The History of World Genocides - Research Paper Example

Genocide Introduction Human rights have been violated across the world for a very long time. Torture, civil rights, and genocide are the most well developed areas of international human rights law. Acts of genocide have been perpetrated throughout history. In the ancient times, it was considered a common practice for the war victors to murder the men of a population they had defeated. Possibly, the first modern genocide occurred in the 13th century. The heretics in the medieval Europe were mass executed during the Albigensian Crusade. Genocide has been evolved during the different periods of history. However, the term genocide was not formed until 1944. Literature has evidenced that genocide is any act committed with the intention to destroy completely or in partiality, a racial, an ethnic, a religious, or a national group. The recorded genocides include 1904 in Namibia, 1915 in Armenia, 1932 in Ukraine, the 1944 Holocaust, 1975 in Cambodia, 1982 in Guatemala, 1994 Rwandese genocide, and the 1995 Bosnian genocide. This resulted in the signing of an international treaty to form the International Criminal Court that has the mandate to prosecute crimes of genocide. Under the international law, genocide is considered as a crime. In this perspective, the paper will discuss the genocide with reference to international law. Discussion The effort to define genocide dates back to 18th century. According to Scott, various conventions tried to give formal statement of war crimes as well as laws of war. The Geneva Conventions were a series of international treaties concluded in Geneva between 1864 and 1949 with an aim of restructuring the impact of war on civilians, prisoners, and soldiers. In 1864, the international negotiations resulted in the Convention for the Amelioration of the Wounded in time of War. It stipulated that: immunity from capture as well as destruction of all establishments from the treatment of wounded soldiers, unbiased treatment and reception of all combatants, and protection of civilians giving aid to the wounded, in addition to recognizing the Red Cross symbol as a means establishing people and equipment covered by the agreement. In 1864 the convention was ratified by all major European powers. It was amended and extended by the second Geneva Convention in 1906. The provisions were applied to the maritime conflict via the Hague conventions of 1899 to 1907. They are the first multilateral treaties to address warfare conducts based on the Lieber Code. The codified law stipulated regulations, for example, in protection of civilians and civilian property, murder of citizens or soldiers in hostile environments, and punishment for transgressions among others1. Both conferences included negotiations with regard to war crimes, laws of war, and disarmament2. The third convention in 1929 required that all war prisoners be treated humanely, give information about them, and allow officials visits to prison camps by neutral states’ representatives. However, the Second World War abused all the earlier conventions. Raphael Lemkin is the originator of the term genocide, which meant to kill in mass3. However, the term genocide came into general usage after the Second World War, when the full extent of the acts of violence perpetuated by the Nazi regime against the European Jews. The Holocaust was the systematic and bureaucratic torture and killing of about 6 million Jews and other groups estimated to be about 5 million by the Nazi regime. When the Nazis seized power, they believed that Germans were racially superior, and the Jews were regarded as inferior. Therefore, they were an alien threat to the German community. Other victims included about 200,000 Roma (Gypsies). Furthermore, about 2000,000 disabled persons of German descent were also murdered, especially those who were living in the institutional settings in the so called Euthanasia Program. Most of the victims died of torture, maltreatment, disease, and starvation. They also killed the homosexuals and others whose behavior did not match the prescribed social norms. Communists, trade unionists, Socialists, and religious dissidents like the Jehovah’s Witnesses were not spared4. Concentration camps were established by the Nazi regime to detain political and ideological opponents. Besides, they also established forced labor camps where the captives worked till they met their death. In total about 11 million people were killed. It is considered as one of the largest genocide in history. The genocide was carried out in stages. The killings were often done in mass shootings or gas chambers. Of the 9 million Jews residing in Europe, 6 million were killed, which is two-thirds of their total population. The murder campaign continued until the end of Second World War, when the Germans were defeated by European allied forces on May 7, 19455. Shaw argues that the ad hoc tribunal of the Nuremburg trials of 1945 indicted the top Nazi officials for crimes against humanity, including persecution on religious, racial, and racial grounds, in addition to inhumane acts perpetrated against the civilians (genocide)6. The criminals found guilty were prosecuted in the international courts for taking part in the Holocaust. They were found guilty of crimes against humanity7. The domestic laws such as in the U.S Bill of Rights define genocide as a systematic attack against the civilians, and a person found guilty may face life sentence or death penalty. The Swedish regulation stipulates that any severe crime committed with intent to eliminate an ethnic group is regarded as genocide8. Since all the earlier conventions were abused during World War II, on August 12, 1949, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) and it came into force in 1951. The Genocide Conventions defined crime of genocide as “any of the various acts carried out with the purpose to obliterate, either in whole or in part, an ethical, a national, religious, or racial group”9. The genocide’s ‘intent to destroy’ detaches it from other crimes against humanity, for instance, ethnic purification that is conducted with the purpose to expel a certain a group from a geographic area by forced deportation, killing, or any other method10. The UN Security Council argued that the CPPCG was adopted for civilizing and humanitarian purposes. With respect to the rights involved, erga omnes is recognized as the legal obligation to desist from crimes of genocide11. Article I of the CPPCG stipulates that under the international law, genocide is a crime irrespective whether it is perpetuated in time of war or peace, and is liable to be punished by international law12. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide came into force as an internal law on January 12, 1951 after the minimum 20 nations became parties. Currently, the Genocide Conventions has 146 parties. However, at that time, only 2 of the 5 of the United Nations Security Council’s permanent members were parties to the treaty: China and France. The others include the Soviet Union ratified in 1954, the UK in 1970, and the U.S in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan even though he faced strong opposition by those who felt that it would limit America’s sovereignty13. This resulted in a delay in support of the Convention by most powerful nations on earth. Two additional protocols that covered civilians and combatants were approved in 1977. Protocol I extended the protection under The Hague and Geneva conventions to people involved in wars of self-determination. Protocol II extended protection of human rights to people involved in severe civil conflicts that had not been covered by the 1949 accords14. Staub points out that even though the CPPCG had created awareness that genocide evils existed, its effectiveness in halting such crimes remained to be seen. For example, not a single nation invoked the convention during the 1975 to 1979 Khmer Rouge regime where about 1.5 to 3 million people were killed in Cambodia15. The Khmer Rouge regime had planned to create a form of agrarian socialism based on the ideals of Maoism and Stalinism. Similar to the Nazi’s goals, the regime attempted to create ‘a master race’. Khmer Rouge’s policies of forced population relocation, use of forced labor, mass killings, and torture, as well as malnutrition resulted in the deaths of about 25% of the total population. Ideology played a very crucial role in the genocide. The Khmer Rouge’s regime wanted to bring back the nation to a ‘mythic past’ and halt the entrance of aid from overseas countries that according to them was a corrupting influence. They wanted to restore the nation to an agrarian society. During the genocide, the regime targeted various ethnic groups, including Cham Muslim minority, Vietnamese, Thais, Buddhist monks, secular intellectuals, and former civil servants among others16. The 1975 genocide in Cambodia led to the formation of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in 2003 to deal with the genocide cases committed by the most senior Khmer Rouge officials. The ECCC found Kang Kek Lew guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment along with Khieu Samphan, the former president, and Nuon Chea, former prime minister17. For over forty years the Convention languished. However, in the 1990s, the international law on the crime of genocide started to be enforced. The term ‘genocide’ would later be used to refer to the atrocities committed during the conflicts in Bosnia and Rwanda in the 1990s18. Serbia was the first state to be found to have breached the Genocide Convention by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In 1992, the Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia. The Bosnian-Serbian leaders started to target the Bosnian-Muslims and Croatian civilians. By 1995, about 100,000 people were killed19. The United Nations responded by establishing the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at the Hague. The ICTY was the first international tribunal since the 1945-1946 Nuremburg trial, and also the first to have the jurisdiction to prosecute crimes of genocide. In 2001, the ICTY ruled that the 1995 Srebrenica massacre was indeed an act of genocide. The ruling was upheld in 2007 by the International Court of Justice. The ICTY has indicted about 30 persons for participating either directly or indirectly in the genocide the genocide between 1992 and 1995. The former head of state of Serbia and Yugoslavia was the first one to stand trial at the ICTY for crime of genocide allegations, however; he died while on trial on March 11, 200620. Proceeding further, in 1994, the Rwandese population of 7 million consisted of three major ethnic groups: Hutus constituted 85% and were the majority, Tutsis 14%, and Twa 1%. The Hutus blamed the minority Tutsi population for the nation’s increasing economic, social, and political predicaments. The then President, Habyarimana, a Hutu, was killed by suspected Tutsi rebels. Violence sparked of immediately with Hutu extremists launching attacks to eliminate the entire Tutsi population. The political leaders who were perceived to be able to take charge of the situation were first killed. People of the Tutsi ethnic group as well as their sympathizers were killed in masses. Entire families were executed, with women being viciously raped and then killed21. From April to mid-July 1994 an estimated 800,000 women, men, and children lost their lives in the Rwandan genocide. This was three quarters of the Tutsi population. This also included thousands of Hutus who opposed the murder and forces that were directing it. The genocide made Hutus seize control of the state22. The policy makers and the United Nations suddenly became interested in the genocide and invoked the Convention. The United Nations Security Council widened the mandate of the ICTY to incorporate the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, situated in Tanzania. The Rwandese and Yugoslavian tribunals assisted to make it clear exactly what types of actions may be categorized as genocidal and how criminal responsibility these actions are supposed to be established. The ICTR was created to judge individuals responsible for the acts of genocide in addition to other violations of the international law carried in the Rwandan territory. As noted by Horvitz and Catherwood, in 1998, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) set a crucial precedent that systematic rape is in fact a crime of genocide. After trial, the court convicted the mayor of the Rwandan town of Taba for genocide.23 To date, the ICTR has completed 26 trials and convicted 32 accused people. More than 20 are awaiting trial while in detention. The first trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu resulted in him being handed a life imprisonment after pleading guilty for charges24. In 1998, an international treaty was signed by more than 130 nations in Rome to establish the International Criminal Court (ICC) that would have the jurisdiction to prosecute crimes of genocide. The ICC commenced its sittings in 2002, at the Hague in Netherlands devoid of the participation of China, Russia, and the United States25. Ever since 2002, the court has been exercising its mandate if the national courts are not willing to investigate the genocide. Therefore, the ICC is regarded as the ‘court of the last resort’26. It leaves it with the major duty to exercise jurisdiction over alleged criminals to the individual nations. There is debate if what is being witnessed in Darfur can be declared as a genocide. For example, in 2005, the UN Security Council referred the Darfur case to the prosecutor of the ICC, but it did not mention any specific crimes. In 2004, U.S Secretary of state claimed the Darfur situation can be declared as genocide, while the other permanent members of the U.N Security Council did not make any comment. Sagall shares the view that in 2007, the ICC issued a warrant of arrest for Ahmad Harun, and Ali Kushayb, a militia Janjaweed leader in the current Southern Sudan for war crimes and crimes against humanity27. In 2009, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s Head of State, Omar El-Bashir. The ICC prosecutors filed three counts of genocide and five crimes committed against humanity. The prosecutors claimed that President El-Bashir planned and implemented a plan to eliminate three tribal groups due to their ethnicity. The warrant of arrest is the first for a sitting president. However, they did not have adequate evidence to press the genocide charge28. This furthers the debate over the rightful jurisdiction of International Criminal Court and its ability to establish what exactly makes up genocidal actions. Some people have purported that it is not possible to provide evidence for the intention to eliminate the existence of a particular group, in contrast to displacing persons from a disputed territory. Crucial issues remain unresolved in situations like Darfur. Therefore, there are various challenges to prosecute perpetrators of crime of genocide. The acts of genocide are difficult to determine since a sequence of accountability is supposed to be established. At the dawn of the 21st century, in spite of numerous ongoing challenges relating to genocide trials, the creation of the International Criminal Court reflects a growing global accord behind efforts to prevent and punish genocide acts to ensure human rights are respected and upheld. This implies that additional legal agreements need to be formulated to ensure perpetrators of crimes against humanity are prosecuted without national interference. Conclusion Genocide has been present for the major part of history. Genocide is a crime under the international law. It is the systematic destruction in wholly or partly of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group. It also entails the killing of the group’s members, causing extreme bodily harm to the group members, intentionally inflicting pain to the group members, putting measures that are intended to prevent births within the group, and forcible transfer of children of the group to another group. Most well known examples of genocide comprise of the mass extermination of Jews by the Nazis, the Cambodia massacre, Bosnian genocide, and the most recent mass murder of about 800,000 people in Rwanda. However, the conflict in Darfur is still under debate if it falls within the definitions of a genocide. The Genocide Conventions since 1864 have assisted to stem genocide cases. The most effective of all the conventions was the CPPCG. It resulted in the establishment of the International Criminal Court at the Hague, Netherlands. As an international court, it deals with crimes of genocide or against humanity among others. The court ensures that the international law is followed and is mandated to hear cases of crime of genocide. The ICC is considered al the court of the last resort if nations fails to prosecute individuals accused of crimes against humanity. The establishment of the ICC shows that the international community is united towards fighting crimes of genocide. However, the ICC faces the challenge of acquiring adequate evidence to ensure prosecution of the indicted persons. Bibliography Andreopoulos, George. Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994. Bergen, Doris. War & Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. Gelletely, Robert, and Kiernan, Ben, The specter of genocide: Mass murder in historical perspective, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Harff, Barbara. "Recognizing Genocides and Politicides," Genocide Watch, 27(1992): 37-38. Horowitz, Irving. Taking Lives: Genocide and State Power, New York: Transaction Publishers, 2013. Horvitz, Leslie Alan, and Catherwood, Christopher. Encyclopedia of War Crimes & Genocide, New York: Facts on File, 2011. Mann, Michael. The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Reyntjens, F. "Rwanda, Ten Years On: From Genocide to Dictatorship." African Affairs 103. 411(2004): 177–210. Sagall, Sabby (2013). Final Solutions: Human Nature, Capitalism and Genocide, New York: Pluto Press. Schabas, William. Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Shirley V. Scott, International Law in World Politics: An Introduction, Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2012. Scott, James Brown, The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907, New York: The Johns Hopkins Press 1909). Shaw, Martin. What is Genocide? Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007. Staub, Ervin. Overcoming evil: Genocide, violent conflict, and terrorism, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Tams, Christian, Berster, Lars, and Schiffbauer, Björn. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: A Commentary. Munich: C.H. Beck, 2014. Totten, Samuel, William S. Parsons, and Charny, Israel. Century of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts, New York: Routledge, 2008. United Human Rights Commission. Genocide in Rwanda. Accessed on February 28, 2015, from http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm. 2015. Read More