The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was unanimously adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948 and has been ratified or acceded to by 152 States as of July 2019.
The convention establishes on State Parties the obligation to take measures to prevent and to punish the crime of genocide, including by enacting relevant legislation and punishing perpetrators, “whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals”.
Despite this, a total of 42 countries/states are neither signatories nor parties to the convention. From those, 19 are from Africa, 17 from Asia and 6 from the Americas. The Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide "calls upon all United Nations Member States that are not yet party to the Genocide Convention, to ratify or accede to it as a matter of priority, so that the Genocide Convention becomes an instrument of universal membership."
