Abstract
Raphael Lemkin, the man who founded the term ‘genocide,’ did so with a view to protecting not only physical beings from systematically imposed extinction, but also protecting their cultures from the same fate. However, in the wake of the atrocities and bloodshed of WWII, cultural genocide was omitted from the 1948 Genocide Convention, and as a result, does not constitute an international crime. This omission has left a lacuna in international law which threatens minority groups. Not a threat of loss of life but rather loss of the culture that distinguishes them and identifies them as a minority. Powerful States with indifferent attitudes towards their international obligations face no significantly harsher punishment for cultural genocide than they do for other human rights transgressions. Consequently, cultural genocide continues as minority cultures are rendered extinct at the hands of States. The Case Study of this article investigates the present-day example of the Uyghur minority in China and analyzes whether this modern cultural genocide can pave the way for the recognition of cultural genocide as an international crime or whether the Uyghur culture will become a cautionary tale for minorities in the future.
Highlights
Raphael Lemkin, the man who founded the term ‘genocide,’ did so with a view to protecting physical beings from systematically imposed extinction, and protecting their cultures from the same fate
While there are minority rights protections enshrined in international law, cultural genocide does not fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and, as a result, does not carry a criminal prosecution
As extensive as previous policies targeted at the Uyghur minority may have been, the Case Study will describe how this assimilation has escalated to widespread cultural genocide in China
Summary
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”. Culture and knowledge of cultural heritage anchor a minority firmly within their identity and allow them to carry out their lives as a community distinct from a majority population, be it due to their ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics If this core culture is stripped from a minority people, in the sense that they are left to physically survive but their culture has been forcibly destroyed, they are essentially a shell of their former selves. States that do not comply with minority and human rights obligations do not face serious repercussions if they grievously breach these obligations through implementing policies of cultural genocide This lack of serious consequences for the breaching of minorities’ integral right to their respective cultures constitutes a failing in the minority protection granted by the current international legal framework. The prospect of a way forward for the protection of the Uyghur minority from this cultural genocide, as well as the protection of other minorities in the future, will be discussed
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