Genocide: Strategies of Mass Destruction and Survival

By Fouad Sabry

What is Genocide

Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people in whole or in part.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Genocide

Chapter 2: Crimes against humanity

Chapter 3: International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Chapter 4: Genocide Convention

Chapter 5: Raphael Lemkin

Chapter 6: Genocidal massacre

Chapter 7: Bosnian genocide

Chapter 8: Jean-Paul Akayesu

Chapter 9: International criminal law

Chapter 10: Command responsibility

(II) Answering the public top questions about genocide.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Genocide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Jun 21, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Genocide

The deliberate extermination of a people is what we refer to as genocide.

It was in 1944 when Raphael Lemkin first used the term genocide., Earlier than the phrase was first used, a number of different ways could be used to describe such occurrences.

Indeed, there were already terminology in certain languages for similar murders, including German (Völkermord, lit. 'murder of a people') and Polish (ludobójstwo, lit. 'killing of a people or nation').

After reading about the murder of Talat Pasha in 1921, I was utterly shocked, chief architect of the genocide against the Armenian people, written by Soghomon Tehlirian, an Armenian, The question that Lemkin posed to his professor was why there was no law that could be used to prosecute Talat.

This is how Lemkin coined the term genocide.:

New ideas necessitate the use of new terminology. In this context, genocide refers to the act of destroying an entire nation or an entire ethnic community. This new word, which was created by the author to describe an old practice in its progression into the modern era, is derived from the ancient Greek word genos, which means race or tribe, and the Latin word cide, which means killing. As a result, it is similar in its derivation to other words such as tyrannicide, homicide, infanticide, and so on. In a general sense, genocide does not necessarily refer to the instantaneous destruction of a nation, with the exception of situations in which the execution of all people of a nation is carried out in enormous quantities. It is more likely to be interpreted as a concerted plan of many operations with the objective of destroying the fundamental foundations of the lives of national groups, with the ultimate goal of annihilating the groups themselves. The disintegration of political and social institutions, as well as the destruction of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, as well as the destruction of personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of individuals who belong to such groups, would be achieved through the implementation of such a plan. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against people, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group. Genocide is a form of genocide.

In the preamble to the Genocide Convention of 1948 (CPPCG), it is mentioned that there have been instances of genocide carried out over the course of history; This convention outlines five forbidden acts that, when performed with the necessary intent, constitute genocide. These crimes are prohibited under the convention. Although killings in the type of a massacre are the most frequently recognized and punished as genocide, the range of violence that is considered under the law is substantially more extensive.

It is not required for there to be mass slaughter in order for there to be genocide; yet, mass killing has been present in almost all genocides that have been acknowledged. There has been a pattern that has arisen throughout history that is nearly identical, in which males and young boys are sought out for murder in the early stages of the process, such as in the genocide that was committed against the Yazidis by Daesh, This second forbidden conduct can include a wide variety of genocidal activities that do not result in the death of a person.

A distinction can be made between the third forbidden conduct and the genocidal act of killing due to the fact that the deaths are not immediate (or may not even come to pass), but rather they create circumstances that do not support continued existence. A further observation was made that, in addition to the restriction of essential resources, rape could also be considered to fall under the purview of this forbidden act.

In order to prevent the protected group from regenerating through reproduction, the fourth forbidden conduct is intended to be carried out. Involuntary sterilization, forced abortion, the restriction of marriage, and long-term separation of men and women with the intention of preventing procreation are all examples of acts that fall under this category. It also includes acts that impair intimate relationships and reproduction. In light of this, it is possible for it to take into consideration both the physical and mental constraints imposed by the offenders.

The last banned act is the sole prohibited conduct that does not result in the destruction of the group in terms of its physical or biological identity; rather, it results in the destruction of the group as a cultural and social unit.

Prior to the establishment of genocide as a criminal offense against national law, it was seen as a sovereign right. •.

Following the Holocaust, which had been carried out by Nazi Germany both before and during World War II, Lemkin successfully advocated for the universal approval of international rules that define and prohibit genocides. These laws were introduced in response to the Holocaust. During the first session of the United Nations General Assembly, which took place in 1946, a resolution was passed that acknowledged genocide as a crime under international law and named examples of such acts. However, the resolution did not establish a complete legal description of the crime. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) was enacted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. This convention was the first to define the crime of genocide.

For the same reason that homicide is the denial of the right to live of individual human beings, genocide is the denial of the right to exist of entire human groups. This denial of the right to exist shocks the conscience of mankind, results in significant losses to humanity in the form of cultural and other contributions represented by these human groups, and is in direct opposition to moral law as well as the spirit and goals of the United Nations. There have been several examples of such genocidal crimes, which have occurred when racial, religious, political, and other groups have been destroyed, either in their entirety or in any part.

— UN Resolution 96(1), 11 December 1946

A resolution known as Resolution 260 (III) was passed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948, and it was not until January 12, 1951 that the CPPCG was put into effect. An internationally recognized definition of genocide is included in it. This term has been incorporated into the national criminal legislation of a number of countries, and it was also endorsed by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which was the document that formed the International Criminal Court (ICC). Genocide is defined as the following under Article II of the Convention::

... any of the following crimes performed with the intention of destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as stated in the previous sentence:

Assaulting and murdering members of the group; (b) Causing members of the group to suffer severe physical or mental health consequences; The intentional infliction of conditions of existence on the group with the intention of bringing about the group's physical demise in whole or in part; (d) Implementing steps with the goal of preventing births within the specified group; (e) Transferring children from one group to another group of children without their will.

The act of inciting genocide is recognized as a distinct criminal offense under international law. Furthermore, it