Joint Statement from Human Rights Associations Welcomes Message from Hundreds of UN Employees Calling for Gaza Events to be Labeled as Genocide

A joint statement issued by human rights associations and organizations welcomes the message from hundreds of United Nations employees calling for the situation in Gaza to be described as genocide.

Geneva, August 28, 2025

We, the undersigned human rights organizations, express our full support for the courageous initiative taken by hundreds of employees of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who called on Mr. Volker Turk to name the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against civilians in the Gaza Strip by their true name; ongoing genocide.

While we appreciate the courage of more than 500 employees within the United Nations system who raised their voices in professional and humanitarian conscience, we affirm that silence or ambiguity in describing the facts is inconsistent with the spirit of international law and the message of the United Nations itself.

Major international organizations have adopted this precise legal characterization, as did the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who considered what is happening in Gaza to be genocide, based on the scale and systematic nature of the crimes. Therefore, the High Commissioner's hesitation to adopt this characterization undermines the credibility of the Commission and recalls the historical failure of the United Nations during the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

We call on the Commission's employees to continue their professional and ethical pressure on their leadership, to steadfastly and courageously maintain their position until the end, and not to succumb to any attempts to retreat or silence their voices.

We also demand that the High Commissioner rise to the level of the moral and legal responsibility placed upon him, through a clear and unequivocal position.

We affirm that the international community and all United Nations institutions, foremost among them the Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice, must build on this initiative and support it with practical and tangible steps to stop the ongoing genocide and hold its perpetrators accountable.

History will not forgive those who fail to name crimes by their names, nor will it absolve international institutions that chose silence in the face of documented genocide perpetrated by the Israeli occupation in Gaza for nearly two years. Meanwhile, the United Nations employees who dared to speak the truth and those who follow in their footsteps have embodied the essence of the humanitarian values upon which the United Nations was founded.

*Signatories*: 

1- Victims of Torture Association - Geneva 

2- Al-Shehab Center for Human Rights - London

3- Free Voice Organization for Human Rights - Paris

4- Justice for Human Rights - JHR

5- International Afdi Organization 

6- Tawasul for Human Rights - The Hague, Netherlands

7- Cedar for Human Rights - Lebanon

8- Council for Egyptian Rights - Geneva

9- Najda for Human Rights 

10- Human Rights Monitor 

11- Arab Observatory for Media Freedom 

12- Al-Karama Organization for Human Rights - Geneva 

13- SAM Organization for Rights and Freedoms - Geneva