Violations of The UN Convention By Emma Barska

The United Nations (UN) Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The ) was the first treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9th, 1948. The Genocide Convention condemns the partial or total extermination of any national, ethnical, racial, or religious group and identifies genocide as a crime punishable under international law. When ratifying The Genocide Convention, signatories commit to preventing and punishing acts of genocide during peace and wartime by subjecting accused parties to a trial in front of a national court or an international tribunal.

The following articles of The Genocide Convention outline the definition of genocide, punishable offences associated with genocide, and processes/mechanisms signatories must utilize to hold parties guilty of genocide accountable for their actions.

“Article II 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 group to another group.

Article III 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 IV Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.

Article V The Contracting Parties undertake to enact, in accordance with their respective Constitutions, the necessary legislation to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention, and, in particular, to provide effective penalties for persons guilty of genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III.

Article VI Persons charged with genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.”

States that identify acts of genocide within their territories have a number of options when it comes to conducting legal investigations and holding a trial. States may handle matters internally, provided they have the necessary legislation to effectively punish those accused of genocide. In recent history, there have been multiple instances when international tribunals were assembled to prosecute genocide. There have been three international tribunals between 1993 and the present: the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (1993-2017), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1994-2015), and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (2003-present). Additionally, since 2002, the International Criminal Court can investigate individuals and organizations accused of genocide if national courts do not want to or do not have the capacity to bring legal proceedings against guilty parties.

Countries/Organizations Accused of Genocide:

Armenian Genocide • Historical Context: Following the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 during which the Young Turks restored the old Constitution of 1876, the subjects of the Ottoman Empire were under the impression that the reform-minded Turkish nationalists would serve as champions of equality and represent all religious, ethnic, and racial minorities. Unfortunately, dramatic territorial losses and governmental setbacks caused a shift from previously favored Ottomanism—loyalty to the Ottoman Empire as opposed to any ethnic, religious, or national identity—to Turkism. Turkism emphasized the central role of Turks in the Ottoman Empire and effectively alienated other ethnic groups. With this mindset, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I as Germany’s ally. Although joining the war was a strategic move meant to protect the Ottoman Empire from the encroaching threat of Russia, which was already a part of the Triple Entente with Great Britain and France, the Ottoman government used World War I as a cover for the elimination of marginalized groups that were considered to be a threat to Ottoman national security. The ethnic Armenian community was one of the few groups that were brutally targeted after Armenian nationalists aided the Russians. The Turks wanted to build a homogenous state out of a highly heterogeneous population in order to preserve what was left of the Empire. In order to do so, they needed to achieve internal unity and consensus that would allow the Turks to thrive as an independent state. However, the radical nature of these changes led to the marginalization of minority groups that did not have many powerful and universally respected advocates. In the case of the , the Ottoman government’s first step towards homogenization was to relocate Armenians in order to make room for incoming Muslim refugees from the Balkans. This decision had religious undertones as Armenians were a Christian minority in a primarily Islamic state. Armenians did not fit in with the “ for the Turks” racist policy envisioned by the Ottoman government, and as such had to be forcibly removed from the picture. The Turks continued to displace Armenians, driving them out of their homes and forcing them to march through the Syrian Desert where many individuals died as a result of the harsh environmental conditions. Strong paternal figures were systematically eliminated to weaken the Armenian community as a whole. Women, children, and the elderly were subject to periodical rape, massacres, and robbery by Turkish forces. Throughout the course of relocations and campaigns, the Turkish Army murdered over 1.5 million Armenians between 1914 and 1923. • International Response: Turkey has refused to acknowledge the events of the Armenian Genocide. Moreover, it continues to spread misinformation to its citizens about the country’s early bloody history, obstructs the creation of monuments by members of the Armenian diaspora, and refuses to provide surviving Armenians with reparations for such atrocious crimes. The Armenian community continues to fight for recognition of its suffering, hoping that their efforts will eventually result in reparation options. • Sources: o https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-turkey-armenia/u-s-senate-passes- resolution-recognizing-armenian-genocide-angering-turkey-idUSKBN1YG2DZ o https://www.armenian-genocide.org/turkey.html o https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/world/europe/turkey-fear-of-reparations- possibly-in-many-billions-is-a-factor-in-armenian-genocide-denials.html

Killings of Christians in Africa (Nigeria) • Historical Context: Since June 2015, almost 12,000 Nigerian Christians have been murdered, between four to five million Nigerian Christians have been displaced, and 2000 churches have been destroyed. Fulani and Boko Haram Jihadists are responsible for these killings. • National/International Response: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has begun a preliminary investigation into crimes committed by Nigeria. As of 2020, the charges have not been defined, with the focus of the examination in its early stages being “Alleged or war crimes…” • Sources: o https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/2020/04/13/Nigeria-Is-A-Killing- Field-Of-Defenseless-Christians o https://www.icc-cpi.int/nigeria

Genocide of by ISIL • Historical Context: The Islamic State of and the Levant (ISIL) launched a genocide against the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq between 2014 and 2019. The attacks targeted all members of the Yazidi community. Yazidi men who refused to convert to Islam were slaughtered and put in mass graves. Yazidi boys who were deemed “battle-age” were forced into ISIL’s armies to serve as child soldiers. An estimated 7,000 Yazidi women and girls were sexually enslaved, perpetually gang-raped, and transported to various locations throughout the region. As of today, 300,000 Yazidis are displaced, and more than 3,000 Yazidi women are still missing. • National/International Response: The UN recognized this dehumanization and systemic annihilation of Yazidis by ISIL as a genocide in 2016. In 2018, the UN established the Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD). The goal of UNITAD is to “[help] with exhumations, [collect] evidence, and [work] with various authorities in Iraq to better understand Da’esh criminal networks.” UNITAD is currently looking for a court of tribunal that would try future cases. • Sources: o https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/08/1069432 o https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/five-years-after-genocide-yazidis-share-their- forgotten-stories-and-demand-justice o https://www.unitad.un.org/content/our-mandate

Countries/Organizations Found Guilty of Genocide:

Cambodian Genocide • Ratification/Accession of The UN Genocide Convention: 1950 • Historical Context: Between April 17, 1975 and January 7, 1979, the Khmer Rouge regime killed more than 1.7 million Cambodian people through involuntary labor, starvation, and . A Communist group, the Khmer Rouge targeted individuals who allegedly jeopardized the internal structure and security of the country. Anyone with an educated background, strong religious ties, or connections to “flawed Western ideologies” was considered to be a threat to the common good. Cambodians were forced to live in communes where they were “re-educated” according to standards designed and enforced by the Khmer Rouge. Those who refused to participate in the re-education campaigns were killed in the fields bordering the communes or were taken to torture and execution centers. Many genocide scholars argue that since no specific group within Cambodian society was targeted (as the extermination occurred throughout the entire national community), the events in Cambodia cannot be classified as genocide according to The Genocide Convention’s definition. Instead, the term “auto-genocide” has often been used to describe these atrocities. • National/International Response: In 1997, the Cambodian government requested UN assistance in creating an entity that would prosecute former leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime. In 2001, the Cambodian National Assembly passed a law that established the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea Extraordinary Chambers (ECCC) – a court explicitly dedicated to investigating crimes against humanity that occurred during the Khmer Rouge period. The court is staffed by Cambodian personnel as well as foreign employees. While the court is separate from the Cambodian government and the UN, international participation in this matter is warranted and welcomed due to the frailty of the Cambodian judiciary; the international nature of the crimes committed; and the need to appropriately charge the Khmer Rouge officials according to international legal standards. For more than 20 years, the ECCC has been bringing former Khmer Rouge figureheads to justice. • Sources: o https://hmh.org/library/research/genocide-in-cambodia-guide/ o https://www.eccc.gov.kh/en/about-eccc

Bangladesh Genocide • Ratification/Accession of The UN Genocide Convention: 1957 – Pakistan, 1998 – Bangladesh • Historical Context: The partition of British India in 1947 left South Asia in a state of disarray. Pakistan was divided into two fragments—West and East Pakistan—that were permanently separated by the vast territories of India. Cultural and religious differences contributed to the disconnection between the two Pakistani domains. West Pakistan was mostly populated by Muslims, while the more ethnically diverse East Pakistan was home to a substantial Hindu Bengali community. The two areas became relatively autonomous, with West Pakistan wielding more political and economic power over the entire country. West Pakistan consistently abused its weaker counterpart by exploiting it economically and refusing to offer humanitarian aid in times of need. The dehumanization of the Bengali people in East Pakistan by the Muslim majority resulted in the formation of a Bengali independence movement. East Pakistan’s call to secede further escalated tensions between the two portions of Pakistan. In response to growing unrest in East Pakistan, West Pakistani soldiers began to systematically annihilate the Bengali people, specifically educated or successful Hindu men. Additionally, East Pakistani were pillaged and destroyed, forcing Bengalis to find refuge in India. At the end of the conflict in 1971, nearly 3 million Bengalis had been murdered, and 400,000 women had been subjected to rape or sexual enslavement. • National/International Response: Although the crimes committed against the Bengali people in the early 1970s constitute a genocide under The Genocide Convention, neither Pakistan nor the United States acknowledged the actions of the Pakistani army and auxiliary forces against Bengalis. In fact, Pakistan continues to deny the existence of the genocide. The UN failed to use its international prosecution mechanisms to establish a tribunal tasked with investigating the extermination of the Bengali people. A 1972 report by the International Commission of Jurists determined that “In addition to criminal offences under domestic law, there is a strong prima facie [based on the first impression] case that criminal offences were committed in international law, namely war crimes and crimes against humanity under the…acts of genocide under the Genocide Convention 1949.” However, the study also states that while evidence of mass extermination exists, “To prevent a nation from attaining political autonomy does not constitute genocide: the intention must be to destroy in whole or in part the people as such.” Due to a limited international response, Bangladesh has taken internal steps to put Pakistani war criminals on trial. In 1973, the International Crimes Tribunals Act was passed to “provide for the detention, prosecution and punishment of persons responsible for committing genocide…” regardless of nationality. In 2009, the International Crimes Tribunal was created in Bangladesh. Through the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee, nearly 1600 war criminals were identified, and many have subsequently been tried by the tribunal. • Sources: o https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/1972/06/Bangladesh-events-East- Pakistan-1971-thematic-report-1972-eng.pdf o https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2017/04/21/bangladesh-forgotten-genocide/ o https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/genocide-us-cant-remember- bangladesh-cant-forget-180961490/ o https://www.ebangladesh.com/614 o https://www.ict-bd.org/ict1/index.php

Rwandan Genocide • Ratification/Accession of The UN Genocide Convention: 1957 • Historical Context: The was a of ethnic Tutsi, Twa, and politically moderate Hutu peoples by a xenophobic Hutu-led extremist government in Rwanda in 1994. The slaughter commenced at the beginning of April and lasted for a hundred days until Rwanda’s capital city Kigali was eventually recaptured by Tutsi forces. By the end of the massacre, approximately 800,000 Rwandans had been murdered. Additionally, as a result of the genocide, an estimated 2 million refugees plagued by disease and famine fled the region to refugee camps in neighboring countries. • National/International Response: The UN Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in 1994. In 1995, the tribunal began to prosecute perpetrators. Since its creation, the tribunal has indicted 93 people accused of violating international humanitarian law. Additionally, Rwandan courts have tried about 20,000 individuals for genocide related crimes. People who have been tried by the tribunal include high-ranking military and government officials, politicians, businessmen, religious leaders, militia commanders, and media supervisors. The ICTR officially closed in 2015. • Sources: o http://endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/the-rwandan-genocide/ o http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/rwandan-genocide o https://unictr.irmct.org/en/tribunal

Darfur Genocide • Ratification/Accession of The UN Genocide Convention: 2003 • Historical Context: Since 2003, Darfuri men, women, and children from the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups have been systematically annihilated by the Sudanese government. Nearly 400,000 people have been murdered, 2.7 million people have been placed in internally displaced camps, and countless women have been raped as a result of this conflict. • National/International Response: The International Criminal Court has been actively conducting investigations concerning these events since 2005. The findings have produced several cases with suspects ranging from Sudanese government officials to militia figureheads. The presented charges include genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Former President of Sudan Omar Al Bashir is the first person to be charged with the crime of genocide by the International Criminal Court. However, Al Bashir’s arrest warrants have not been enforced and he currently is not in the court’s custody. • Sources: o https://hmh.org/library/research/genocide-in-darfur-guide/ o https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur

Kurdish/Anfal Genocide • Ratification/Accession of The UN Genocide Convention: 1959 - Iraq • Historical Context: Kurdish people have been persecuted in Iraq since the early 1960s. have been forcefully deported, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered through military operations and ruthless extermination campaigns. Hundreds of thousands of Kurdish men, women, and children were subjected to ethnical cleansing as Iraq proceeded with wide-spread throughout their territory. During the of 1988, 182,000 Kurds were killed, villages were leveled, and Iraqi Kurds suffered due to chemical attacks. • National/International Response: In 2003, the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT) was established to try crimes committed by the previous regime. The Iraqi High Tribunal is a domestic court that operates within the national judicial framework. Only Iraqi judges and prosecutors operate within the IHT and the court adheres to Iraqi criminal procedure. This court was not established by the UN but rather by a national statue from the Interim Governing Council appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. In 2005, the IHT was ratified following national elections. In 2006, and seven other individuals were put on trial in front of the IHT for their roles in the Anfal campaign. • Sources: o https://us.gov.krd/en/issues/anfal-campaign-and-kurdish-genocide/ o https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/d- iq/dv/03_kurdishgenocidesofanfalandhalabja_/03_kurdishgenocidesofanfalandhal abja_en.pdf o https://www.unpo.org/article/17056 o https://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/ANFALINT.htm o https://library.law.yale.edu/news/supreme-iraqi-criminal-tribunal o https://www.ibanet.org/Committees/WCC_IHT.aspx

Rohingya Genocide • Ratification/Accession of The UN Genocide Convention: 1956 • Historical Context: Since 2017, the Rohingya—a Muslim minority group in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma)—have faced extreme discrimination and at the hands of Burmese authorities. The Myanmar government has subjected the Rohingya to violence; stripped them of citizenship and other fundamental human rights; and restricted their participation in Myanmar’s cultural and political spheres. In August 2017, an ethnic cleansing campaign carried out by the Burmese army resulted in the fastest refugee movement since the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. The Burmese military brutally retaliated against an attack executed by a Rohingya militant group, forcing 700,000 Rohingya to find refuge in Bangladesh. As of January 2018, more than one million Rohingya refugees have been recorded in Bangladesh. Refugees have also fled to other parts of South and Southeast Asia. • National/International Response: The government of Myanmar has been accused of committing ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Rohingya by multiple international agents/organizations, including the UN. However, Myanmar’s leaders refuse to acknowledge the government and military’s role in the systemic annihilation of an ethnic minority as well as a mass human exodus. In September 2018, the UN Human Rights Council sanctioned the creation of an investigative organ tasked with accumulating, recording, and examining evidence of genocide in Myanmar. As a signatory to The Genocide Convention, Myanmar is obliged by international law to prevent and punish genocide. In a pending case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Myanmar’s government is being investigated to determine if it violated The Genocide Convention. On January 23rd, 2020, the ICJ ordered Myanmar to take all necessary measures to prevent further genocidal activities. The situation is also being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of a broader inquiry into multiple crimes under the ICC’s jurisdiction sufficiently linked to these events. • Sources: o https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/burma/case- study/introduction/the-plight-of-the-rohingya o http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/myanmar o https://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/178 o https://www.icc-cpi.int/bangladesh-myanmar

Genocide in Bosnia • Ratification/Accession of The UN Genocide Convention: 2001 – Serbia, 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina • Historical Context: In 1991, Yugoslavia’s multi-ethnic republic of Bosnia (present day Bosnia and Herzegovina) had a population of 4 million people, with 44% of them Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), 31% Serbs, and 17% Croats. The remaining 8% of citizens identified as Yugoslav. Bosnia was one of six states that made up the former Yugoslavia – an ethnically and religiously diverse umbrella nation led by a repressive Communist government. The collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe led to the dismantling of Yugoslavia as ethnic communities driven by ethno-nationalism fought for their autonomy. Between June and September of 1991, Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia declared independence. In April 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina attempted to secede, leaving only Serbia and Montenegro within Yugoslavia. Large Serbian ethnic communities throughout the Balkans resisted independence from Yugoslavia. As a result, Serbia was already at war with some of the breakaway republics when Bosnia announced its sovereignty from Yugoslavia. Bosnian Serbs opposed a Bosnian state with a Bosniak majority – a sentiment that was reciprocated by Serbia. Using Yugoslavia’s military equipment, Serbia and Bosnian Serbs launched a campaign to cleanse Bosnia of its Muslim civilian population. Bosniak men, women, and children were forced into concentration camps where women and girls were violently raped and other noncombatants were starved, tortured, and murdered. In 1995, Serbs committed the largest massacre in Europe since when they killed upwards of 8,000 men and boys in the of Srebrenica. Between 1992 and 1995, 100,000 people were murdered, 80% of whom were Bosniaks. • National/International Response: The 1995 Dayton Peace Accords ended the conflict in Bosnia. The UN Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1993. Between 1993 and 2017, the ICTY indicted more than 160 people accused of breaching the Geneva Conventions of 1949, violating laws or customs of war, committing crimes against humanity, and committing genocide during the Yugoslav Wars. • Sources: o https://hmh.org/library/research/genocide-in-bosnia-guide/ o https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/bosnia-herzegovina/case- study/background/1992-1995 o http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/bosnia o https://www.icty.org/en/about/tribunal/mandate-and-crimes-under-icty- jurisdiction

Important Mentions:

Indonesian Genocide • https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre- resistance/fr/document/indonesian-killings-1965-1966.html#title2

Genocide of in Brazil • https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/brazilian • https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/11709

Massacre of Hutus during the First Congo War • http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/congo • https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/CD/DRC_MAPPING_REPORT_FINAL_E N.pdf

Guatemalan Genocide • https://cja.org/what-we-do/litigation/the-guatemala-genocide-case/ • https://hmh.org/library/research/genocide-in-guatemala-guide/

Additional Resources: • https://www.loc.gov/law/help/genocide/jurisdiction-chart.pdf • https://www.cfr.org/timeline/leaders-facing-justice • https://ourworldindata.org/genocides • https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/repertoire/international-tribunals • https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide-convention.shtml • https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity- crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of% 20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf • https://ihl- databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/States.xsp?xp_viewStates=XPages_NORMStatesPart ies&xp_treatySelected=357