“Never again” stands as one the central pledges of the international community following the end of the Second World War, upon full realization of the massive scale of the Nazi extermination programme. Genocide stands as an intolerable assault on a sense of common humanity embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other fundamental international instruments, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United Nations Charter. And yet, since the Second World War, the international community has proven incapable of effectively preventing the occurrence of more genocides in places like Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sudan. Is genocide actually preventable, or is “ever again” a more accurate catchphrase to capture the reality of this phenomenon? The essays in this volume explore the complex nature of genocide and the relative promise of various avenues identified by the international community to attempt to put a definitive end to its occurrence. Essays focus on a conceptualization of genocide as a social and political phenomenon, on the identification of key actors (Governments, international institutions, the media, civil society, individuals), and on an exploration of the relative promise of different means to prevent genocide (criminal accountability, civil disobedience, shaming, intervention). The essays grew out of the first Echenberg Family Conference on Human Rights at the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism in Montréal, Canada.
Author(s): Payam Akhavan, René Provost (auth.), René Provost, Payam Akhavan (eds.)
Series: Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice 7
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 374
Tags: Political Science; Criminology & Criminal Justice; International & Foreign Law/Comparative Law
Front Matter....Pages i-xx
Moving From Repression to Prevention of Genocide....Pages 1-10
Front Matter....Pages 11-11
From Irish Famine to Congo Reform: Nineteenth-Century Roots of International Human Rights Law and Activism....Pages 13-43
Darfur: Genocidal Theory and Practical Atrocities....Pages 45-56
Sovereignty as Responsibility for the Prevention of Genocide....Pages 57-79
Citizenship, National Identity, and Genocide....Pages 81-95
Incitement, Prevention and Media Rights....Pages 97-103
Front Matter....Pages 105-105
Some Problems of Genocide Prevention....Pages 107-115
Preventing Genocide Through Military Intervention: Peacekeeping Troops in the “Responsibility to Protect” Era....Pages 117-129
Combating State-Sanctioned Incitement to Genocide: A Legal and Moral Imperative....Pages 131-150
Facing History: Denial and the Turkish National Security Concept....Pages 151-157
The Role of Economic Sanctions in Deterring Serious Human Rights Violations: South Africa, Iraq and Darfur....Pages 159-172
Expectation of Prosecuting the Crimes of Genocide in China....Pages 173-191
Front Matter....Pages 193-193
Not “Lambs to the Slaughter”: A Program for Resistance to Genocidal Law....Pages 195-237
Privatizing Humanitarian Intervention? Mercenaries, PMCs and the Business of Peace....Pages 239-268
Creating the Outcry: Citizen-Driven Political Will for Genocide Prevention in the US Context....Pages 269-277
The Role of the International Community in Assisting the International Criminal Court to Secure Justice and Accountability....Pages 279-289
International Justice: From the Twilight to the Dawn? International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo at McGill University....Pages 291-294
The Politics of Legal Accountability and Genocide Prevention....Pages 295-303
A Psychological Investigation of Individual and Social Transformations in Post-Genocide Rwanda....Pages 305-317
Creating the Essential Middle Ground: Using Media to Enhance Tolerance and Co-Habitation in Africa....Pages 319-331
Back Matter....Pages 333-374
