Analysis: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
The "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide," adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, represents a significant legal framework aimed at preventing and punishing acts of genocide. This convention arose in response to the horrific events of World War II, where millions of people, particularly Jews and Romani, were systematically exterminated by the Nazi regime. The term "genocide," coined by lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944, encapsulates not only the acts of killing but also other measures intended to destroy a group, including causing serious harm or preventing births.
The convention defines genocide as a crime under international law, applicable in both wartime and peacetime, thus emphasizing the global responsibility to intervene against such acts. It establishes that all parties must adopt national legislation to enforce its provisions and allows for prosecution either in the nation where genocide occurred or through international tribunals. The document articulates the obligations of states to collaborate in prevention and punishment, reflecting a commitment to uphold human rights and protect vulnerable populations. Since its inception, 146 nations have ratified the convention, affirming a collective stance against genocide and the necessity for accountability in the face of such grave violations.
Analysis: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
Date: December 9, 1948
Author: United Nations
Genre: treaty
Summary Overview
During World War II, the Nazi regime of Germany systematically killed a total of some fifteen to twenty million European Jews, Romani, and other ethnic and social minorities. The killing began before the official outbreak of war in 1939, as the Nazis prosecuted a relentless campaign against Jewish and other populations deemed undesirable. In the ensuing years, these peoples died from forced marches and forced labor, mass shootings, euthanasia, abortion, starvation, and disease in ghettos and concentration camps, as well as extermination plans carried out in six death camps. On December 9, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 260 (III), the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to prevent such crimes from ever happening again and to ensure punishment of those who violated its provisions.
Defining Moment
In August 1941, British prime minister Winston Churchill referred to Nazi atrocities against Jews and other peoples in Europe as “a crime without a name.” In 1944, Polish Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the word “genocide” to describe the murderous campaign waged by the Nazis.
As early as December 1942, the Allied powers had condemned and promised retribution for Nazi atrocities committed against the peoples of Europe. Before the war ended in 1945, Allied leaders had begun making plans for postwar trials of “crimes against peace,” “war crimes,” and “crimes against humanity.” The Nuremberg trials lasted from October 1945 to October 1946, and nineteen leading Nazi officials were convicted and sentenced, with ten executed, three imprisoned for life, and four serving prison terms of more than a decade. However, although the term “genocide” occurred in trial records and indictments, it did not appear in the charter of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) or in the final verdicts. Also, the IMT confined its verdicts to crimes committed during wartime. This caused Lemkin and others great concern as Nazi policies of persecution began well before official declarations of war in 1939. Millions had already died.
Many world leaders wanted to provide safeguards against genocide during peacetime and wartime. So, following the conclusion of the Nuremberg trials, several nations introduced a draft resolution to declare genocide an international crime (during times of war and peace) and to make crimes of genocide “subject to universal jurisdiction.” This would have enabled crimes of genocide to be tried by any state as well as by international courts established by relevant parties. On December 11, 1946, Resolution 96 (I), “The Crime of Genocide,” entered an official definition of genocide into the General Assembly: “Genocide is a denial of the right of existence of entire human groups… and is contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations.” The resolution further called on the UN General Assembly to legislate against genocide.
That legislation took the form of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Drafting and passage of the convention took time. Lemkin, along with Vespasian Pella and Henri Donnedieu de Vabres, contributed to the writing of the first draft, which then went through committee revisions before being submitted to the General Assembly for adoption in December 1948. At the time, forty-one member nations signed the convention, and its provisions went into effect on January 12, 1951; since then, a total of 146 member nations have ratified the convention.
Author Biography
The United Nations (UN) was formally established on October 24, 1945. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had first used the term to refer to an alliance of nations against the Axis powers in 1942. Following the end of World War II, representatives from fifty nations gathered to form an official international body charged with securing international peace, security, and cooperation. The UN came into being with the signature of the UN Charter. The General Assembly was one of the principal bodies within the UN. Every member nation was to be represented and have one vote. The primary purpose of the General Assembly is to discuss international matters relating to charges under the charter and to make recommendations for international action. The General Assembly has no law-making or enforcement power. The first General Assembly, with representatives from fifty-one nations, met in London on January 10, 1946. Since that time, the body has passed thousands of resolutions. As of 2014, the General Assembly comprised representatives from all 193 UN member nations; only two independent countries in the world were not members.
Document Analysis
The opening lines of the convention introduce its purpose in protecting the world from the “odious scourge” of genocide and articulate its origin as a response to UN General Assembly Resolution 96 (I). This is noteworthy in that it cites the need for an international, collaborative response to the threat of genocide and specifically names genocide as a crime. The provisions of the convention are enumerated in nineteen articles, the first nine of which deal with the definition of genocide, the trial and punishment of crimes of genocide, and the roles of contracting parties and the United Nations. The subsequent ten articles deal largely with procedural matters, including the convention's ratification, its duration of effect, and processes of revision and cancellation.
The convention's punch lies in the first batch of articles. Article 1 gives the document its power, by declaring that “genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which [the contracting parties] undertake to prevent and to punish.” This article elaborates on the purpose of the convention as both preventing and punishing genocide and, significantly, indicates that genocide may occur during peacetime. Article 2 then extends the precedents of the International Military Tribunal Charter by defining specific acts of genocide. Notable in this article is that it defines genocide not only as killing members of national, ethnic, racial, and religious groups “with intent to destroy” but also as committing other acts, including imposing conditions meant to bring about “physical destruction in whole or in part,” attempts to prevent births and to remove children, and other methods inflicting “serious bodily or mental harm.”
Article 3 builds on the preceding article by defining crimes of genocide in addition to its perpetration that the UN considers punishable. Item (a) names genocide itself, which would include the terms of the definition in the preceding provision. Items (b) through (e) extend punishable crimes to corollary actions including conspiracy and complicity, attempted genocide, and incitement. This article is perhaps most significant, as it holds accountable not only individuals who actually deal in death, but also those who orchestrate, support, collaborate, and encourage genocide. Article 4 elaborates this principle by clarifying that all persons, from the highest to the lowest ranks of a society, may be prosecuted and punished under the convention.
Articles 5 through 9 address the processes of trial, prosecution, and punishment and outline the obligations of contracting parties. In article 5, states commit to pass their own national laws to enforce the terms of the convention. Article 6 defines two methods of prosecution: either by trial in states where the genocide has been committed or by international tribunal. Article 7 also obligates states to uphold the convention by granting extradition. Article 8 offers contracting parties a means of invoking the UN to take action to prevent or stop genocide. Finally, article 9 allows for mediation of disputes regarding the convention by the International Court of Justice.
Among the procedural articles, article 14 may be the most significant, as it defines the duration of the convention's effectiveness. After its initial ten years in force, the convention renews itself automatically for five-year periods and continues to do so until states denounce it in writing. Even then, per article 15, the convention remains in effect until the number of contracting parties becomes fewer than sixteen. Only if the number of contracting parties drops below sixteen does the convention become void. Similarly, article 16 states that any party may submit a request to revise the convention, which the General Assembly will then review.
Glossary
abrogation: the act or instance of repealing
denounce: to condemn or censure openly or publicly; to make a formal accusation against, as in court
extradition: the procedure by which a state or nation, upon receipt of a formal request by another state or nation, turns over to that second jurisdiction an individual charged with or convicted of a crime
odious: hateful; highly offensive; deserving or causing hatred
scourge: a cause of affliction or calamity
Bibliography and Additional Reading
Cooper, John. Raphael Lemkin and the Struggle for the Genocide Convention. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.
Jones, Adam. Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.
Lemkin, Raphael. Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation, Analysis of Government, Proposals for Redress. Clark: Lawbook Exchange, 2005. Print.
Meisler, Stanley. United Nations: A History. New York: Grove, 2011. Print.
Schabas, William A. “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law. Codification Division, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations, 2013. Web. 6 Jan. 2015.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2009. Print.
United Nations. “Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly during Its First Session.” UN.org. United Nations General Assembly, n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2015.