Be warned of the Understanding the Crime of GENOCIDE from the past, today and future of Earth of New Guinea and others ...The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and its ‘founder’, Raphael Lemkin (1 August 2013) The word ‘genocide’ The passing of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Who was Raphael Lemkin and why should we be interested in him? (1) Outline of his life (2) Responding to the new world order after 1918: the forming of a social conscience (3) The academic approach to mass killings in the pre-war years (4) The development of the concept of genocide in the wartime context (5) Lemkin as the ‘father of genocide studies’ (6) Lemkin as founder of the Convention The word ‘genocide’ Where does the word come from? Greek: genos = group + Latin: suffix – cide from verb caedere = to kill It was coined by Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959) during the Second World War. Many have observed that the speed with which this new word, ‘genocide’, gained currency was a phenomenon in itself. Reflecting the impact of and response to a catastrophic world war? The passing of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Genocide Convention contains 19 articles. It was signed in Paris in December 1948. Article 1 The contracting parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish. Article 2 In the present Convention, 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 group 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 gr Article 3 The following acts shall be punishable; (a) Genocide; (b) Conspiracy to commit genocide; (c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; (d) Attempt to commit genocide; (e) Complicity in genocide. Article 4 Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals. The passing of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide The Assembly unanimously adopted Resolution 96 (I), the basis of the Convention on genocide in December 1946. (This was only shortly after the Nuremberg Trial verdicts were handed down.) The rationale: why a Convention was deemed necessary. • The Holocaust led many to consider such a Convention necessary. • There was also recognition that genocide was a crime that had occurred often in history. • It was a crime of international concern and thus had to be considered a crime under international law. • And many believed a Convention was needed to round off the work that had barely begun at Nuremberg. The passing of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide The drafting of the Convention was relatively efficient but not entirely straightforward. Different groups had control over the process at different times. Some eventually begin having second thoughts. The draft put together in early 1948 was more far reaching than the final version. For example it included political groups as potential victims of genocide. Some worry that things moving too quickly and that the Convention too sweeping. Unsurprisingly Soviets complained that the genocide definition, which included political groups at this stage, was ‘much too wide’. Lemkin turns some away from the project. (Strong personality, driven.) Final draft of the Convention adopted 24 hours before the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The Convention came into force on 12 January 1951.
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 23:08:35 +0000
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