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, establishes a legal framework for defining and addressing genocide. It characterizes genocide as actions aimed at the destruction, in whole or in part, of specific ethnic, national, racial, or religious groups. This landmark treaty emerged in response to the atrocities of World War II, particularly the Holocaust, and was influenced by the advocacy of Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term "genocide" and pushed for international legal protections against mass atrocities.
The convention obligates ratifying countries to not only prevent genocide but also to punish those responsible for such acts. Despite its noble intentions, the implementation of the convention has faced challenges, as seen in various global conflicts in subsequent decades, including the genocides in Rwanda and the Balkans. While the U.S. initially hesitated to ratify the convention due to concerns over sovereignty, it eventually did so in 1986. However, the effectiveness of the convention in preventing genocide remains a topic of ongoing discussion and critique, highlighting the complexities of international law and human rights advocacy.
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
The Treaty International convention designed to prevent genocide
Date Approved by U.N. General Assembly on December 9, 1948
Also Known As Genocide Convention
A landmark in international law, the Genocide Convention declared genocide, regardless of the circumstances in which it was committed, an international crime that signatories were obliged to prevent or punish.
Passed by a unanimous 55-0 vote by the U.N. General Assembly in 1948, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defined genocide as an act aiming at the destruction, but not exclusively murder, of an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group in whole or in part, regardless of circumstances. The convention committed contracting nations to prevent and punish this crime. The convention, building upon the U.N. Resolution of December 11, 1946, which declared genocide an international crime, owed much to Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish lawyer who proposed an international law against mass atrocities before World War II and who, in 1944, coined the term “genocide” to describe crimes against humanity, with particular focus on the murder of Europe’s Jews that had been perpetrated by Adolf Hitler’s Germany since 1933.
International revulsion at the extent of Nazi crimes, graphically revealed during the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946, facilitated Lemkin’s efforts to criminalize genocide and created the context for the convention’s adoption. Although U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly supported the convention, the Senate, concerned about the potential impact on American sovereignty, refused to ratify it.
Impact
In February, 1986, the U.S. Senate finally ratified the Genocide Convention. By then, events in Bangladesh, Burundi, and Cambodia had demonstrated that the convention was not fulfilling its advocates’ expectations. American adherence made no appreciable difference, as evidenced by developments in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Kosovo during the 1990’s.
Bibliography
LeBlanc, Lawrence J. The United States and the Genocide Convention. Durham, N.C.: Duke University, 1991.
Power, Samantha. “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide. New York: Harper Perennial, 2007.