In his work to help prevent atrocities and genocide, Adama Dieng, African Union (AU) special envoy on the Prevention of Genocide and Other Mass Atrocities, remembers Egyptian diplomat and former UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s saying that early warning must always be matched by early action – which is what Dieng says is called for in the present crises in Gaza and Sudan.
Dieng, who received the Kemet Boutros Ghali Foundation for Peace and Knowledge (KBG) Award in Cairo this week, said in his acceptance speech that “as I accept this prize, I do so not only in my own name, but also in the name of all those who still believe that peace is possible, that justice matters, and that human dignity is sacred.”
In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, he said he had felt honoured to receive the award, not only because of what it represents but also because it is a call for him and for all Africans. It represents a kind of call for the African people to remember who Boutros-Ghali was, particularly when African people are facing so many conflicts, including what is happening in Sudan and Gaza, he said.
“It is a call to say to all Africans ‘stand up,’ and it is also a call addressed to me saying Adama you need to do more,” he said.
The award, he added, will inspire people throughout the continent to understand that preventing atrocities is not the work of one person but of each and every African who is committed to see the emergence of a peaceful continent.
African leaders, he explained, have long talked about silencing the guns, “but unfortunately we are seeing more and more of them. We see more and more weapons circulating throughout the continent,” Dieng said, which is why now is the time for bold action.
“In my address to the KBG, I focused on who Boutros-Ghali was and the values he stood for and more importantly how he saw leadership. Being a leader does not mean simply sitting on a golden throne. A true leader is someone who loves his or her people and who is ready to demonstrate humility,” Dieng said.
“But that is not always the case with African leaders, which is why I will carry with me the torch that Boutros-Ghali was carrying and which today the KBG is promoting so that we can hopefully see a peaceful Africa in the near future.”
Dieng’s appointment as AU envoy was announced in April last year while the world was commemorating the 30th anniversary of the genocide committed against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994.
He accepted the post because after the horrors of the genocide in Rwanda, it might have been expected that people would learn their lesson and that there would be no more genocide.
“We repeated the slogan ‘never again,’ but later we noticed that never again too often means ‘time and again.’ We have since then seen genocide in Darfur in 2003, in Myanmar against the Rohinga, and in Gaza. We need to stop. We need action, and action is what Boutros-Ghali was also committed to,” Dieng said.
“He promoted an agenda for peace. The world should have listened to his words, which aimed to promote multilateralism. But he was fought by conservatives starting in the US, and we have seen from that time until today that multilateralism has been dwindling. Hopefully within Africa we will see leaders who will stand up and try to save it.”
Commenting on the recent developments in Sudan, Dieng said the situation, particularly in Al-Fasher and the wider Darfur and Kordofan regions has reached a critical and tragic juncture. Since the outbreak of the conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, the civilian population has endured unimaginable suffering.
He noted the clear risk factors in Al-Fasher that could lead to the crime of genocide. “There is no food and no water, and no access for humanitarian aid. The effect of this is really a crime against humanity and of extermination,” he said, adding that there is a wider humanitarian crisis throughout the country caused by the ongoing conflict.
“What is happening in Darfur is a continuation of the fighting that started in 2003. What happened then is genocide, and what continues today is genocide as well. At that time, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor indicted former Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir and other senior officials for crimes against humanity. Now we see the deliberate targeting of civilians that is done through summary executions, arbitrary detention, torture, inhuman treatment in detention, and the denial of food, sanitation, and medical care, and all this is happening in Al-Fasher and the areas surrounding it,” he said.
Dieng said he had called on African heads of state to deploy troops in Khartoum or institute buffer zones between the two warring groups. But there had been no movement.
“I should point out that the AU is an organisation representing various states. The range of manoeuvre of the AU chairperson is limited, but the AU Peace and Security Council, something like the UN Security Council, could have taken action to prevent such atrocities, and it should have moved,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of using Article 4H of the AU Constitutive Act that grants it the right to intervene in any member state facing “grave circumstances” such as war crimes, genocide, or crimes against humanity, following a decision by the AU Assembly.
However, he added that applying Article 4H would mean deploying troops on the ground.
Regarding the situation in Gaza, Dieng reiterated his call to uphold the principles of international law and make sure that Israel is not immune to accountability for its crimes.
For the first time in history, the ICC prosecutor has issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his minister of defence. People had earlier said that the ICC was “for Africans only,” but this is not true, he said. “The ICC indicted someone who is not African and who unfortunately is still being protected by the Western powers, first and foremost the US,” he added.
“Some states have sanctioned the ICC prosecutors simply for doing their duty, and this message is not sent to the court alone. It is sent to victims. It tells them that their suffering will be recognised only when it is convenient and silenced when it threatens the powerful. It tells survivors that their right to justice is negotiable and that their pain can be erased by power. This is where we are today,” he said.
For that to change, it is important for people around the world who love peace and who cherish humanity to stand up. World leaders should show more resistance in saving the people of Palestine, he said.
Recalling his early life, Dieng said that when he was eight years old he had visited the prisons in Senegal where hundreds of thousands of Africans had been detained to be sold as slaves across the Atlantic.
The visit eventually led to his decision to do whatever he could to ease human suffering and promote justice.
He said that the elders in the society he was born in would teach that “the peace of one home keeps the whole village safe.” These teachings shaped his beliefs long before he entered a courtroom or a UN chamber. They taught him that justice and peace begin not in institutions or the pages of a treaty, but in the heart of every woman, man, and child.
Today, Dieng is a human rights expert and lecturer on issues relating to international humanitarian law, human rights law, and international criminal justice. He has been the AU envoy since April 2024, having earlier been UN under-secretary and special adviser on the Prevention of Genocide from 2012 to 2020. He also served as registrar of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda from 2001 to 2008.
Before joining the UN, Dieng was secretary general of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (1990-2000). He also served, in 1993, as envoy of the UN secretary general to Malawi to mediate between the government and various groups. He was the driving force behind the establishment of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights and produced the draft of the African Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.
The Kemet Boutros Ghali Foundation for Peace and Knowledge was established in 2018 by a group of prominent figures in culture and diplomacy. It seeks to perpetuate the legacy of the late Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1922-2016), with the aim of promoting his core beliefs of dialogue, the free access to information, and peace.
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* A version of this article appears in print in the 20 November, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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