Genocide

1. GENOCIDE 12 March 2014 Dr. János Besenyő

2. AGENDA • Definition of genocide • Historical examples • Ad hoc International Courts - Rwanda, Bosnia • International Criminal Court (ICC) • Darfur, Hungarian experiences • Criterions of genocide • Fight against genocide

3. DEFINITION OF GENOCIDE • Genocide – from the Greek word genos (birth, identical ethnic group, tribe), as well as from the Latin word occido (to kill) expressions – to exterminate an ethnic group – Raphael Lemkin: Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation, Analysis of Government, Proposals for Redress (1944) • We regard every action perpetrated with the intention to – partly or fully – exterminate a national, ethnic racial or religious group as genocide – crime against humanity! • Genocide differs from other crimes, since for its perpetration a special intention (dolus specialis) is required – it doesn´t regard the person as a human being, but as a member of a persecuted group!

4. HISTORICAL EXAMPLES • Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire 500 000 • 1209. Béziers (France): Catholic settling with the heretic-branded Cathars. 20-30 000 • 1631. Magdeburg: The Catholic armies massacre the citizens of the Protestant town in the Thirty Years´ War. 30 000 • 1864. Caucasus: War of the Russians against the Caucasian people. 500 000 • 17-19th century Africa: European colonization and slave-trade destroying the population of the black continent. 10-30 000 000 • 1904-1905. Herero and Namaqua genocide by Germany – 60 000 (2/3 of the tribe) • 1915. The Armenian genocide – British, French and Russian condemning of declarations – at this time only massacre – raising the issue of holding the members of the Turkish government responsible – 2.5 000 000 • 1932-1933. The Ukraine – Holodomor – 7-10 000 000 • 1937-1945. Southeast-Asia: Massacres of the Japanese occupants in China, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and elsewhere. 6 000 000 – Nanking/300 000 (50%) • Holocaust – 6 000 000

5. HISTORICAL EXAMPLES • 1945-1948. Poland: Settling with the German and Ukrainian population as „anti-national” elements. 1.6 000 000 • 1968-1970. Biafra: War afflicting civilians against Nigeria. 1-2 000 000 • 1975 - 1999. East Timor: Deeds of horror of the Indonesian military in the independence-proclaiming insular country. 120 000 • 1988. Iraq – Anfal genocide against the Kurds -182 000 • 1994. Rwanda – 1 000 000 • July 1995. Srebenica – 7500 • 2003-2007. Darfur – 450 000 • Impeaching after the Second World War - Nuremberg, Tokyo: massacres against Jewish and other ethnic groups are defined as persecution, not genocide • Not states, but people were held responsible for the actions committed by themselves!

6. AGREEMENT ABOUT GENOCIDE • 11 December 1946 – the UN defines genocide as a war crime – „Genocide is the denial of entire human groups” – 96th resolution of the UN General Assembly, 1th chapter. • 1948 – „Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide.” (United Nations Genocide Convention) – effort to – partly or fully – annihilate any national, ethnic, racial or religious groups – regardless it is perpetrated in wartime or peacetime. • Intentional murder of the groups members • Serious physical or mental abuse of the members of the group • Influencing the life circumstances of the group, so that it would be partly or fully destroyed • Restriction, prevention of the births among the group • Transportation of the children from one group to another • The convention doesn´t contain the political, cultural and socialgroups – there is an ongoing debate about them! • The penitentiary mechanism is not always effective – the punishment of the perpetrators is executed by the given country, or the International Criminal Court in case the given state accepts their jurisdiction. • The secondary crimes in relation to the mass murders are not defined, those had to be done by the courts.

7. RWANDA • The International Criminal Court discussing the Rwandan genocide • Precedents – Belgian colonization politics, post-independence situation • 1994 – UNAMIR • Racial/Ethnic cleansing – 1 000 000 victims • International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda – ICTR/Arusha created by the 955th resolution of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) • Against genocide, persons responsible for serious violation of humanitarian law in Rwanda, as well as against those Rwandan citizens, who perpetrated the same crimes in the area of the neighboring countries. • Three Trial Chambers, one by one three judges + an Appeals Chamber (7 judges), 5 among them is present at any given case. Moreover 18 ad litem (for the suit) judges, among whom 9 can be put into service at any date, furthermore his 1042 co-workers. • The activity of the Court was amplified in 1998. • Investigations had to be concluded until 2004, lawsuits until 2008 and the whole activity until the end of 2010, but this wasn´t realize. • 74 validly closed cases, 46 convicts, 17 under appeal, 12 acquitted • Problems: large numbers of convicted persons, various sociographical environment, unpreparedness of local courts (gacaca).

8. BOSNIA • International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia discussing the Bosnian genocide • 1945-1990 – Yugoslavia • 1991 – independency of Slovenia, Bosnia and Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – complexity of the situation • May 1993 – International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia – ICTY/The Hague – UN • War crimes • Mass murder • Crimes against humanity • 14-17 September 1995 – Srebenica – 7500 • The court can´t hold a state, only a private person responsible! • The judgements of a lower court had to be concluded until the end of 2008, the judicial works until the end of 2010 (2012) • More, than 160 people were brought to law • 1140 co-workers from 81 countries, 16 permanent and 27 ad litem (for the suit) judges - judge Árpád Prandler (from 2006).

9. AD HOC INTERNATONAL COURTS • As a result of the Rwandan and Yugoslavian International Courts – The genocide – as a crime – becomes the part of the international customary law – with the value of „jus cogens” – No other international regulation can deviate from these. Because of this it is the duty of every state to punish this crime. • Ad hoc International Courts: • Special Court for Sierra Leone • Special Tribunal for Lebanon

10. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) • 1994 – the International Law Commission accepted the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. • 17 July 1998 – Rome Statute – 120 states signed it • 1 July 2002 – the Statute took effect • The most serious international crimes • Complementary jurisdiction, priority of the International Courts • Territorial and time restrictions influence its work less • Procedures: • genocide • crime of aggression • war crimes • crimes against humanity

11. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) • Presidency, Judicial Divisions, Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), Registry • The 18 judges work in Divisions: Pre-Trial Division, Trial Division, Judicial Division • Starting an investigation – act of accusing/at the initiation of the UNSC or the OTP • Cooperation with the law enforcement agencies of the member-states! • One closed case – the case of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo • 8 convictions, 18 cases • The countries which the Court discussed/discusses: • Afghanistan, Darfur (Sudan), Ivory Coast, Georgia, Honduras, Kenya, Columbia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Korea, Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda.

12. DARFUR

13. DARFUR - SUDAN Darfur

14. DARFUR • Its localization, history, ethnic groups, main characteristics of the area (economic, political, etc.) • 1984-1985 – aridity afflicting Darfur, strengthening conflict between the agricultural and pastoral communities (change of climate, fight for the land and water) • Arabization efforts of the Sudanese government, as well as convulsive clinging to power – There are no religious causes in the background (everyone is Muslim) • Petroleum discovered in Darfur (role of China) • April 2003, rebel groups (SLM, JEM) initiated attacks against the Sudanese government forces – The government deployed the Arabic irregular troops against the civil population, and they bombarded more, than 700 settlements. Murders, robberies, pillages, rape • 2.5 million refugees and nearly 450 000 dead • The international community reacted late, China blocked the resolutions of the UNSC regarding the events in Darfur • The AMIS, UNAMID reached only limited results • Up until now still hundreds of thousands people live in refugee camps, smaller or larger armed conflicts still occur – the conflicts weren´t solved, only „iced” • Darfur is the „powder keg” and threatens the stability of the whole region

15. ATTACK OF TAWILA

16. REFUGEES AFTER THE TAWILA ATTACK

18. CRITERIONS OF GENOCIDE • Classification, grouping – they are different from us! • Symbolization – pejorative, discriminating designations, colours, use of religious symbols, separate language, identical appearances, uniforms, symbol systems • Question somebody´s human existence – (dehumanization), discrimination on an ethnic bases, hate speech, „cleaning the nation”, ethnic cleansing • Organization – the mass murders are committed organized, in groups! – Material, political, ethnical • Separation, polarization – discrimination of groups, ethnicities, hate speech becoming public, strengthening of extremities, rise to state power, acquiring positions, influencing legislation, silencing moderate politicians, attacks against discriminated groups and their institutions • Preparations – wearing discriminative symbols, identification, preparation of death lists, selection, separation of later victims, resettlements, displacements, gross restriction of human rights (food-shopping, owned goods, etc.)

19. CRITERIONS OF GENOCIDE • Physical annihilation – genocide – beginning of the „elimination of the dehumanized persons”, which shortly becomes lawful and large • The genocides are perpetrated mostly by the governments! • There is no remorse, since they „clean” the nation • Denial – it works already during the genocide, but reaches an industrial level only after its end! • The continuous denial lays the foundation of the next or also the currently ongoing genocides! • The denial infects the generation of the future too, they won´t be able to face the facts and they themselves perpetrate the genocides

20. CRITERIONS OF GENOCIDE • The tactics of denial are always the same: • denial of the fact of the genocide, • minimalization, than questioning of the number of the victims, preventing access to the archives and the eye-witnesses, • extermination of the survivors and eye-witnesses, systematic hiding of the proofs, • undermining the people who tell the truth, • belittling of the causes of deaths (aridity, famine, diseases characteristic to the ethnicity, etc.) • accusation of the different „independent” armed groups, • dimension ancient differences as causes of the mass murders, • demonization of the victims (disloyal citizen, other than us, etc.), • the mass murders are called civil wars, where the murderers suffered a lot and killed only because of self-defense, • conceal the events, divert the attention from them by any means, • denying the genocide by legal means (it isn´t genocide, only crime against humanity or ethnic conflict…).

21. FIGHT AGAINST GENOCIDE • The universal defence and respect of human rights and freedoms – duty of the sovereign state! (prevention, reaction and rebuilding) • Reaction of the international community – UNSC • Non-intervention, self-government of peoples, state sovereignty • Right of humanitarian intervention • with UNSC-authorization (ECOWAS, Liberia) • without UNSC-authorization (NATO´s Intervention in Kosovo) • There is the possibility of humanitarian intervention as well, when serious violations of human right take place in a country; the local authorities don´t defend their citizens and reject the international intervention; if one of the members of the UNSC blocks the decision-making process; if states act in alliance and use the armed force only in the defence of the basic human rights of the people. • The mandate of the peace operations, the number of the deployable force is insufficient! • strong weakening of the UN´s credibility, powerful rise of the role of regional organizations (EU, AU, ECOWAS, etc.) • creation of International Courts is insufficient • In the case of intervention the important things are: early warning, fast reaction and holding people responsible!

22. FIGHT AGAINST GENOCIDE • Fight against discriminations, classifications, groupings, common language • Fight against the racist, ethnically politicizing, division-promoting persons or groups – in a given society • There mustn't be anything in official documents that would refer to the religion, ethnicity of the person • Protest against the negative discrimination of any group, and against the excluding, degrading speech, cultural habits • Rejection of the racist, other-belittling, them worthlessly degrading speeches, acting against every form of hate speech (TV, turning off radios by legal means). Support of tolerant broadcasts • Dialogue between communities, ethnicities, common projects, common acting upon negative discrimination • Undermining those organizations, groups which supports the previously mentioned, they represent them publicly. Preventing growth of membership numbers.

23. FIGHT AGAINST GENOCIDE • Denial of visa, entry of those persons, who belong to the above mentioned groups or believe in those ideas • Implementation of embargos, restrictions (prevention of retaining weapons) against the hate groups, uprooting the obtaining sources (acting against arms dealers, etc.) • Protesting against the legal discriminations, influencing the legislators in the interest of defence of minorities • Guarantee of physical defense (police) for the moderate political leaders, as well as for minorities. In case of their capture, murder enforcement of independent investigation • Preventing the various putsches, armed take-overs • In case of death lists, separation, arrests asking for international help – UN, regional organizations, NGO, diplomatic campaign, preparation of humanitarian intervention

24. FIGHT AGAINST GENOCIDE • If genocide take place, implementing sanctions against the given countries, UNSC resolutions in order to stop the genocide • Economic, political and diplomatic blockade against the country, restriction of imported goods, energy carriers • International arrest warrant against the persons responsible for the genocides, then bring them to trial to the International Criminal Court • Initiation of military-humanitarian intervention • The mandate must contain the protection of the civil population, the aid workers and the prohibited flying zones • Amplified right to use weapons, possible opportunity to act against mass murderers • The international community must provide financial, logistic (transportation, communication, arms, etc.) support • If the given state won´t let the peacekeepers in, its membership must be instantly suspended in the UN

25. SOURCES • János Besenyő, Roland Gömöri: Christians in Syria and the civil war, In: Panorama of globalsecurityenvironment 2014, CENAA, pp. 219-230, • János Besenyő: EU support to the African Union mission in Darfur – AMIS, Tradecraft Review, Periodical of the Scientific Board of Military Security Office, 2009, Special Issue, p. 31-45, http://knbsz.gov.hu/hu/letoltes/szsz/2009_1_spec.pdf • János Besenyő, Roland Gömöri: Arab Spring, Christian Fall? – The situation of Christian minorities in the Middle East after the Arab Spring – International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Herzliya, 2013. June,http://www.ict.org.il/Article/998/Arab_Spring_Christian_Fall • János Besenyő: The European Union's first support operation on the African continent: Darfur, Academic and Applied Research in Public Managament Science (ISSN: 2064-0021) 14: (4) pp. 349-361. (2015), http://archiv.uni-nke.hu/uploads/media_items/aarms-vol-14_-issue4_-2015.original.pdf#page=89

26. QUESTION?