The Crime of Genocide - Essay Example

Crime of Genocide Introduction: Genocide represents the deliberate elimination of a racial, ethnic, religious, or national group of human beings, generally by killing them. Such a measure is considered as a crime of all crimes. Several laws and legislations have hence been passed by national legislative bodies against such an act of crime. In courts in the United States, civil proceedings have been found to be held on perpetrators of genocide followed by movements to voice the steps and measures required to be considered against genocide act (Totten 2008). The term genocide was established in the year 1944 by Raphael Lemkin in one of his books that he wrote. The word was however first used in the context of crime in judgment of cases starting with the Justice Case. Initially genocide was considered as a sub-category of crime as it included intentional killing of groups of human beings, destruction or extermination of the groups of individuals. Considering the perspective of the Genocide Convention of 1948, the understanding of the crime of genocide had become significantly narrower than what is crime considered as against humanity (Aydin n.d.). Genocide has been distinctly distinguished as a crime from the other crimes that occur against humanity. The key difference of genocide with other crimes lies in the deliberate intention to kill or eliminate sections of human beings from the society by killing. Such intent to destroy includes the intention to eliminate national, religious, or ethnic groups of people. As these acts represent crimes against humanity, hence genocide is also sometimes considered as a sub-category of crimes against humanity (Aydin n.d.). Aim of the Study: The aim of the present study is to focus and understand the crime of genocide, considering cases where such acts have taken place, and studying the existing laws and legislations against such acts of crime against humanity. Objectives of the Study: Considering the aim of the study, the following objectives have been set: To understand the concept of genocide To learn why genocide is considered as a crime and hence to understand the explanation of the crime of genocide To learn about the laws and legislations, and the conventions associated with crime of genocide. Literature Review: The Origins: Although the term genocide has been given to the act of the killing groups and masses of people over the recent years, studies reveal that the origins of such an act can be dated back to millions of years ago. However the historical records that are available about the genocide in earlier times are not dependable for the purpose of research. In the early times, genocides were acted upon not only to remove certain sections of people, or ethnic groups from the society, but also to exploit few of such members of the group being eliminated. Males were the mostly killed ones including smaller children (The Origins of Genocide n.d.). Ancient wars represent cases of genocides of selective people considering the gender of the people and killing them in masses. Examples of such acts of genocides during the ancient times include the destructions caused by the Assyrian Empire during the first millennium of the BCE. The destruction of Melos by the Athens also presented gendercidal rampage during the time of the Peloponnesian War. The first genocide that was recorded by Ben Kiernan was the siege of the Roman and ultimate destruction of Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War. However there has been significant debate on these issues and also on the designation set for the first genocide that as recorded (The Origins of Genocide n.d.). The Crime of Genocide: UN Convention: The term genocide has been derived from a combination of two individual terms – ‘genos’ which is a Greek word meaning a group or a tribe, and ‘cide’ representing the Latin word meaning killing. This term was first used in the year 1944 when Lemkin used it in his written book to explain the policies of extermination practiced by the Third Reich and its associates. Lemkin had a significant contribution in initiating the process of adoption of the United Nations Convention for the prevention and punishment of genocide, before which such measures were not associated with genocide (Moore and Pubantz 2008). Fournet (2007) discussed in studies that genocide represents a specific crime and probably ended during the time of the Second World War. This was followed after the destruction of the Jews in Europe. Considering the severity of the crime, there were significant reactions from the legal powers and the society as a whole to create punishments for such acts of crime, as well as to prevent such acts from taking place. It was in the year 1948 that the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was considered. This convention came into effect three years later in 1951 (Fournet 2007). United Nations was primarily founded to ward off the negative effects of the Second World War. Human rights and peace were mainly concerned by the charter of the organization. As Henham and Behrens (2013) mentioned in their studies, the “term ‘genocide’ itself was used in the Nuremberg indictment of 18 October 1945”. It was during the Resolution of 11 December 1946 that genocide was approved and considered as a crime under the international law as recognized by the Charter of the International Military Tribunal. Following this in the year 1948, the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the General Assembly. At this point of time, it was considered and accepted by all parties that genocide is a crime and that punishment and prevention measures would be associated with such an act of crime (Henham and Behrans 2013). The definition of the act of genocide as was decided upon by the UN Convention that stated that it is an act performed with the intent to destroy either as a section or as a total group of people belonging to certain communities of the national, religious, or ethnic groups. Such a definition was mainly decided to bring about prevention on the occurrence of such acts particularly after the experiences of the Jews and other groups associated with the Holocaust. However, it was believed by several groups that the criteria to define and understand the crime of genocide were not sufficient. Such beliefs had arisen from the fact that there were certain subgroups related to whom the physical destruction were not considered by the UN Convention, whereas such groups were equally made victims to such acts of crimes. A proper definition of the act of crime was effectively missing owing to the lack of negotiations between the different parties (Moore and Pubantz 2008). Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide: Researchers have obtained significant argument and debate on the issue determining whether punishing the individuals or groups or powers that were involved in such acts of intended killing of people, could actually prevent such crimes of genocide from occurring. Punishment has always been considered as the means to enforce laws and cause prevention of crimes. It was expected that a deterrent effect would arise with the possible acts of punishment on the criminals performing such acts. There are several views and arguments of such deterrence that could possibly be achieved with punishments (Totten 2011). For instance, some philosophers believed that with one individual, or any particular group being put on trial for performing such an act, would actually deter only that particular individual or group from committing the same crime again, resulting from the fear of the punishment of being sentenced. There are other views that stated that with one individual being punished, prevention would be effected on the society as a whole as the entire society would feel the fear of the punishment being inflicted upon the criminal. Also, with acts of punishments, the society feels and experienced the need to react sternly to such acts of crime, which was considered as essential by the UN Convention and have been significantly researched by several researchers (Totten 2011). As Inazumi (2005) reflected in studies, the crime of genocide is undoubtedly one of the terrible crimes that could occur in any society. However, although the UN Convention had taken initiatives to create punishments for such acts and hence try to prevent the acts of genocide, the Convention had not proved to be significantly effective in providing for a universal jurisdiction. In the words of Inazumi, “it was considered to be contradictory not to allow universal jurisdiction for such gross and serious human rights violations as genocide while other crimes of lesser gravity came were subject to universal jurisdiction” (Inazumi 2005). Research Methodology: Research Philosophy: A combination of positivism and interpretivism has been chosen as the philosophy to be followed in this research. In accordance with positivism, apparent facts in association with a subject matter are acquired on account of systematic methods and therefore the study and its results remain neutral in quality. The technique of interpretivism reveals the individual understanding of different people as can be deduced from their measures and attitudes and as a result ascertains an understanding on the current topic of research (Collins, 2010). Research Approach and Technique: Secondary research has been followed in this study based on a qualitative approach. Based on qualitative research, a standard method is followed, of allowing for the current topic of research and hence involves the information that is accessible trying to conclude on result of the research. Consequently individual know-how, previous researches, and case studies are the key sources depending on which data has been collected and studied for qualitative analysis (Thomas, 2003). The current study has reflected on qualitative research method to settle on an understanding of the crime of genocide and the UN Convention of prevention and punishment of the act. Collection of Data: Secondary sources have been depended upon for collection of data for this study that generally comprises of academic resources involving the researches carried out by earlier researches on this particular subject. Secondary data are not original however can be used to study and analyze on the current research topic (Malhotra, 2008). Books, journals, and reports obtainable from the internet have been mainly followed for this research. Primary data collection has not been considered as it requires significant amount of time and cost which is much higher than the secondary data collection method. Ethical Considerations: Ethical issues have been appropriately taken care of and upheld during the time when the research work was being performed. Tremendous concern has been considered during the compilation and examination of information ensuring that professional ethics is not distressed by any unlawful actions. While working with the information related to genocide and cases involving such acts of crime, care has been taken on the issue of the limitations of details and their exposures. Credibility and Verification: Books and journals have been mainly used for the research as they are dependable in character and offer with vital information for the current topic of the study. In addition, adequate care has been considered to make sure that the internet websites used were not fake and that they did not have any wrong data regarding any issue related to the subject that could be extremely deceptive for the outcome of the research. Findings & Analysis: Genocide: The Cases Reported: The Failure of UN Convention: One of the most significant cases of genocide has been represented by the Nazi Genocide. The Nazi genocide had not occurred in nothingness. As far as the national community in Germany was concerned, genocide was considered as the only fundamental method of eliminating groups of people from the German society. The Nazi genocide encouraged upon understanding the political ideology and human inequality based on race, prevalent in the country. The Nazi movement was based on this ideology where in 1933; a political framework was created by the Nazis that actually translated the ideology of human inequality into the policy of exclusion of individuals from the society (Friedlander 1997). Even in the present times the dictatorship of the Nazis is still found to be present. The significant presence of the Nazi effects in the past has led its presence felt in the present times as well being subject of significant research for researchers (Wachsmann 1999). The intervention for prevention of genocide required six preconditions to be fulfilled. These include: (1) The basic intention of the intervention needs to be just; (2) The necessity of the intervention can be decided upon by only a legitimate team of authority; (3) Immoral reasons showing good in disguise cannot be covered under the purpose of intervention; (4) The intervention needs to be considered as a means of last resort considering other alternatives have already been followed; (5) There should be a rational probability for the intervention to succeed; and (6) The cost of the intervention should not exceed the desired outcome of the intervention (Heidenrich 2001). However, considering these preconditions, it was researched and realized that if the main purpose of the intervention was to prevent the crime of genocide, then the fulfillment of these six preconditions could actually result to significant harm than do any good to the purpose. It could be said that the decision makers were not completely supportive in their objectives for setting up the intervention and the preconditions along (Heidenrich 2001). As already mentioned in the study, the UN Convention had intended to punish and hence prevent the act of genocide. However the debate is on the fact whether the UN had been successful in what it intended to achieve. The Holocaust was known to be a significant event associated with the Second World War depicting one of the largest conflicts that the world could witness. During this time, the Nazi Germans took charge of wars and conquests and the Jews were intentionally killed who lived at the borders of the country. The number of victims gradually increased as could be reflected from the Nazi war, with individuals being suffered through brutal acts of killing and prosecutions (Bergen 2009). Adolf Eichmann is the man who can be said to be representing the Nazi group that demanded deaths of several European Jews and hence personified as the perpetrators of Nazi genocide (Cesarani n.d.). Initially it was believed that an international organization would be capable of preventing genocide. However, when the acts of genocide could not be prevented in Rwanda and other regions, the UN decided that right direction and effort would be required to prevent genocide and hence this was tried to be obtained by the formation and delivery of the UNOCI (United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire). A supportive and determined Security Council was part of the UNOCI that proved to be successful in preventing genocide acts from taking place (Peifer 2009). The incident of genocide at Rwanda reflected upon the lack of cooperation and dedication towards the main purpose of the Convention and intervention to prevent the crime (Wilt, Wilt and Vervliet 2012). As could be obtained from the available information, there were two main duties associated with the UN Convention of 1948 for the purpose of prevention of genocide. These two duties included: (1) The genocidaires should be punished for such crimes occurring in the territory of the country; (2) Genocides to be prevented in an independent manner that are supposed or probable to occur outside the borders of the country. These two duties were made applicable to all the 141 states that agreed to and ratified the Convention of the United Nations. While on one hand the duties were made clear and were supposed to be followed during the time of the occurrence of genocides in Rwanda, on the other hand, it was obtained that many observers had dismissed these duties and hence no effective measures were considered for the Rwanda genocide prevention (Wilt, Wilt and Vervliet 2012). The main problem with the Convention set by the United Nations for prevention of genocide was that there was no particular body that could take the charge of ensuring that the implementation of the convention and intervention could be made successful. No treaty body or committee was formed for this purpose. It was necessary to have a formal recognition of the duties and assurance of their implementation with effect by all the states that ratified the UN Convention (Totten 2006). It was the incident of the Holocaust that had actually led all countries unanimously to think on the intolerable act of genocide and hence to decide on punishment and prevention of genocide leading to formation of the UN Convention. However several cases clearly focused on the failure of the convention to fulfill what was desired. The situation presenting genocide in Darfur raises the queries on the failure of the implementation of the duties established by the Convention (Montgomery 2007). Studies reveal that genocide is an ongoing process in Darfur reflected by the displacement of the Black Africans who had to shift from their locations and reside in displacement camps, whereas their earlier groups have been completely destroyed (Allen 2011). Such incidents create the actual debate on the effectiveness of the UN Convention in punishing and preventing the acts of genocide. In regard to the failure of the Genocide Convention, a significant factor that needs to be mentioned is the leadership role of the hegemon and the actions planned by it intending to encourage states and countries to respond to the issue of genocide. It is considered that the leadership ability and potential is huge. A willing hegemon has always been considered as essential to deliver any intended movement or measure against such acts of crime or protection and safety of the community as a whole. An important matter of fact that is associated with the UN Convention of genocide is that although the convention was passed in the year 1951; yet the ratification of the Convention by all the states could not be achieved till the year 1988 (Montgomery 2007). Thus it could be realized that till this time, the acts of genocide could neither be punished nor prevented with effect as the duties were not fully implemented with effect. The following table would present with information that presents the response of countries towards punishment and prevention of genocide (Montgomery 2007): Prevent Punish East Pakistan (1971) -- -- Burundi (1972) -- -- Cambodia (1975-1979) -- -- Nigeria (1967-1970) -- -- Guatemala (1981-1983) -- -- Iraq (1987-1989) -- +/-- Bosnia I (1992-1994) +/-- + Bosnia II (1994-1995) + + Rwanda (1994) -- + Sudan (2003-2007*) -- * Table 1: Responses of different countries towards prevention and punishment of genocide (Montgomery 2007). In the above chart, the + sign reflects that prevention or punishment has been achieved in the country. The – sign means there has been no prevention or punishment that could be achieved in these countries. The +/-- means the responses have been mixed, and the * means that genocide is still an ongoing process in the country (Montgomery 2007). It can thus be realized that in most of the countries till the present times as well punishment and prevention of genocide could not be obtained with effect proving the actions of UN Convention to be a significant failure. In Sudan, genocides still occur, which can be said to be a major concern that needs to be addressed at the earliest, whereas Bosnia has proved to be effective to a significant extent to prevent genocide in its country. Conclusion: From the above conducted research it could be obtained that genocide was named and accepted as a crime by the UN Convention focusing on the inhuman and brutal acts of killing groups of people belonging to national, ethnic or religious groups, with incidents of the Holocaust, the Nazi genocide and others. However the implementation of the UN Convention can be said to have not been effectively on punishing and hence preventing the acts of genocides to occur. This is proved from the fact that records reflect that genocide have not been prevented from major countries even in the present times and in countries such as Sudan, such acts are continuously ongoing, which is a matter of significant concern. Thus the crime of genocide, although could be realized to be required to be prevented, but the measures considered by the United Nations did not prove to be sufficient. Such a fact has also been realized by the UN from the incidents of genocides that occurred in Rwanda, Darfur, and other regions, and hence the Convention believes that the formation of the UNOCI would be an effective measure for the purpose being considered. The UNOCI is believed to follow the right measures in the right directions, with utilization of the right resources, and hence it can be expected that with further efforts, such heinous acts of crime may be prevented. It can thus be concluded that at the moment, the crime of genocide can be said to be prevalent in several countries, or at least not been prevented, which requires immediate attention and efforts to improve the rights and values of humans causing prevention to such acts at the earliest. References Allen, T. (2011) Is ‘genocide’ such a good idea? The British Journal of Sociology, Vol.62, No.1, 26-36. Aydin, Y. (n.d.) 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