Today Marks International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime

The United Nations has declared December 9, 2015, the first International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.

The resolution was led by the Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the United Nations and had the support of over 80 member countries. The date of December 9 was chosen in honor of December 9, 1948 – the day the UN adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

On this day, all UN member and observer states are encouraged to observe the International Day to raise awareness of the 1948 Convention and its role in combating and preventing the crime of genocide. The International Day also reiterates the responsibility of every country to protect its citizens from genocide and fight impunity.

The International Day also acknowledges that survivors and others affected by genocide call for a form of memorialization, which also plays an important role in the prevention of genocide.

In the photo above, survivors of five genocides whose testimonies are in the Visual History Archive posed for photographer David Strick in Los Angeles, April 2015. Clockwise from left: Edith Umugiraneza (Rwandan Tutsi Genocide), Dario Gabbai (Holocaust) Sara Pol-Lim (Cambodian Genocide), Aracely Garrido (Guatemalan Genocide), Yevnigue Salibian (Armenian Genocide).