Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to call upon the United Nations to take appropriate action under the UN Charter for the prevention and suppression of acts enumerated in Article III of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948.

The UK is party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948 which includes an undertaking to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. Our seat on the UN Security Council means that the UK is able to swiftly engage where a threat of such crimes emerges. The form of that engagement depends on the particulars of any individual situation. Where prevention has failed, it is the international community's responsibility to take collective action, through diplomatic, humanitarian and other means. Where timely and decisive action to end, or prevent, the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes is necessary, the UK is active in calling for UN action. The UK’s support for the International Criminal Court and other international tribunals also helps to ensure there is no impunity for the most serious international crimes. It continues to be the UK Government’s position that formal recognition that genocide has been committed is ultimately a matter for the courts, not political bodies.