The United Nations on Wednesday marked the first international day to commemorate victims of genocide and push for ways to prevent what the UN also calls the "crime of crimes."
The occasion comes as UN officials fear the violence in Burundi could spiral out of control. Our UN Correspondent Liling Tan has the story.
IN: "I now ask…"
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DUR: 3:15
SOT: "I now ask that you join me in observing a minute of silence in honor of all of those around the world who have perished through the crime of genocide."
Morgens Lykketoft, President of the UN General Assembly kicked off the first international day set aside to honor the victims of genocide, a crime under international law.
In recent decades genocide has occurred in Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, but the crime also dates back to the Holocaust and the Armenian Massacre of the early 1900s.
Adama Dieng, the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, said the day was not just about looking back.
SOT: "This day call to action - memory as a step towards action. Let us not continue to repeat the mistakes of the past. Let us act now to stop genocide from being part of our present and our future."
But the threat of genocide remains very present.
Only twelve years after a civil war ripped the country apart, Burundi once again stands on the brink war, as the government and the opposition are accused of pitting ethnic groups against each other in a conflict that has dragged on for eight months.
The warning came earlier this week at the UN, from Adama Dieng the UN special advisor on genocide.
SOT: "I would not say that tomorrow there will be a genocide in Burundi, but there is a serious risk that if we do not stop the ongoing violence this may end with a civil war, and following such a civil war everything is possible."
The threat isn't just in Burundi.
Jan Eliasson, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, said that from Syria to Iraq and Yemen, from South Sudan to Mali and the Central African Republic, suffering continues and in many cases, civilians are being targeted because of their religion or ethnicity… because of who they are.
SOT: "For the sake of history, for the sake of security and for the sake of humanity, we must protect all populations, wherever they are. And we must not let future generations bear the cost and shame of our inaction."
Eliasson added that the obligation to prevent genocide is strongly anchored in international law, but it is also a political and moral responsibility.
SOT: "Let us never again say "never again" without taking serious action to prevent the unspeakable affront to human dignity and life – genocide."
UN officials also expressed concern about rising intolerance and xenophobia against refugees fleeing to Europe and in reaction to terrorist attacks.
Noting that even the U.S. has witnessed this type of discourse, the UN special advisor on genocide warned that this kind of manipulation of people's fears for political gain is not only sickening, but also dangerous.
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