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27 January 2017

Statement by the Global Justice Center on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— January 27 2017

“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” – Simon Wiesenthal

[NEW YORK] –   Today, on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, the Global Justice Center calls on the international community to remember Holocaust victims by standing up to renewed anti-Semitism, hatred, racism, and discrimination. The Nazi ideology of race resulted in the systematic persecution and murder of six million Jews, and other groups such as the Roma, Slavic, Communists, Socialists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, LGBTI and persons with disabilities.

Over 70 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, we urge the international community not to abandon the continued fight for international justice. The historic Nuremberg trials, set up by the Allies after the Second World War, were followed by the recognition of genocide as an international crime and its codification in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The Convention will remain an empty promise, if its signatories do not act on their legal obligations to prevent and punish atrocities happening today, in places like South Sudan, Iraq, Syria and Myanmar. In Iraq and Syria, the extremist group Da’esh continues to commit genocide in an effort to exterminate the Yazidi and other religious minorities. Notorious for institutionalizing a culture of rape and sex-slavery, thousands of women and girls remain in captivity and continue to endure unspeakable non-killing crimes of genocide by Da’esh. To stop Da’esh from committing genocide, those responsible must to be brought to justice and those assisting the victims must be strongly supported.

 “When it comes to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, there is still an immense gap between resources that go to victim support and international criminal justice compared to military action. For example, U.S. operations against Da’esh cost $12.5 million per day but legal institutions remain severely underfunded and to date, there has been no trial against a Da’esh leader for genocide against the Yazidi. To defeat their ideology, it is crucial to hold perpetrators, including foreign fighters accountable in a fair trial to expose their genocidal campaign.” says GJC’s UN and EU Director, Stephanie Johanssen.

“We also urgently call on countries, to provide refuge to those fleeing the horrors of war and persecution,” she continues. “The United States should not repeat its mistakes of the past: Thousands of Jewish refugees attempting to flee Nazi terror were turned away at first; with the State Department stating they could threaten national security. Now is the time not to give in to extremist groups whose aim is to ignite fear and divide societies. Now is the time to uphold international law and embrace diversity.”

In November of last year, Nadia Murad a genocide survivor who was raped and traded by members of Da’esh stated: “Radicalism shouldn’t be countered with racism. Terrorists see us as inhumans, but we “the free” can’t judge by color, religion, or origin.”

For more information contact:

Stephanie Olszewski (New York), Global Justice Center, solszewski@globaljusticecenter.net +1.212.725.6530 ext. 211