Law Of Genocide Research Articles

The Evolution of Genocide Law: An Examination on the Role of the Bosnian War

Bu makale, 1992-1995 Bosna Savaşı ve Sırbistan'a karşı yürütülen hukuki süreçlerin uluslararası soykırım hukukunun evrimine etkilerini incelemektedir. Soykırımı Önleme ve Cezalandırma Sözleşmesi'nin uygulanmasındaki gelişmeleri ve zorlukları, savaşın uluslararası hukuk sistemine etkisini ve Uluslararası Adalet Divanı gibi uluslararası kurumların rolünü, ilgili mahkeme kararlarının öne çıkan hükümlerinin hukuki analizi yöntemiyle değerlendirmiştir. Makale, hukuki sorumluluklar, devlet egemenliği ve uluslararası camiada soykırımın siyasallaşması arasındaki kesişimi kritik bir şekilde analiz etmektedir.

Genocide in “Common Parlance”: Grief and the Political Persecution of Colombia’s Patriotic Union Party

ABSTRACT “Genocide” is a key frame through which death is given social significance. Scholars have argued that genocide sits at the top of a hierarchy of grief – signalling it as the most profound paradigm through which those killed can be mourned. How does the mourning of life unfold when legal and social conceptualizations of genocide diverge? And what does this divergence tell us about the power of “genocide” as a label for violence? Focusing on the extermination campaign against Colombia’s Patriotic Union (UP) political party, this paper examines how recent transitional justice programmes have interpreted the question of genocide and violence against political groups. I specifically trace the development of two separate, discursive registers of genocide: one legal and one of “common parlance.” In so doing, I contribute to scholarly concern with the question of genocide and political groups in two ways. First, I interpret the exclusion of political groups from legal definitions of genocide as a question of grieveable life. Secondly, scholarly debate has focused on whether or not political groups ought to be protected under genocide law. I diverge from these questions to trace how emergent genocide discourses include political groups as a socially but not legally included within the term’s purview. I thus argue for scholarly attention to how political groups are interpellated in a manner that neither fully recognizes nor denies their status as victims of genocide.

Religious Group Identities in Genocide: Social Identity Theory as a Tool for Disentangling Law and Religion

ABSTRACT Everyone has multiple intersecting identities and belongs to several groups. In cases of genocide, how do courts deal with intersecting identities? Are they relevant for the identification of the victims? This paper argues that social identity theory may assist in the legal interpretation of the ‘religious group’ of the law of genocide where individuals are targeted for their – perceived or real –membership of a competing religious group. According to the theory, personal (religious) identity is based on membership in significant social categories that lead to ‘us versus them’ dichotomies, favouring the in-group over the out-group. Identity competition plays a central role in the inception and escalation of intergroup conflicts, including those that occur along religious fault lines. Genocide is a type of intergroup conflict but is not usually framed as such by international criminal lawyers. This paper discusses social identity theory, intergroup conflict, religion, and the case law on genocide. In exploring the relevance of social identity theory for the law of genocide, it argues that the current jurisprudential approach of blending group membership criteria, based on the ‘four corners’ approach, is flawed. The cases of Rwanda, the Former Yugoslavia, Cambodia, India, and Myanmar exemplify the relevance of the theory.

Conceptualizing the National Group for the Crime of Genocide: Is Law Able to Account for Identity Fault Lines?

Abstract“National group” is one of four victim groups that is explicitly protected by international criminal law from genocide. At the core of any genocide lies an element of identity. Yet, the fixed group categories that the law provides for seemingly do not conform to the fluidity of group identities. Is the law at all able to account for identity fault lines? By recourse to research on identity construction and otherness, this article argues that the interpretation of the law of genocide can benefit, structurally and legally, from insight into the forces at work before a genocide erupts. In recognizing the perpetrator’s definitional power over the victim group, the courts should increasingly focus their investigation into the mind of thegénocidairesand their perception of the national victim group. In addition to discussing the dynamics of intergroup conflicts leading up to a genocide, this article also looks at the jurisprudence of criminal courts on the issues of nationality, national groups, and national identity for the crime of genocide.

Protecting Minorities from Discrimination and Mass Violence through Provisional Measures Indicated by the International Court of Justice

Although not traditionally thought of as a particularly important piece of the UN machinery for the protection of minorities, the International Court of Justice (icj) has made in this area important jurisprudential contributions. The icj can also take a more immediate step towards protecting minority rights by indicating provisional measures, as it did in the Bosnian Genocide case, in both cases of a racial discrimination lawsuit filed against Russia and, most recently, in Qatar v. United Arab Emirates. The purpose of this article is twofold: (1) by critically analysing the selected cases in which provisional measures were requested, to assess the contribution of the icj’s rulings (and appended judicial opinions) on such measures to interpreting, defining the content and developing the law of genocide, racial discrimination and equal treatment of minorities, and (2) to examine the potential for the icj to enhance the protection of minorities by indicating provisional measures.

The ictr and Its Contribution to the Revivification of International Criminal Law

In this article, Emily Crawford explores one set of key institutional and legal responses to, and consequences of, the Rwanda genocide – the ictr and the revival of icl that the ictr and the icty heralded. Tracing the development of the concept and institutions of icl, Crawford observes how the case law of the [ad hoc] tribunals, and the ictr in particular, were pivotal in progressively developing the international law of genocide, and the law of non-international armed conflict’.

From Abstraction to Intent: The Law of Genocide and Its Insights into the Genocidal Mindset

The legal concept of genocide is heavily predicated on the subjective element of the crime –in particular, on the existence of specific genocidal intent. The factors which give rise to such intent have, that far, received little attention in legal debate; yet the insights which the law, in particular through past cases of alleged genocide which were investigated by international criminal tribunals, can provide for this question, can be valuable. On this basis, this study investigates the pathways to intent and identifies, in this regard, the process of abstraction as a condition which not only lowers inhibitions on the side of the potential genocidaire but also allows for the emergence of a position of indifference on the side of bystanders to the relevant crimes. The study explores in a preliminary step the differences between the legal and the social concept of genocide and outlines the main weaknesses of the legal understanding of the crime. But the article also highlights the advantages of a concept which places emphasis on the subjective part of the crime and which places the individual perpetrator at the basis of its contemplation. It is that perspective which permits crucial insights into the subjective development of genocide and which, ultimately, can lead to the formulation of preventive strategies at the early stages of a situation which raises concerns within the international community.

Responding to modern genocide: at the confluence of law and politics

Developments in the understanding and treatment of genocide through the twentieth century have involved a combination of politics, public opinion, social trends, and economic development, and led to the substantive law of genocide and the assumption of international jurisdiction. This book analyzes incidences of genocide and mass atrocities, focusing on the political factors involved in modern counter-genocide efforts. Drawing on incidences of genocide and mass atrocity such as the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and the Armenian genocide, Mark Kielsgard adopts a conceptual model that reveals the political factors which impact the international law of genocide, such as barriers and catalysts to transitional justice and the politics of genocide denial. As a work which provides a focused picture of those influences and their significance to genocide studies, this book will be of great use and interest to students and researchers in international criminal law, conflict studies, and conflict resolution.

Modernization of the Genocide Clause of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

The present Article brings up an issue on the necessity to modernize the disposition of Article 357 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (genocide). As a reference for improvement of the genocide law, the authors used the criminal codes of some foreign countries that expanded the term of genocide under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide signed in the year 1948. The revealed ways of improving the genocide law were critically analyzed. The inclusion of sexual assault into the list of acts of genocide along with the excessive expansion of the groups protected by the law on the abovementioned crime are negatively assessed. The recognition of a concept of cultural genocide, which is elimination of a group possessing any distinctive cultural features by liquidation of such features, is considered as a rational way of modernizing the genocide law. The analysis of Article 357 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation revealed that similar expansion of the “genocide” term does not contradict its core features. As a conclusion, the authors of the present Article suggest a new edition of Article 357 of the Criminal Code.

Children, Armed Conflict, and Genocide: Applying the Law of Genocide to the Recruitment and Use of Children in Armed Conflict

This paper shows that the use of child soldiers in armed conflict has the potential to be considered as genocide. A brief background of genocide is presented prior to the analysis. Part I, of the analysis, will discuss three issues: First, the modern understanding of genocide and the substantive areas of law that govern it; Second, the definition of ‘child’ within the international arena as it relates to child soldering; Third, a discussion to determine if children can constitute a ‘group’ in the context of the law of genocide. Part II provides a discussion elaborating on Part I then analyzing the five disjunctive elements of genocide. A general rule will be synthesized for each element. General rules are synthesized from judicial decisions interpreting the genocide regime, soft law, and scholarly writings. Each element includes an analysis to determine applicability of the element as it relates to child soldiers.

RWANDA: Genocide Law Amended

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural SeriesVolume 50, Issue 7 p. 19774B-19774C Internal Developments RWANDA: Genocide Law Amended First published: 23 August 2013 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-825X.2013.05217.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume50, Issue7August 2013Pages 19774B-19774C RelatedInformation

Is the Sun Setting on Cosmopolitan Justice?

Reports on the UN criminal tribunals and the related hybrid courts raise grave concerns about their sustainability in terms of costs and their legal standards in respect of evidence. The effectiveness of the current courts is compared to the domestic prosecution of offenders from the Auschwitz concentration camp. Although the Auschwitz court failed to capture the enormity of the crime of genocide, there are nonetheless good reasons to re-visit the use of domestic courts and other remedies for such crimes today, particularly after adoption of the genocide law by nation states. Ideals of cosmopolitan justice behind the UN courts are being exported to societies that are ill-equipped to apply or afford them; and domestic legal development suffers as a consequence.

Genocide

This article explores the expectations placed on the law of genocide and the realities of what international criminal justice can provide in applying it. It traces a number of problems and identifies the law as inevitably falling short of the significant expectations placed on it. Although recognizing the political realities of the crime of genocide make this highly challenging, this article argues that definitional normative issues must be addressed. Above all the international community must achieve clarity as to what purpose it pursues using the law of genocide and must further reconsider how it does so. It is apparent that the law of genocide is applied in a variety of contexts for a number of purposes. This contribution ventures that each area should be treated individually without the expectation that a “one size fits all” solution exists. A failure to act accordingly will result in further disappointment with this highly symbolic norm and ultimately undermine international criminal law and justice as a whole.

Is victim identity in genocide a question of science or law? The scientific perspective, with special reference to Darfur

In genocide, victims must represent an ethnic, racial, religious or national group. But is victim identity a question of science or law? Must victims be a socially recognized group or can group identity exist solely in the mind of the perpetrator? This question is relevant to the on-going crisis in Darfur. The "Arab-on-African" violence depicted in the media encompasses identities not shared by Darfurians. This study details an evaluation of victim identity in Darfur, based on field research and literature review. Darfurians are defined by subsistence strategy and economic groups are not protected under genocide law. Whether Darfur is genocide depends on whether victims must conform to scientific group classifications or need only be defined by their relationship to the perpetrators.

Again, and Again, and Again: Why We Fail in the Face of Genocide

Author(s): Bhat, Radhika | Abstract: After the exposure of the Nazi atrocities against ethnic and religious groups in World War II, the international community declared that it would never stand for such violence again. To this end, the member states of the United Nations passed the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948. Yet, despite this codification of international law pertaining to genocide and genocide-like crimes, these crimes continue to abound, leaving no recent decade untouched. This thesis seeks to understand the reasons for the continuing prevalence of genocide and genocide-like crimes through an analysis of the body of genocide law, the actualities of state practice in the current international system, and the United Nations’ ideology and practices. In closing, it presents a series of recommendations intended to increase the prevention, suppression, and prosecution of genocide and genocide-like crimes.

Darfur and the ‘Odious Scourge’: The Commission of Inquiry's Findings on Genocide

The report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, set up pursuant to a UN Security Council resolution, is an important contribution to the evolving law of genocide. The Commission concluded that genocide had not been committed, but that the case should be referred to the International Criminal Court for prosecution as crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Commission did not find significant evidence of genocidal intent. It looked essentially for a plan or policy of the Sudanese state and, in its absence, concluded that genocide was not being committed. The Commission endorsed the ‘stable and permanent groups’ approach taken by one trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). On this point, it exaggerated the acceptance of this interpretation, which has been ignored by other trial chambers of the international tribunals. However, the Commission found that the better approach to determination of the groups covered by the Convention is subjective, and that the targeted tribes in Darfur meet this criterion.

The Law of Genocide in the Jurisprudence of ICTY and ICTR in 2004

The Law of Genocide in the Jurisprudence of ICTY and ICTR in 2004

The Prohibition of Genocide as a Norm of Ius Cogens and its Implications for the Enforcement of the Law of Genocide

The Prohibition of Genocide as a Norm of Ius Cogens and its Implications for the Enforcement of the Law of Genocide

The Criminal Law of Genocide. The German Perspective

The Criminal Law of Genocide. The German Perspective

The Criminal Law of Genocide. The Slovenian Perspective

The Criminal Law of Genocide. The Slovenian Perspective