.
However, the WSJ praised her courage for refusing to endorse a lie and posed the question, “Can anyone with integrity survive at the UN?”
Jo Elizabeth has a great interest in politics and cultural developments, studying Social Policy for her first degree and gaining a Masters in Jewish Philosophy from Haifa University, but she loves to write about the Bible and its primary subject, the God of Israel. As a writer, Jo spends her time between the UK and Jerusalem, Israel.
