At the time of drafting the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention), the drafters were hopeful that the document will be the response needed to ensure that the world would never again witness such atrocities as committed by the Nazi regime. While, arguably, there has been no such great loss of human lives as during WWII, genocidal incidents have and still take place. After WWII, we have witnessed the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, to name only a few. The responses to these atrocities have always been inadequate. Every time the world leaders would come together to renew their promise of ‘Never Again’. However, the promise has never materialised. In 2014, Daesh unleashed genocide against religious minorities in Syria and Iraq. Before the world managed to shake off from the atrocities, in 2016, the Burmese military launched a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. This was followed by reports of ever-growing atrocities against Christian minorities in Nigeria. Without waiting too long, in 2018, China proceeded with its genocidal campaign against the Uyghur Muslims. In 2020, the Tigrayans became the victims of ethnic targeting. Five cases of mass atrocities that, in the space of just five years, all easily meet the legal definition of genocide. Again, the response that followed each case has been inadequate and unable to make a difference to the targeted communities. This legacy does not give much hope for the future. The question that this books hopes to address is what needs to change to ensure that we are better equipped to address genocide and prevent the crime in the future.
Author(s): Ewelina U. Ochab, David Alton
Series: Rethinking Political Violence
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 319
City: Cham
Foreword
Outline
Contents
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
Part I Genocide as the Crime Above All Crimes
2 Genocide as the Crime Above All Crimes
1 The Crime Without a Name
2 Genocide as We Know It
2.1 The Protected Groups
2.2 Actus Reus: Prohibited Acts to Bring About Genocide
2.2.1 Killing Members of the Group
2.2.2 Causing Serious Bodily or Mental Harm to Members of the Group
2.2.3 Deliberately Inflicting on the Group Conditions of Life Calculated to Bring About Its Physical Destruction in Whole or in Part
2.2.4 Imposing Measures Intended to Prevent Births Within the Group
2.2.5 Forcibly Transferring Children of the Group to Another Group
2.3 Mens Rea: Specific Intent to Destroy in Whole or in Part
3 The Duties to Address Genocide—Prevent and Punish
3.1 The Duty to Prevent
3.2 The Duty to Punish
3.3 The Perpetrators
4 The Question of Genocide Determination
4.1 The United States—Conducting Its Own Analysis and Determination
4.2 Canada—Following the UN Determination
4.3 The Netherlands—Obtaining Expert Opinions
4.4 The United Kingdom—Relying on International Judicial Bodies or Competent Courts
Part II Genocides of Today
3 The Chinese Government’s Genocide of the Uyghurs
1 Introduction
2 The Atrocities Against the Uyghurs
2.1 Forced Incarceration and Indoctrination in ‘Re-Education Camps’
2.2 Imprisonment and Enforced Disappearance
2.3 Rape and Sexual Violence
2.4 Forced Sterilisations, Forced Abortions, and Other Forced Medical Procedures
2.5 Forced Labour
2.6 Destruction of Religious Sites
2.7 Religious or Ethno-Religious Persecution More Broadly
3 Do the Atrocities Amount to Genocide?
4 Responses to the Atrocities
4.1 Attempts to Prevent and Suppress the Atrocities
4.2 Investigating and Prosecuting the Crimes
4.2.1 Prosecutions by International Tribunals
4.2.2 Other Inquiries
4 The Burmese Military’s Genocide
1 Introduction
2 The Atrocities Against Rohingya Muslims
2.1 From No Citizenship to Genocide
2.2 2016 and Subsequent Developments
2.3 The Situation of Christian Minorities in Myanmar
3 Do the Atrocities Amount to Genocide?
4 Responses to the Atrocities
4.1 Attempts to Prevent and Suppress the Atrocities
4.2 Investigating and Prosecuting the Crimes
4.2.1 UN Monitoring
4.2.2 Proceedings before International Tribunals
4.2.3 Steps Taken by Individual States
5 The Daesh Genocide Against Religious or Belief Minorities in Syria and Iraq
1 Introduction
2 Daesh’s Atrocities Against Religious or Belief Communities
3 Do the Atrocities Amount to Genocide?
4 Responses to the Atrocities
4.1 Attempts to Prevent and Suppress the Atrocities
4.2 Investigating and Prosecuting the Crimes
4.2.1 Prosecuting Daesh in Iraq
4.2.2 Prosecuting Daesh in Syria
4.2.3 Prosecutions of Daesh Outside of Syria and Iraq
4.2.4 Prosecutions by International Tribunals
4.2.5 Ad-Hoc Tribunal for Daesh in Iraq?
6 The Genocide in Nigeria—A Mirror Image of Darfur
1 Introduction
1.1 The Lessons of Darfur
1.2 Ignore the Atrocities in Nigeria at Your Peril
2 The Atrocities Against Christians
2.1 Boko Haram
2.1.1 The Shocking Story of Lea Sharibu—And the Other Abducted Girls and Women of Nigeria
2.2 Fulani Militia
2.3 Similar Attacks Across Sub-Saharan Africa
3 Do Nigeria’s Atrocities Amount to Genocide?
4 Responses to the Atrocities
4.1 Attempts to Prevent and Suppress the Nigerian Atrocities
4.2 Investigating and Prosecuting the Crimes
4.2.1 Domestic Prosecutions
7 Other Situations of Concern
1 What about the Armenians?
1.1 A Slow Burn Genocide: Nagorno-Karabakh and the ‘Leftover of the Sword’
1.2 Is It Too Late to Describe Atrocities Against the Armenians as a Genocide?
2 What about the North Korean Politicide?
2.1 Genocide Against Religious Minorities?
3 What About Tigray?
Part III Why Are They Getting Away with Genocide?
8 Why Are They Getting Away with Genocide?
1 Genocide Prevention
1.1 The Lack of Comprehensive Monitoring Mechanisms
1.1.1 United Kingdom
1.1.2 United States
1.1.3 Germany
1.1.4 The Great Lakes Region
1.1.5 Other Initiatives
1.2 No Mechanisms for Genocide Analysis and Determination
1.2.1 The Case of the Daesh Genocide
1.2.2 The Case of the Chinese Government’s Genocide Against the Uyghurs
1.3 ‘Too Little and Too Late’ Responses to Genocide
2 Genocide Punishment
2.1 The Failure to Investigate and Prosecute the Perpetrators Using Domestic Mechanisms
2.2 The Failure to Engage Existing International Tribunals or to Establish New Judicial Mechanisms
3 The Challenges
3.1 The Toothless Treaty—‘Simply Not Up to the Job’
3.1.1 The Gap Between the Duties and Implementation
3.1.2 No Oversight Over States’ Implementation of Their Duties
3.2 The Lack of Political Will
4 Bridging the Gap in the Responses to Genocide
End Note: Have We Become Part of ‘an Alibi for Inaction’?
Appendix A: The UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes (Extracts)
Appendix B: The Compilation of Risk Factors and Legal Norms for the Prevention of Genocide (Extracts)
Appendix C: Letter to the ICC Prosecutor on the Situation in Nigeria
Index
