The Budapest Centre for Mass Atrocities Prevention strongly encourages its visitors to take a look at the following high-level event that took place on the 12th of May. The event comprised both State Representatives, members of NGOs and civil society organizations, academics and personal testimonies.

The international community has been brought together to take a stand in the Uyghur Question on this occasion, and some of the propositions and requests consisted of: a tougher response on the part of the UN over China in order to take steps to solve the issue, including a more present stance by the Human Rights Council, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner, and the General Assembly; the imposition of an international and independent investigative mechanism in order to examine and monitor human rights violations in the region and hold perpetrators accountable; the end of importation from Xinjiang to avoid financing abuses.

The position of the speakers can be efficiently summarized by the words of Agnès Callamard, current Secretary-General of Amnesty International, who stressed that silence regarding the situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region “tarnishes the human rights system, weakens the UN overall and betrays our duty to the people of China”.

You can find the full discussion in the link http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/high-level-virtual-event-on-the-situation-of-uyghurs-and-other-turkic-muslim-minorities-in-xinjiang/6253877575001/?term=.

We also share the Joint Statement of Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the situation in Myanmar.

Regrettably, the UN Security Council has not learned the lessons of the genocide committed against the Rohingya people in 2016: its statement released yesterday fails to decide on taking prompt and effective steps for preventing the escalation of the crisis and protecting the population of Myanmar from mass atrocity crimes.

HWPL Statement on Human Rights Crisis in Myanmar

Joint Statement by Alice Wairimu Nderitu, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the situation in Myanmar

 

Throughout the twentieth century, genocide became a frequent occurrence with millions massacred. This has continued into the twentieth-first century, where perpetrators engage in the intentional mass killing of particular groups in society. Such events are not sudden occurrences but take place under particular circumstances developed over time.

To help recognize the evolution of genocidal processes and prevent future tragedies, American scholar Gregory H. Stanton developed the theory of “ten stages of genocide,” which describe the different stages leading up to a genocide. The stages are as follows: (1) classification; (2) symbolization; (3) discrimination; (4) dehumanization; (5) organization; (6) polarization; (7) preparation; (8) persecution; (9) extermination; and (10) denial. This process is not necessarily linear, and stages may occur in parallel to each other.

The authors of the article attempt to demonstrate the role that artificial intelligence (AI) can play throughout that process in terms of how it can exacerbate the situation or prevent its escalation. In particular, AI in relation to (1) the media and (2) surveillance is discussed given that both appear to be the most common features within the ten stages. While there are of course other AI tools that may be employed throughout the genocidal process, they will not be the focus of the paper. The paper merely attempts to introduce its readers to and raise awareness of the ten stages of genocide, providing a detailed overview of said stages, in addition to how AI vis-à-vis the media and surveillance may play a role in the process.

The article is the third piece in the series of reflections, prepared by the group of interns of the Budapest Centre, which aims to illustrate the role of AI in fighting mass atrocities. The authors hope that the document will also contribute to the research planned by the Budapest Centre within the Initiative “Multipolar Task Force.”

Read more by following the link

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming commonplace in every aspect of society at an accelerating rate, employed in civilian industries such as healthcare and education but also for military means. While there are several benefits to such a trend, the rise of AI does not come without challenges.

A paper was published by the Budapest Centre recently on the security risks related to the rise of AI in the context of mass atrocities. This second paper of the series aims to provide an overview of the policies and recommendations made by international and regional organizations in this realm. Building upon this, the paper concludes that the majority of the eight well-known organizations addressed in the paper do not tackle the challenges from a security perspective.

The Budapest Center for Mass Atrocities Prevention, therefore, pushes these organizations to look closer at concrete actions in the field of AI and mass atrocities they could take by articulating policies and recommendations that governments should take on this topic. The paper predominantly targets young people to introduce them to the topic of mass atrocities in relation to AI; however, academics are welcome to utilize this work for their purposes. The authors hope that the document will also contribute to the research planned by the Budapest Centre within the Initiative “Multipolar Task Force.”

Read more by following the link

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming commonplace in every aspect of society at an accelerating rate. However, the rise of AI does not come without challenges. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to raise awareness of some risks AI represents in the context of mass atrocities. The list is non-exhaustive. It includes the exploitation of sensitive data, the question of ethics, cybercrime and warfare, programmes and models run by AI. The paper is written by the team of interns in the Budapest Centre and it mainly targets young people to introduce them to the topic of mass atrocities in relation to AI; however, we also welcome academics to utilize this work for their purposes.

The authors hope that the document will also contribute to the research planned by the Budapest Centre within the Initiative “Multipolar Task Force.”

Read more by following the link

In light of increasing levels of intolerance, discrimination and group hatred in Europe, the CEE Prevent Net project aims at safeguarding young people by strengthening their resilience toward these phenomena and their skills to contribute to a peaceful and democratic society. Building on the previous project European Fair Skills, CEE Prevent Net focuses on Central and Eastern Europe and Eastern Germany, since this region shares common socio-historic experiences, structural conditions and current challenges.

The project’s main objectives comprise fostering the capacity of practitioners from social/youth work and non-formal education to deal with intolerance, group hatred and violence among young people; creating a platform for multi-agency cooperation in the project countries and across the CEE region; mustering support from stakeholders and policy-makers beyond political partisanship and societal cleavages; and raising awareness for CEE issues and approaches in European and international prevention networks, where this region is still under-represented.

The intention of this series of papers is to raise awareness of the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of human rights, and more specifically, mass atrocities. They are written by a group of young research assistants during their internship at the Budapest Centre who will finish their graduate studies in the next months. The articles target people of their age specifically to introduce them to the issue of AI in the context of mass atrocities and grant them a broad overview of it. The papers do not go in-depth; they merely introduce the readers to the topic of AI through the lens of mass atrocities and human rights. While academics are not the primary target, they are welcome to utilize the paper for their own purpose.

“The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: Risks from the Perspective of Mass Atrocities” is the first paper written of this series and presents a global introduction to this topic. Several risks linked to or run by AI in the field of mass atrocities are detailed, such as sensitive data, the question of ethics, cybercrime or warfare.

The second paper that will be published soon regards the policies and recommendations made by international and regional organizations in response to the risks that AI may pose to human rights abuses, including the perpetration of mass atrocities.

More papers on this topic are planned to be published on the social media platforms of the Budapest Center for Mass Atrocities in the forthcoming months.

Young and ambitious researchers are most welcome to participate in this endeavor!!

Stay tuned!


Find the links to the articles below:

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: Risks from the Perspective of Mass Atrocities

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in The Context of Mass Atrocities: Policies and Recommendations from International and Regional Organisations

How AI can either exacerbate or prevent genocides: Reflection based on the 10 Stages of Genocide

The Budapest Centre for Mass Atrocities Prevention (BCMAP) and the Environment & Development Resource Centre (EDRC) aim to set up of a Multipolar Task Force (MTF) to help harmonize the diverging approaches of the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council (P5) on the threats of climate security and digital transformation through the lens of mass atrocities prevention.