Nearly a decade after heads of state and government agreed to the principles of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), mass atrocities continue across the globe. What are the limitations of international law to compel states to act? What is the way forward?

On January 13, 2015, the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation and the New York City Bar Association co-organized a discussion to address challenges within the existing international legal framework for the prevention of genocide and other mass atrocities. Panelists included:

• Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
• Adama Dieng, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide
• H.E. Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Rwanda to the United States of America and non-resident Ambassador to Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina
• Sheri Rosenberg, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, Director, Program in Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies, Director, Human Rights and Genocide Clinic, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
• Moderator: Elizabeth Barad, International Law and Gender Consultant, Co-chair of the Committee on African Affairs at the NYC Bar

The event was open to the public and took place at the headquarters of the New York City Bar Association. For more information, please visit: www.auschwitzinstitute.org and www.nycbar.org

Preventing Genocide and Mass Atrocities: International Law and the Responsibility to Protect

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