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engaged in informal bilateral advocacy with key actors in the Government of the Sudan, urging
the Government to use the heavy international focus on the International Criminal Court process
as an opportunity to demonstrate an improvement in its human rights record, and specifically to
address more effectively the Darfur crisis.
36. In February 2009, the Special Adviser urged that any decision by the International
Criminal Court regarding the request for indictment of President Omar al-Bashir should under no
circumstances lead to reprisals that would expose civilians in Darfur or in any other part of the
country to even greater levels of violence, including the risk of genocide.
4. Other situations
37. The Special Adviser and his staff continued to monitor other country situations and are in
the process of discussing them with relevant United Nations departments and the responsible
State authorities. The Special Adviser will consider appropriate action to take, including issuing
public statements on these situations, at the appropriate time.
B. Development of an information collection system and
collaboration within the United Nations
38. In July 2008, the office of the Special Adviser, with financial support from Canada, began
preparing an inventory of the monitoring and information collection systems within the
United Nations that are relevant to the prevention of genocide. Several hundred United Nations
staff members are engaged in daily monitoring of country situations from the perspectives of,
inter alia, political, human rights, children’s rights, humanitarian, development, rule of law,
peace and security, food security and displacement concerns. Data are collected, analysed and
are frequently the subject of internal United Nations reports or briefing papers that are used for
briefing senior staff and, when appropriate, for early warning of Member States pursuant to
relevant General Assembly, Security Council and Human Rights Council mandates. Collectively,
the information processed by these desk officers covers almost all of the information required by
the office of the Special Adviser for monitoring within its framework of analysis. In addition,
some 30 special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council monitor issues such
as racial discrimination, extrajudicial killings, access to education and health care and the
situation of ethnic minorities - all key issues in the prevention of genocide - and raise individual
cases and collective concerns with Governments. Several of these mandates focus on violations
that relate directly to genocide; for instance, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions specifically warned of the possibility of genocide in Rwanda several months
before it occurred.
39. Some United Nations departments and specialized agencies maintain databases of
information falling within their emergency response mandates, including, for example, UNICEF
and WFP. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has a capacity to convert
certain types of data into maps that show regions where populations may be vulnerable. The
Department of Peacekeeping Operations maintains a 24-hour situation centre. All operational
United Nations departments and specialized agencies participate in coordinating mechanisms,
such as the interdepartmental Framework Team on Early Warning and Prevention, designed to
pool the information and expertise from within the United Nations, to develop a common
understanding of emerging concerns, and to ensure a timely and coordinated response.
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