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Amsterdam: Genocide--Just Another Word?

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  • Amsterdam: Genocide--Just Another Word?

    GENOCIDE--JUST ANOTHER WORD?

    Radio Netherlands
    http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/genocide-just-another-word
    Dec 23 2011

    A fierce row has broken out between Ankara and Paris following
    a French decision to adopt a law criminalising the denial of the
    Armenian genocide by the Turks (1915- 1916). Turkish Prime Minister
    Tayyip Erdogan today accused France of committing genocide in Algeria
    after World War II. When the word "genocide" enters the argument,
    it seems, sweet reason flies out the door.

    "Genocide" is one of the most loaded terms in international law. The
    systematic killing of a racial or cultural group is commonly regarded
    as the most serious crime against humanity. It is an indelible stain
    on a nation's history. The word brings to mind gruesome images of
    the Holocaust or the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

    Mass murder The Polish law professor Raphael Lemkin, who fled to the
    United States in 1941, introduced the term "genocide" in his 1944
    book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. In 1945 and 1946 it was used
    during the Nuremberg Trials of Germany's Nazi leaders. In 1948,
    the newly established United Nations adopted the Convention on the
    Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Due to pressure
    from Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, mass murder of a political group
    was not included in the Convention.

    Thijs Bouwknegt of the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation
    (NIOD) explains that the term "genocide" is strictly defined:

    "It refers to violence against just four groups: national, ethnic,
    religious or racial groups. Genocide occurs if one of these groups
    is systematically murdered or driven out of a country. The latter
    is what happened to the Armenians in 1915. The Ottoman (Turkish)
    regime deported them in large numbers."

    Genocide It has become more and more common in recent years to
    characterise a conflict as genocide. Opponents of former Libyan leader
    Muammar Gadaffi were quick to accuse his regime of the crime. Critics
    also accuse Syrian President Bashir al-Assad of genocide, due to
    his regime's violent suppression of protest. Larissa van den Herik,
    professor of international law at Leiden University, says the word
    is used for an important reason:

    "'The term is used so often because it's an emergency call to the
    international community to intervene in a conflict. It doesn't get
    worse than genocide, so the word is used for political reasons. Often
    it's a matter of responding emotionally rather than looking at cold,
    hard facts. There's a real danger that the whole concept of genocide
    becomes devalued."

    International judges That's a danger international judges and
    prosecutors are alert to, according to Van den Herik. Genocide
    is not automatically or easily included when charges are drawn
    up against war crimes suspects. There are a range of other charges
    available. Genocide, moreover, is a very difficult crime to prove. In
    recent history, the charge has only been brought successfully in
    connection with the conflicts in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

    NIOD's Thijs Bouwknegt: "Not only must you prove that a large group
    of people are exterminated or victimised in some way, but also that
    those victims fall under one of the four specific categories. There's
    a heavy burden of proof."

    There are currently a number of genocide cases being heard, notably by
    the Cambodia Tribunal. A number of senior figures of the former Khmer
    Rouge regime have been charged with the genocide of two separate
    groups in the 1970s: the Vietnamese minority (a national group)
    and the Islamic Cham community (a religious group).

    Denial Even denying a particular genocide has taken place is a crime
    in some countries. In the Netherlands, among other countries, it is
    illegal to deny the Jewish Holocaust by Nazi Germany during World War
    II. France has now become the first European country to ban denial
    of the Armenian genocide. It's unlikely that countries such as the
    Netherlands or Germany will follow the French example.

    Van den Herik: "Both countries have large Turkish communities. No one
    will be keen to offend them with a ban. But it would be good to put a
    bit more pressure on Turkey. It's always good to take an honest look
    at your history."

    Honesty may be the best policy, but politics is a messy business and
    Ankara's furious reaction to the French move may discourage other
    European governments from taking similar steps.

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