Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the difference between genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes; and to what extent they consider the risk of the annihilation of a group of people a distinguishing factor between each of those.

It is the policy of the British Government, that any judgment as to whether war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide have occurred is a matter for judicial decision after consideration of all the available evidence, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. This approach provides a clear, impartial, and independent measure of whether genocide has occurred.

As the majority of mass atrocities occur in and around conflict, the Government believes a focus on conflict prevention is the best means to prevent most mass atrocities. The Government adopts a whole-of-government effort, using our diplomatic, development, defence and law enforcement capabilities, to help find pathways to peace and stability.

As a party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the UK is fully committed to the prevention and punishment of genocide as appropriate under the Convention. This is reflected in the Government's support for the remit of the International Criminal Court under the Rome Statute. The Government has also supported the establishment of evidence gathering mechanisms and fact finding missions such as the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, the Burma collect and preserve mechanism, and the Daesh Investigative Team.