This APR2P briefing memo is intended as an aide memoire for governments, civil society organisations, and others engaged in the prevention of atrocity crimes in the Asia Pacific region. The COVID–19 pandemic has the potential to increase the risk of atrocity crimes in some parts of the world. In these difficult times, it is important to look carefully at the potential implications of COVID-19 for atrocity crimes.
This briefing identifies some of the principal implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for atrocity prevention in the Asia Pacific region and steps that could be taken to address them.
In the Asia Pacific, COVID-19 has the potential to increase the challenges associated with atrocity prevention in four principal ways:
• Creating further harm to vulnerable populations already threatened by atrocity crimes;
• Contributing to crises that could trigger atrocity crimes;
• Heightening the underlying risk of atrocity crimes;
• Weakening regional and international capacity and resolve.
This briefing can be accessed from our COVID-19 and Atrocity Prevention page, or it can be downloaded here (PDF, 216KB).
