Notes on Genocide
Embedded Files
What is Genocide?
Genocide, the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race. The term, derived from the Greek genos (“race,” “tribe,” or “nation”) and the Latin cide (“killing”), was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-born jurist who served as an adviser to the U.S. Department of War during World War II.
Genocide Becomes International Law
1948 United Nations General Assembly
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, commonly known as the Genocide Convention, was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948, and came into effect on January 12, 1951. This international treaty was established in response to the atrocities committed during World War II, particularly the Holocaust.
Key points of the Genocide Convention include:
1. Definition of Genocide: It defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. This includes killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group.
2. Prevention and Punishment: The convention obliges signatory countries to prevent and punish the crime of genocide, whether committed in times of peace or war.
3. International Cooperation: It emphasizes the need for international collaboration in enforcing the provisions of the convention, encouraging countries to enact appropriate laws.
4. Jurisdiction: The convention allows for individuals accused of genocide to be tried by national or international tribunals.
5. Signatories: Over 150 countries are parties to the convention, which reflects a global commitment to prevent and punish genocide.
The Genocide Convention is a significant legal framework in international law and human rights, aiming to protect vulnerable groups and hold perpetrators accountable.
International Courts
In the 1990's, as a result of the Bosnian and Rwandan genocide, the UN Security Council established separate tribunals, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
The Rwandan tribunal, stated that genocide included “subjecting a group of people to a subsistence diet, systematic expulsion from homes and the reduction of essential medical services below minimum requirement.” It also ruled that “rape and sexual violence constitute genocide… as long as they were committed with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a particular group, targeted as such”—as was the case in the Rwandan conflict, where the government, dominated by the Hutu ethnic group, organized the mass rape of ethnic Tutsi women by HIV-infected men.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse