Genocides in history

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Skulls of victims of the Rwandan genocide

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group. The term was coined in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin. It is defined in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) of 1948 as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the groups conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."[1]

The preamble to the CPPCG states that "genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations and condemned by the civilized world" and that "at all periods of history genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity."[1]

Alternate definitions[]

See also: Genocide definitions

The debate continues over what legally constitutes genocide. One definition is any conflict that the International Criminal Court has so designated. M. Hassan Kakar[2] argues that the definition should include political groups or any group so defined by the perpetrator. He prefers the definition from Chalk and Jonassohn: "Genocide is a form of one-sided mass killing in which a state or other authority intends to destroy a group so defined by the perpetrator."[3] The international (CPPCG) definition of 1948 was influenced by Joseph Stalin to exclude political groups.[4][5]

In this article, atrocities that have been characterized as genocide by some reliable source are included, whether or not this is supported by mainstream scholarship. The acts may involve mass killings, mass deportations, politicides, democides, withholding of food and/or other necessities of life, death by deliberate exposure to invasive infectious disease agents or combinations of these. Thus examples listed may constitute genocide by the United Nations definition, or by one of the alternate interpretations.


Genocides before World War I[]

Main article: Genocides in history (before World War I)

Genocides from World War I through World War II[]

Main article: Genocides in history (World War I through World War II)

Genocides after World War II[]

Main article: Genocides in history (after World War II)

International prosecution[]

Ad hoc tribunals[]

In 1951 only two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) were parties to the CPPCG: France and the Republic of China(Taiwan). The CPPCG was ratified by the Soviet Union in 1954, the United Kingdom in 1970, the People's Republic of China in 1983 (having replaced the Taiwan-based Republic of China on the UNSC in 1971), and the United States in 1988. In the 1990s the international law on the crime of genocide began to be enforced.

Bosnia and Herzegovina[]

See also: Bosnian genocide and Srebrenica massacre
Exhumed mass grave of Srebrenica massacre victims in 2007

In July 1995 Serbian forces killed more than 8,000[6][7] Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), mainly men and boys, both in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. The killing was perpetrated by units of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) which were under the command of General Ratko Mladić. The Secretary-General of the United Nations described the mass murder as the worst crime on European soil since the Second World War.[8][9] A paramilitary unit from Serbia known as the Scorpions, officially a part of the Serbian Interior Ministry until 1991, participated in the massacre,[10][11] along with several hundred Russian and Greek volunteers.[12]

In 2001 the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) delivered its first conviction for the crime of genocide, against General Krstić for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre (on appeal he was found not guilty of genocide but was instead found guilty of aiding and abetting genocide).[13]

In February 2007 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) returned a judgement in the Bosnian Genocide Case. It upheld the ICTY's findings that genocide had been committed in and around Srebrenica but did not find that genocide had been committed on the wider territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war. The ICJ also ruled that Serbia was not responsible for the genocide nor was it responsible for "aiding and abetting it", although it ruled that Serbia could have done more to prevent the genocide and that Serbia failed to punish the perpetrators.[14] Before this ruling the term Bosnian Genocide had been used by some academics[15] and human rights officials.[16]

In 2010, Vujadin Popović, Lieutenant Colonel and the Chief of Security of the Drina Corps of the Bosnian Serb Army, and Ljubiša Beara, Colonel and Chief of Security of the same army, were convicted of genocide, extermination, murder and persecution by the ICTY for their role in the Srebrenica massacre and were each sentenced to life in prison.[17] In 2016 and 2017, Radovan Karadžić[18] and Ratko Mladić were sentenced for genocide.[19]

German courts handed down convictions for genocide during the Bosnian War. Novislav Djajic was indicted for his participation in the genocide, but the Higher Regional Court failed to find that there was sufficient certainty for a criminal conviction for genocide. Nevertheless, Djajic was found guilty of 14 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.[20] At Djajic's appeal on 23 May 1997, the Bavarian Appeals Chamber found that acts of genocide were committed in June 1992, confined within the administrative district of Foca.[21] The Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Düsseldorf, in September 1997, handed down a genocide conviction against Nikola Jorgic, a Bosnian Serb from the Doboj region who was the leader of a paramilitary group located in the Doboj region. He was sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment for his involvement in genocidal actions that took place in regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, other than Srebrenica;[22] and "On 29 November 1999, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Düsseldorf condemned to 9 years in prison for aiding and abetting the crime of genocide and for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions."[23]

Rwanda[]

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is a court under the auspices of the United Nations for the prosecution of offences committed in Rwanda during the genocide that occurred there during April and May 1994, commencing on 6 April. The ICTR was created on 8 November 1994 by the UN Security Council to resolve claims in Rwanda, or by Rwandan citizens in nearby states, between 1 January and 31 December 1994. For approximately 100 days from the assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana on 6 April through mid-July, at least 800,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate.

As of mid-2011, the ICTR had convicted 57 people and acquitted 8. Another ten persons were still on trial while one is awaiting trial. Nine remain at large.[24] The first trial, of Jean-Paul Akayesu, ended in 1998 with his conviction for genocide and crimes against humanity.[25] This was the world's first conviction for genocide, as defined by the 1948 Convention. Jean Kambanda, interim Prime Minister during the genocide, pleaded guilty.

Cambodia[]

See also: Killing Fields, Autogenocide, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Cambodian genocide, and Cambodian genocide denial
Skulls at the Choeung Ek memorial in Cambodia

The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, Ta Mok and other leaders, organized the mass killing of ideologically suspect groups, ethnic minorities such as ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese (or Sino-Khmers), Chams and Thais, former civil servants, former government soldiers, Buddhist monks, secular intellectuals and professionals, and former city dwellers. Khmer Rouge cadres defeated in factional struggles were also liquidated in purges. Man-made famine and slave labor resulted in many hundreds of thousands of deaths.[26] Craig Etcheson suggested that the death toll was between 2 and 2.5 million, with a "most likely" figure of 2.2 million. After 5 years of researching 20,000 grave sites, he concluded that "these mass graves contain the remains of 1,386,734 victims of execution."[27] However, some scholars argued that the Khmer Rouge were not racist and had no intention of exterminating ethnic minorities or the Cambodian people; in this view, their brutality was the product of an extreme version of communist ideology.[28]

On 6 June 2003 the Cambodian government and the United Nations reached an agreement to set up the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), which would focus exclusively on crimes committed by the most senior Khmer Rouge officials during the period of Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979.[29] The judges were sworn in in early July 2006.[30]

The investigating judges were presented with the names of five possible suspects by the prosecution on 18 July 2007.[30][31]

Khieu Samphan at a public hearing before the Pre-Trial Cambodia Tribunal on 3 July 2009.
  • Kang Kek Iew was formally charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity and detained by the Tribunal on 31 July 2007. He was indicted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity on 12 August 2008.[32] His appeal was rejected on 3 February 2012, and he continued serving a sentence of life imprisonment.[33]
  • Nuon Chea, a former prime minister, was indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and several other crimes under Cambodian law on 15 September 2010. He was transferred into the custody of the ECCC on 19 September 2007. His trial began on 27 June 2011.[34][35] On 16 November 2018, he was sentenced to a life in prison for genocide.[36]
  • Khieu Samphan, a former head of state, was indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and several other crimes under Cambodian law on 15 September 2010. He was transferred into the custody of the ECCC on 19 September 2007. His trial also began on 27 June 2011.[34][35] On 16 November 2018, he was sentenced to a life in prison for genocide.[36]
  • Ieng Sary, a former foreign minister, was indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and several other crimes under Cambodian law on 15 September 2010. He was transferred into the custody of the ECCC on 12 November 2007. His trial began on 27 June 2011.[34][35] He died in March 2013.
  • Ieng Thirith, wife of Ieng Sary and a former minister for social affairs, was indicted on charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and several other crimes under Cambodian law on 15 September 2010. She was transferred into the custody of the ECCC on 12 November 2007. Proceedings against her have been suspended pending a health evaluation.[35][37]

Some of the international jurists and the Cambodian government disagreed over whether any other people should be tried by the Tribunal.[31]

International Criminal Court[]

See also: International Criminal Court

The ICC can only prosecute crimes which were committed on or after 1 July 2002.[38][39]

Darfur, Sudan[]

See also: Second Sudanese Civil War, War in Darfur, and Darfur genocide
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the ICC

The ongoing racial[40][41] conflict in Darfur, Sudan, which started in 2003, was declared a genocide by United States Secretary of State Colin Powell on 9 September 2004 in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[42] Since that time however, no other permanent member of the UN Security Council has followed suit. In January 2005, an International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1564 of 2004, issued a report stating that "the Government of the Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide."[43] Nevertheless, the Commission cautioned that "The conclusion that no genocidal policy has been pursued and implemented in Darfur by the Government authorities, directly or through the militias under their control, should not be taken in any way as detracting from the gravity of the crimes perpetrated in that region. International offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be no less serious and heinous than genocide."[43]

In March 2005, the Security Council formally referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC, taking into account the Commission report but without mentioning any specific crimes.[44] Two permanent members of the Security Council, the United States and China, abstained from the vote on the referral resolution.[45] As of his fourth report to the Security Council, the Prosecutor found "reasonable grounds to believe that the individuals identified [in the UN Security Council Resolution 1593] have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes", but did not find sufficient evidence to prosecute for genocide.[46]

In April 2007, the ICC issued arrest warrants against the former Minister of State for the Interior, Ahmad Harun, and a Janjaweed militia leader, Ali Kushayb, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.[47] On 14 July 2008, the ICC filed ten charges of war crimes against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. Prosecutors claimed that al-Bashir "masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part" three tribal groups in Darfur because of their ethnicity.[48] On 4 March 2009, the ICC issued a warrant for al-Bashir's arrest for crimes against humanity and war crimes, but not for genocide. This is the first warrant issued by the ICC against a sitting head of state.[49]

See also[]

References[]

Citations

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 12 January 1951. Archived from the original on 11 December 2005. Note: "ethnical", although unusual, is found in several dictionaries.
  2. ^ M. Hassan Kakar Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982 University of California press 1995 The Regents of the University of California.
  3. ^ Chalk & Jonassohn 1990.
  4. ^ Gellately, Robert; Kiernan, Ben (2003). The Specter of Genocide: Mass Murder in Historical Perspective. Cambridge, K: Cambridge University Press. p. 267. ISBN 978-0-521-52750-7.
  5. ^ Staub, Ervin (1989). The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-521-42214-7.
  6. ^ "Srebrenica-Potočari: spomen obilježje i mezarje za žrtve genocida iz 1995 godine. Liste žrtava prema prezimenu" [Srebrenica-Potocari: Memorial and Cemetery for the victims of the genocide of 1995. Lists of victims by surname] (in Bosnian). 1995. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014.
  7. ^ "ICTY: The Conflicts". International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  8. ^ UN Press Release SG/SM/9993UN, 11/07/2005 "Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s message to the ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in Potocari-Srebrenica". Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  9. ^ Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Tribunal Update: Briefly Noted (TU No 398, 18 March 2005) [1]
  10. ^ Williams, Daniel. "Srebrenica Video Vindicates Long Pursuit by Serb Activist". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  11. ^ "ICTY – Kordic and Cerkez Judgement – 3. After the Conflict" (PDF). Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  12. ^ Naimark, Norman M. (2011). Memories of Mass Repression: Narrating Life Stories in the Aftermath of Atrocity. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1412812047. Retrieved 4 August 2013., p. 3.
  13. ^ The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia found in Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic – Trial Chamber I – Judgment – IT-98-33 (2001) ICTY8 (2 August 2001) that genocide had been committed. (see paragraph 560 for name of group in English on whom the genocide was committed). The judgement was upheld in Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic – Appeals Chamber – Judgment – IT-98-33 (2004) ICTY 7 (19 April 2004)
  14. ^ Max, Arthur (26 February 2007). "Court: Serbia failed to prevent genocide". The San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007.
  15. ^ "HNPG 036P (or 033T) History: Bosnian Genocide In the Historical Perspective". University of California Riverside. 2003. Archived from the original on 16 May 2007.
    "Winter 2007 Honors Courses". University of California Riverside. 2007. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007.
    "Winter 2008 Honors Courses". University of California Riverside. 2007. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007.
  16. ^ "Milosevic to Face Bosnian Genocide Charges". Human Rights Watch. 11 December 2001. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  17. ^ "Seven convicted over 1995 Srebrenica massacre". CNN. 10 June 2010.
  18. ^ "Radovan Karadzic sentenced to 40-year imprisonment for Srebrenica genocide, war crimes". The Hindu. 24 March 2016.
  19. ^ "UN hails conviction of Mladic, the 'epitome of evil,' a momentous victory for justice". UN News Centre. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  20. ^ "Novislav Djajic". Trial Watch. 19 June 2013. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  21. ^ Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic – Trial Chamber I – Judgment – IT-98-33 (2001) ICTY8 (2 August 2001), The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, paragraph 589. citing Bavarian Appeals Court, Novislav Djajic case, 23 May 1997, 3 St 20/96, section VI, p. 24 of the English translation.
  22. ^ Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf, "Public Prosecutor v Jorgic", 26 September 1997 (Trial Watch) Nikola Jorgic Archived 24 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ Trial watch Maksim Sokolovic Archived 6 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ "United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: Status of Cases". ICTR. Archived from the original on 13 August 2011.
  25. ^ "United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: Status of Cases". ICRT. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012.
  26. ^ Sliwinski, Marek (1995). Le génocide khmer rouge: une analyse démographique. Harmattan. p. 82. ISBN 978-2-7384-3525-5.
  27. ^ Sharp, Bruce (1 April 2005). "Counting Hell: The Death Toll of the Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia". Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  28. ^ Rosefielde, Steven (2009). Red Holocaust. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-77757-5.
  29. ^ "Resolution adopted by the General Assembly: 57/228 Khmer Rouge trials B1" (PDF). United Nations General Assembly. 22 May 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  30. ^ Jump up to: a b Doyle, Kevin (26 July 2007). "Putting the Khmer Rouge on Trial". Time. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  31. ^ Jump up to: a b Buncombe, Andrew (11 October 2011). "Judge quits Cambodia genocide tribunal". The Independent. London.
  32. ^ Munthit, Ker (12 August 2008). "Cambodian tribunal indicts Khmer Rouge jailer". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  33. ^ "Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch Sentenced to Life Imprisonment by the Supreme Court Chamber". Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  34. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Case 002". Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  35. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "002/19-09-2007: Closing Order" (PDF). Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  36. ^ Jump up to: a b "UN genocide adviser welcomes historic conviction of former Khmer Rouge leaders". UN News. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  37. ^ "002/19-09-2007: Decision on immediate appeal against Trial Chamber's order to release the accused Ieng Thirith" (PDF). Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  38. ^ "Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Article 11". United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. 17 July 1999. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  39. ^ "ICC: About the court". ICC. Archived from the original on 9 March 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  40. ^ "Witnessing Genocide in Sudan". CBS News. 8 October 2004. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
    Racism at root of Sudan's Darfur crisis – CSMonitor.com
    "Humanitarian Intervention in Darfur: A Viable Option?". Turkishweekly.net. 7 November 2008. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
    Encyclopædia Britannica
    "Sudan country profile". BBC News. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  41. ^ "Al-Bashir Arrest Warrant Issued By International Criminal Court". Huffington Post. 4 March 2009. Archived from the original on 21 February 2010.
    The Online NewsHour: Crisis in Sudan | Janjaweed Militia | PBS
  42. ^ Powell Declares Killing in Darfur 'Genocide', The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 9 September 2004
  43. ^ Jump up to: a b "Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations Secretary-General" (PDF). United Nations. 25 January 2005. p. 4. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  44. ^ "Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005)" (PDF). United Nations Security Council. 31 March 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2005.
  45. ^ Security Council Refers Situation in Darfur, Sudan, to Prosecutor of International Criminal Court, UN Press Release SC/8351, 31 March 2005
  46. ^ "Fourth Report of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, to the Security Council pursuant to UNSC 1593 (2005)" (PDF). International Criminal Court (ICC). 14 December 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2007.
  47. ^ "Statement by Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, to the United Nations Security Council pursuant to UNSCR 1593 (2005)" (PDF). International Criminal Court (ICC). 5 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2008.
  48. ^ Walker, Peter (14 July 2008). "Darfur genocide charges for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  49. ^ Staff. Warrant issued for Sudan's leader, BBC, 4 March 2009

Bibliography

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