GENEVA: Hundreds of UN staff at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OH­CHR) Volker Turk have asked him to explicitly describe the Gaza conflict as an unfolding genocide, according to a letter.

The letter, sent on Wednesday, said the staff consider that the legal criteria for genocide have been met, citing the scale, scope and nature of violations documented there.

“The OHCHR has a strong legal and moral resp­­onsibility to deno­un­­ce acts of genocide,” said the letter, signed by the Sta­­­ff Committee on beha­­lf of over 500 employees, which called on Turk to take a “clear and public position”.

“Failing to denounce an unfolding genocide un­­d­­­e­­­­rmines the credibility of the UN and the hu­­­man rights system itself,” it added.

It cited the international body’s perceived moral failure for not doing more to stop the 1994 Rwanda genocide that killed more than one million people.

There was no immediate response from the Israeli foreign ministry.

The Geneva-based hu­­m­­­­an rights agency was cre­­ated in 1993 and tas­ked with promoting and protecting rights for all.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2025