Abstact
This article addresses problems involved in defining genocide as well as in preventing it. The author looks to ancient history, human morality and religious belief to attempt to explain the occurrence of genocide. While surveying historical genocides and examining current atrocities in Kenya, Congo and Darfur, he also proposes ways to prevent genocide through cooperation between NGOs and governments.
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- 1.
Article 2 of the Convention states, “genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group , as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the groups conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide , Resolution 260 (III), UN General Assembly , 9 December 1948.
- 2.
The problematic exclusion of certain groups from protection in the Genocide Convention is discussed in Gérard Prunier, Chapter 3, Section 3.1 (above) and Francis M. Deng, Chapter 4, Section 4.2 (above).
- 3.
See Raphael Lemkin , Axis Rule in Occupied Europe : Laws of Occupation, Analysis of Government, Proposals for Redress (New York : Howard Fertig, 1973).
- 4.
Ted Gurr and Barbara Harff argue that “genocides and politicides are the promotion and execution of policies by a state or its agents which result in the deaths of a substantial portion of a group.” But they go on to differentiate between genocide and politicide in the following way: “In genocides, the victimized groups are defined primarily in terms of their communal characteristics, i.e. ethnicity , religion or nationality . In politicides, the victim groups are defined primarily in terms of their hierarchical position or political opposition to the regime and dominant groups.” See Ted Robert Gurr and Barbara Harff, “Toward Empirical Theory of Genocides and Politicides: Identification and Measurement of Cases Since 1945,” International Studies Quarterly 32, no. 3 (1988): 360.
- 5.
Helen Fein and Leo Kuper define “genocidal massacre” to describe acts of mass death in which the scale is relatively small, and the perpetrators do not intend to murder all the members of a group, but only a portion of them. See Helen Fein, “Defining Genocide as a Sociological Concept,” Current Sociology 38, no. 8 (1990): 18–19; and Leo Kuper, Genocide: Its Political Use in the Twentieth Century (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981): 60.
- 6.
David Scheffer , former US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues, has argued that just as the term genocide will forever describe the Holocaust and what happened in Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the last decade, we need a term that encompasses a wider range of mega-crimes. I propose that we begin by describing this cluster of heinous, barbaric acts, which include genocide as “atrocity crimes .” See David Scheffer, “50th Anniversary of the Entering into Force of the Genocide Convention ,” (address to the United Nations , United Nations Headquarters, New York City, New York, June 13, 2001). See also David Scheffer, “Genocide and Atrocity Crimes” Genocide Studies and Prevention 1, no. 3 (2006); and “The Merits of Unifying Terms: ‘Atrocity Crimes’ and ‘Atrocity Law’,” Genocide Studies and Prevention 2, no. 1 (2007).
- 7.
Accounts of the situation in Darfur are provided in Gérard Prunier, Chapter 3, Sections 3.1 and 3.2 (above), Catherine Lu, Chapter 18, Sections 18.1 and 18.2 (below) and Luis Moreno-Ocampo , Chapter 16 (below).
- 8.
The possibility of exerting pressure by imposing economic sanctions is analyzed in Richard J. Goldstone, Chapter 11, Section 11.4 (below).
- 9.
The characterization of genocidal acts as part of a process of nation-building is discussed in Douglas Greenberg, Chapter 5 (above).
- 10.
The rationale for characterizing targeted individuals as an out-group is discussed in Douglas Greenberg, Chapter 5 (above).
- 11.
See Helen Fein , Accounting for Genocide: National Responses and Jewish Victimization during the Holocaust (New York : The Free Press, 1979).
- 12.
Examples of prevention mechanisms are outlined in Francis M. Deng, Chapter 4, Section 4.5 (above).
- 13.
The role of ideologies and culture in triggering ethnic conflict , and consequently genocide, has been examined in Ted Robert Gurr and Barbara Harff , Ethnic Conflict in World Politics (Oxford: Westview, 1994).
- 14.
For the role of risk assessment in preventing genocide, see John L. Davies and Ted Robert Gurr, eds., Preventive Measures: Building Risk Assessment and Crisis Early Warning Systems (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littefield, 1998); and Barbara Harff , “No Lessons Learned from the Holocaust ? Assessing Risks of Genocide and Political Mass Murder since 1955,” American Political Science Review 97, no.1 (2003).
- 15.
See Helen Fein , “Testing Theories Brutally: Armenia (1915), Bosnia (1992) and Rwanda (1994)” in Studies in Comparative Genocide, ed. Levon Chorbajian and George Shirinian (New York : St. Martin’s Press, 1999); and Gregory Stanton, “The 8 Stages of Genocide,” Genocide Watch: The International Campaign to End Genocide, 1998, http:///www.genocidewatch.org/8stages.htm.
- 16.
A characterization of the way in which prevention should take place is provided in Francis M. Deng, Chapter 4, Section 4.5 (above).
- 17.
The use of a modified Oil-for-Food program as a way to exert pressure on the Sudanese government while allowing for China ’s economic interests to be taken into account is discussed in Richard J. Goldstone, Chapter 11, Section 11.4 (below).
- 18.
James Fallows, “The $1.4 Trillion Dollar Question,” The Atlantic, January/February 2008, http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200801/fallows-chinese-dollars.
- 19.
Barbara Harff , in a private communication within an informal group of scholars dealing with genocide prevention , which included Gregory H. Stanton, Helen Fein , Ted R. Gurr, and others.
- 20.
On 28 Apr 2006, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1674 on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, also known as the R2P Resolution. This resolution contains the first official Security Council reference to the responsibility to protect “populations from genocides, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity ,” thus reaffirming the provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 of the World Summit Outcome Document . See “References to RtoP in Security Council Open Debates on Protection of Civilians,” Responsibility to Protect , http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/united_nations/794?theme=alt1.
- 21.
The concept of “responsibility to protect” is discussed in Francis M. Deng, Chapter 4 (above).
- 22.
The implementation of “responsibility to protect” principles for peacekeeping missions is illustrated in Wiebe Arts, Chapter 8, Section 8.2 (below).
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Bauer, Y. (2011). Some Problems of Genocide Prevention. In: Provost, R., Akhavan, P. (eds) Confronting Genocide. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9840-5_7
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