Genocide Determination Bill [HL]

Lord Wills Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 17th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wills (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a privilege to follow and support my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Alton. Although he sits in a different part of the House, I regard him as a friend, and I am very glad to have this opportunity to pay tribute to the tireless way that he has campaigned year after year on this critical issue. He has already outlined how his Bill will work, its purpose and its merits far better than I can, so I will try not to rehearse the points that he has made.

However, I do want to say why this Bill is so important. At first glance, it may seem like a limited measure tackling anomaly in process, but it speaks fundamentally to what sort of country we are and how far we are prepared to prioritise abiding moral imperatives over perceived geopolitical interests. These need not always be in conflict, of course, and even when they might be, it is worth remembering the immortal words of a past Member of your Lordships’ House, Lord Palmerston:

“We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies”.


Geopolitical interests can be transitory and subjectively defined, but our eternal and perpetual interests, to use Lord Palmerston’s words, must include those moral imperatives that this Bill pursues. As we have heard already from the noble Lord, it is not focused on a specific case or situation but seeks to ensure access to justice for victims and survivors of genocide who otherwise would not have such access.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights has argued that there are limitations on what international courts can do to secure such justice, and the noble Lord has outlined them. For example, in relation to the genocide perpetrated by ISIS against the Yazidi people, neither Iraq nor Syria, where the genocide took place, is a party to the Rome statute, the treaty establishing the ICC. The ICC would therefore need the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Iraq and Syria to it, but no such referral has been made. Such a draft resolution in the case of Syria has been blocked in the Security Council, particularly because of vetoes by Russia and China, which appear to derive from their political interests in that region.

Sadly, this is not the only example of perceived geopolitical interests overriding action against genocide. Recently, the human rights academic Nathaniel Raymond—also mentioned by the noble Lord—alleged that the UK received more than two dozen briefings that the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan were preparing an assault on the city of El Fasher. Mass atrocities were highly likely. The UK was well placed, as a member of the UN Security Council, to galvanise international action, yet it did not escalate its response sufficiently—apparently because it prioritised its strategic relationship with the United Arab Emirates, a prominent backer of a rapid support force, over stronger action to prevent the anticipated atrocities in El Fasher.

Tragically, those were realised. Yet our Government continue to insist that action against those perpetrating genocide, or creating the risk of genocide, can be taken only by such international courts and competent courts. As a result, there has not been a single prosecution in this country of ISIS members for the crimes of genocide perpetrated against the Yazidi people, despite some estimates suggesting that there could be hundreds living in this country who should be prosecuted for such international crimes. China has been accused of dreadful atrocities in recent years against the Uyghur people and of systematic policies aimed at eradicating the indigenous Tibetan language, religion and cultural identity, yet the issue of genocide in the country has still not been adjudicated.

When US forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945, handmade signs displayed by the prisoners read “never again”. Sadly, that did not turn out to be the case. Genocide has been perpetrated again and again. The Government’s policy on genocide aims to protect and preserve the rights of people at risk of genocide and those who have suffered from it. However, this needs to be delivered. This Bill does that, and that is why I support it.