UNITED NATIONS, May 4: The United Nations announced on Wednesday the appointment of Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu of South Africa among seven diverse experts to support the UN’s special adviser on the prevention of genocide and to contribute to the broader efforts of the UN to prevent such massive crimes against humanity.

The advisory committee on genocide prevention, composed of senior personalities with backgrounds ranging from conflict prevention to human rights, peacekeeping, diplomacy and mediation, will be chaired by David Hamburg, President Emeritus of the Carnegie Foundation, and meet twice during this year. The first meeting has been scheduled for June 19 and 20.

Secretary General Kofi Annan had named Juan Méndez his first special adviser on genocide prevention in July 2004. He has a mandate to collect information on massive and serious violations of human rights that could lead to genocide and to bring potential genocidal situations to the attention of the UN Security Council.

Among his activities, Mr Méndez has made repeated visits to Sudan’s Darfur region and has submitted a number of recommendations to the Secretary-General and to Security Council about what needs to be done to stem the anarchy.