CHAMBERS
Atrocity Crime Prevention
Members of Guernica 37 have for the last two decades concentrated their efforts on investigating and seeking accountability for the victims of historical mass atrocities.
Its members have an unprecedented expertise and experience in the challenges that working in the environment ‘after the event’ can present.
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International human rights law, international criminal law, and the need for the rebuilding of society have highlighted the necessity for international legal expertise to develop alongside seeking to prevent the future occurrence of such atrocities.
Members of Guernica 37 have on numerous occasions participated in the creation and preservation of the necessary networks, both in country and internationally, and sought to identify the key actors who can make those preventative practices feasible.
Our experience extends to the development of national networks with members of civil society, relevant members of security and military forces, political elites, other relevant key actors and stakeholders willing to contribute, and further the protection, handling, and development of these relations.
The next decade is likely to be identical to those previous, in that given the proliferation of conflict, there is an abject need for human rights protection and associated legal mechanisms to develop further to seek to prevent, but where this is not possible, to bring about accountability for mass atrocities.
These efforts have significant legal implications not only for key national actors, but also those international agents that want to assist.
Guernica 37 seeks to create ‘best practice models’, protocols, and mid to long-term legal analysis aiming to develop information and its legal potential.
As important as it is to work to prevent and prosecute instances of mass atrocities, it is also essential to ensure that this is done within the confines of international treaties, conventions, and national legal standards, so as to ensure that such efforts have the necessary impact and scope.