How is genocide defined - Essay Example

Genocide Genocide is one of the most terrible crimes against humanity. Critics admit that there are different definitions of genocide based on political or cultural framework. A general definition of genocide is ‘a mass killing’ of the civil population when not in the course of military action against the military forces of an enemy. In cultural terms, genocide is defined as intentional destruction of the culture of another people, not necessarily including destruction of actual lives (included in original UN definition of genocide). The domestic genocides are those which arise on the basis of internal divisions within a single society. They are a phenomenon of the plural society, with its marked divisions between racial, ethnic, and/or religious groups. Plural society theory deals with the relations between these groups, and the conditions promoting peaceful cohabitation, integration, or violent polarization leading to genocide. It has no application to the genocides of international war, committed in armed conflict between separate states. The Convention definition of genocide is summarized as the intent to destroy in whole or “in part a racial, ethnic, religious, or national group as such, by killing members of the group or imposing conditions inimical to survival” (Show and Schott 2005, 34). The inclusion of mental harm among the acts constituting genocide seems incongruous, but it must be read in the overall context of the intent to destroy the victim group. Under Article I of the UN Convention, the contracting “parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law” (Show and Schott 2005, 17). The Convention was adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly. The notion “genocide” was developed by R. Lamkin in 1943. He joined two words “genos” which means family or tribe and “occidere” which means massacre and killing. Also, Lamkin developed a draft for the Genocide Convention. The main strength of this Convention is that 137 countries recognize mass killing as a crime against humanity and were obliged to prevent genocide on their territories. The main strength of the Convention is that it recognizes genocide and interprets it as “the crime against humanity”. The other strength is that the Convention allows courts to punish people and state authorities or individuals, etc initiated and committed mass killing. Holocaust tin Germany during the WWII was the main reason to accept this international agreement. The Convention was ratified in 1951, but the first time the laws were enforced was 1988 (against genocide in Rwanda) (Show and Schott 2005). The main weakness of Genocide Convention is absence of Committee responsible for international control and monitoring of military actions and possible cases of genocide. The convention was adopted in 1948, but since that time there have not been notable changes in its definitions and articles (Show and Schott 2005). It is possible to say that some parts of the conversion is out of date omitting cultural and ethic genocide, massacre and international actions against mass killing. The doctrine of self-determination can not be effective at the present time for the prevention of genocide. It does provide a normative guideline or incentive in the search for constitutional solutions to the conflicts between the constituent groups of plural societies. The weakness of this convention is that it does not accept repressions and killing of a particular social class or ideological group as genocide. Massive killing is qualified as genocide when it is intentional and directed against a particular group of people. Genocide exists when a government and its citizens persistently pursue policies which they know will lead to the annihilation of the people of their country. The main reason of genocide is to destroy groups of people because of political or social reasons, and private motives. Mass murders can take place on a smaller scale, that is, smaller numbers of human beings are killed. In some cases, genocide is aimed to achieve a goal of colonization or development of a territory belonging to an indigenous people, gaining political or economic power through mass killing of those perceived to be standing in the way. Genocide during the XX century Examples of genocide during the XX century show that there are different forms and methods of mass killing which violate human rights and human dignity. Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992-1995) The different elements making up Yugoslavia always had to cope with a difficult historical inheritance. The legacy of conflicting imperialisms, arbitrarily-drawn boundaries, differing political cultures and the incompatible hopes and fears of major groups in society enormously complicated the task of creating a united federation of South Slav Peoples. The main conflict occurred between ethnic groups: the Serbs, Croats and Muslims. The civil war was caused by the fall of Yugoslavia and formation of two independent states: Slovenia and Croatia. Despite guaranteeing over a generation of peace, Marshal Titos political system failed to create an enduring consensus or find ways of managing conflict. The retention of an authoritarian system of government, along with a complex system of decentralized decision-making, created mounting disagreements. After Tito, regional elites competed for influence until an attempt to recentralize the political system by traditionally dominant Serbia plunged the whole federation into crisis in the second half of the 1980s. Nationalism was embraced by communist elites in order to ensure their survival. Trying to protect national minorities, the President Milosevic “bombarded the outgunned Croats for 86 consecutive days and reduced it to rubble. Then, the Serbs began the first mass executions of the conflict, killing hundreds of Croat men and burying them in mass graves” (Genocide in the XX century 2000). For a long time, European community did not involve in this conflict but the US recognized independent and sovereignty of Slovenia and Croatia. This conflict was caused by national differences and called ethnic cleansing” (Genocide in the XX century 2000). The UN imposed economic and political sanctions against the governments in order to stop genocide and mass killing. Only on August 30, 1995, NATO intervened into the country stop genocide and mass killing. Only on August 30, 1995, NATO intervened into the country Muslim were killed and more than 20,000 were missing. Rwanda (1994) The conflict in Rwanda was based on ethical differences and conflicts between two main tribes, Tutsis and Hutu. Since 1962, the Hutu oppressed the Tutsis through discrimination and humiliation. In 1990, the rebelled army forced the Hutu President Juvenal Habyalimana to accept their rights and freedom. They elected Burundis new President, Cyprien Ntaryamira, but in a short period of time both Habyalimana and Ntaryamira were killed. “The killings then spread throughout the countryside as Hutu militia, armed with machetes, clubs, guns and grenades, began indiscriminately killing Tutsi civilians” (Genocide in the XX century 2000). The European community intruded into the conflict and sent a small peacekeeping mission. the main problem was that people were encouraged to kill their neighbors and, “in some local villages, militiamen forced Hutus to kill their Tutsi neighbors or face a death sentence for themselves and their entire families” (Genocide in the XX century 2000). Romeo Dallaire was commander of a misnamed peacekeeping mission, whose main duty was to secure a non-existent peace. His urgent requests for additional support were ignored by his country. The great contribution of Dallaire was his strong desire to protect human’s rights closely connected with personal courage and charisma. In general, during this conflict 800,000 persons were slaughtered (Barnett 2003). Pol-Pot in Cambodia (1975-1979) Genocide in Cambodia was based on political, religious and ethical differences. The Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia epitomized the complex mixture of delusions aims common to ideologically motivated perpetrators of genocide who have sought the destruction of political and social groups. The Khmer Rouge defined social class and political background as if they were biological traits that could be passed down from parents to children. The aim of the new regime and its leader Pol Pot was to form a Communist peasant farming society. Population opposed the new regime was killed and slaughted. Teachers and students raised in of pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodia were regarded as hopelessly polluted by their educations and as extremely dangerous. They were hounded through round after round of security checks fueled by the autobiographies demanded of everyone by the Khmer Rouge until they could be caught and killed. Not only former government soldiers down to the rank of private and their families, but all former civil servants, all public health officials, and even foresters and their families. Pol Pots government tried to eradicate Buddhism from Cambodia. Cambodia is an overwhelmingly Theravada Buddhist society, and there were about seventy thousand Buddhist monks in about three thousand monasteries throughout the country in 1975. The most horrific slaughter was in the very last six months of the regime, in the politically suspect Eastern Zone bordering Vietnam. The Muslim Chams of Cambodia numbered at least 250,000 in 1975. Their distinct religion, language, and culture, large villages, and autonomous networks threatened the atomized, closely supervised society that the Pol Pot leadership planned. In general, 2,000.000 people (25% of the Cambodian population) were killed during this conflict. Nazi Holocaust (1938-1945) The laws passed by the Third Reich were aimed to organize society along military lines, conceiving war as the fullest expression of the national will as brought to consciousness in the leader. The doctrine was supported by “scientific” proofs stating that Jewish is a lower race than Aryans. The laws were based on the idea of superiority of people and importance of pure race, “principles of Nature” which appealed to many Germans. During 1930s-1940s, Bernhard Loesener and Joseph Goebbels were the main figures and experts in Jewish question playing an important role in creating anti-Jewish legislation. The Nuremberg laws of September 1935 deprived Jews of their citizenship rights and legitimized their low positioning in the society. The laws strictly stipulated such terms as “non-Aryan” and a "Reich citizen”. A second Nuremberg measure, Blood Protection Law prohibited the race mixing the Nazis so despised. The success of the laws can be explained by the fact that they glorified the collec­tive will of Germans and preached the most extreme version of realism justifying the forceful expansion of the German state. The idea of blood and pure marriages was based on Hitler’s “principles of Nature” and Hoess’s racial envy against Jewish. The texts show that the most important "success" came later outside the boundaries of legislation, when Jews living in privileged marriages were largely spared deportation to Auschwitz or the other killing centers. Their exact number is impossible to determine, though it is likely to have been considerable. Death camps and inhuman laboratory experiments were the main features of this genocide. Historians suppose that holocaust killed more then 6,000,000 (Show and Schott 2005). Rape of Nanking (1937-1938) This mass killing lasted for six weeks and caused death to “300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers in the city”. This conflict was a part of war between Japan and China in 1937. Historians admit that, “To the Japanese, surrender was an unthinkable act of cowardice and the ultimate violation of the rigid code of military honor drilled into them from childhood onward” (Genocide in the XX century 2000). It was a real shame for Japanese army which killed civil population and children. The military authorities and the government did not stop genocide or alter the policies which facilitate and encourage the killing of peoples. the soldiers abused old women and children in spite of their age and nationality. “More than 20,000 females (with some estimates as high as 80,000) were gang-raped by Japanese soldiers, then stabbed to death with bayonets or shot so they could never bear witness” (Genocide in the XX century 2000). The retaliation of the invading force to this stiff challenge to integration was the imposition of a harsh and oppressive occupation. In the areas under Japanese control, serious human rights violations were daily occurrences. Stalin’s Forced Famine (1932-1933) This mass killing is an example of state supported genocide caused by political and economic reasons. The famine was initiated in Ukraine and was aimed to destroy native population. Stalin was afraid of Ukrainian decedents and possible rebellion against the Soviet power. “The people simply refused to become cogs in the Soviet farm machine and remained stubbornly determined to return to their pre-Soviet farming lifestyle” (Genocide in the XX century 2000). In 1932, many farms were “forcibly collectivized” and “mandatory quotas of foodstuffs to be shipped out to the Soviet Union”. Farmers and their family were left without harvest and food. According to statistical results, “by the spring of 1933, the height of the famine, an estimated 25,000 persons died every day in the Ukraine”. in this case, the Soviet Union was a perpetrator of the famine. This was intentional killing of native population caused deaths to 7,000,000. Armenians in Turkey (1915-1918). During the conflict, more than 2,000,000 of Armenians were deprived their rights to live on the historical land and evicted from their houses. In order to prove their rights and historical significance, Armenians organized “the death marches, involving over a million Armenians, covered hundreds of miles and lasted months” (Genocide in the XX century 2000). In the very first days of the invasion, rampaging troops engaged in an orgy of indiscriminate killing, rape, and torture. There were a number of large-scale public executions -- some of the victims women -- suggesting a systematic campaign of terror. In some villages whole communities were slaughtered, except for children of the age of four and under. Only in 1920, “the Treaty of Sevres recognized an independent Armenian state in an area comprising much of the former historic homeland” (Genocide in the XX century 2000). 1,500,000 were killed in this conflict and more than 1,000,000 were deprived a chance to live on the native land. Outraged by these atrocities the small but determined army bitterly contested the advance of the invading forces, inflicting heavy losses on the attackers. Bibliography 1. Barnett, M. 2003. Eyewitness to a Genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda, Cornell University Press. 2. Genocide in the XX century. 2000. Database Online. Available from http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/index.html (accessed 22 May 2007) 3. Show, M., Schott, G. 2005. Genocide: A New Social Theory. Blackwell Publishing, Incorporated. Read More