U.N. expert says World can and must act before Genocide Unfolds by UN Wire 10:23am 21st Jul, 2004   July 20, 2004    Juan Mendez, the first U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, said in an interview with Inter Press Service that he rejects the notion that the international community cannot intervene in situations unless they reach the level of genocide.    "It seems like we are hung up on qualifying a conflict before we decide to act," he said.  "It's true that the definition triggers certain responses by the international community, but the worst thing we can do is use the definition to sit around and decide whether the definition has been triggered or not."    The U.N. Security Council can take action against a country when there is a threat to international peace and stability, whether or not there is a fear that genocide is occurring, Mendez noted.    Mendez, a former political prisoner and torture survivor, said his role is also to give a voice to victims or potential victims of genocide.  He has been focusing on the situation in Sudan's Darfur region, where some observers say there are indications of genocide and ethnic cleansing.    "My mandate is that I should be guided by the international definition of genocide, but at the same time, my mandate is not to qualify situations as having reached the level of genocide or not, but precisely to give advanced warning before they get to that point," he said, adding that his position was created to "escape the straitjacket of the definition" of genocide.
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