Encyclopedia Britannica defines the word Genocide as deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnic, nationality, race or religion. This hybrid word genocide is a combination of Greek word ‘Genos’ meaning Race, tribe or Nation and Latin word ‘Cide’ meaning “Act of killing”.
The word genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish Jurist with superb European legal background and a student of international criminal law. Lemkin in his book the “Axis rule in Occupied Europe: Law of Occupation-Analysis of Government-Proposal of Redress” published in 1944 first introduced the term genocide to describe the framework for mass killing. In Chapter IX of book, entitled Genocide, the description of the word genocide is given as:
“By “genocide” we mean the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group. This new word, coined by the author to denote an old practice in its modern development, is made from the ancient Greek word genos(race, tribe) and the Latin cide (killing), thus corresponding in its formation to such words as tyrannicide, homocide, infanticide, etc” (Lemkin,1944)
As a legal scholar and practicing attorney, Lemkin had struggles for many years with defining and codifying the concepts of punishment for the kinds of crimes committed by the Young Turk government against the Armenians. His concern with the Armenians and what happened to them under the cover of World war 1 influenced him to struggle for framing the appropriate legal framework for perpetrators of such horrendous crimes against humanity. In his book, he gives information about the evolution of genocide and also describes the legal framework for persecution and punishment. Raphael Lemkin’s definition of genocide not only curtails the meaning as the outright extermination of Jews and Gypsies by the Germans but also expands it further to the Goal of Hitler’s Nazi army and its international policies. At one instance in the book, he describes the word as “coordinated plan of different action” intended to promote multiple goals such as increase in the birth rate of “Aryan”, to bring destruction to other “Cultures, religions and national feeling” and to separate existence for non-Aryan nationals from the world.
A meeting of the League of Nations in Madrid. Lemkin’s paper on barbarism and vandalism was presented at the League of Nations in Madrid in 1933.
According to lemkin, Genocide is the antithesis of the Rousseau-Portalis Doctrine. The doctrine of Rousseau-Portalis states that the war is directed against sovereigns and armies, rather than against the subjects and civilians. In contemporary environment, this means that war is waged against the state and armies rather the civilian population. Lemkin disregards this doctrine and says that during the beginning of World war 2, this doctrine is practically inapplicable as the agenda of state has now shifted. He calls Germany’s participation in war as a palpable genocide as firstly; Germany is waging a total war and secondly; because of predominant National socialism, the Nation not the state is the predominant element. He inculcates these elements to further elaborate his coined phrase and its implication in the New world order.
Further in his book, Raphael Lemkin describes 7 techniques of Genocide in Various Fields. These techniques area:
- Political
- Social
- Cultural
- Economic
- Biological
- Physical
- Religious
- Moral
The tireless efforts of Lemkin Eventually paid off. On December 9, 1948, the United Nations approved the convention on the Prevention and Punishment of genocide.
Definition of Genocide under the Nuremberg charter and Genocide convention.
The charter of international tribunal (Nuremberg Charter) defines genocide in broad term as “Crimes against humanity”. This charter extends the liabilities of Genocide against anyone who “Planned, instigated, ordered or committed” this inhumane act. After the famous Nuremberg trial (1945), genocide was famously explained as “crimes of crimes”.
According to Article 2 of the 1948 United nations convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the crime, Genocide is defined as
Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
- killing members of the group;
- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life,
- calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
- Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Even since the convention came into place, several cases of genocide have occurred throughout the history. Preventing genocide is one the major challenges faced by the international convention.
Cases of genocide:
- Armenian Genocide
- The Holocaust
- Cambodian genocide
- Rwanda Genocide
- Bosnia Genocide
- Darfur Genocide
- Myanmar Genocide.
Citations:
Lemkin, Raphael. (1944). “Axis rule in Occupied Europe: Law of Occupation-Analysis of Government-Proposal of Redress. Chapter9; p. 79.
The Final Solution 