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2 Int'l J.L. Mgmt. & Human. 302 (2019)
Genocide: A Threat to the International Peace and Security: A Critical Analysis

handle is hein.journals/ijlmhs2 and id is 302 raw text is: www.ijlmh.com ©2018 IJLMH I Volume 2, Issue 1 1 ISSN: 2581-5369 Genocide: A Threat to the International Peace and Security A Critical Analysis Krishnapriya K.S. Government Law College, Thrissur Kerala, India ABSTRACT: This paper intends to provide an overview of the crime of genocide through drawing special attention on the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The paper highlights the exigency of a more comprehensive approach to the prevention of genocide globally, by addressing the existing lacunae of the present Convention. The paper interprets the meaning of genocide through a closer look at the various provisions of the Convention. I. WHAT IS GENOCIDE? The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (article 2) defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group ... , including: (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. The Convention confirms that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or war, is a crime under international law which parties to the Convention undertake to prevent and to punish (article 1). The primary responsibility to prevent and stop genocide lies with the State in which this crime takes place. Genocide often occurs in societies in which different national, racial, ethnic or religious groups become locked in identity- related conflicts. However, it is not the differences in identity per se that generate conflict, but rather the gross inequalities associated with those differences in terms of access to power and resources, social services, development opportunities and the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms. It is often the targeted group's reactions to these inequalities, and counter-reactions by the dominant group, that generate conflict that can escalate to genocide. II. CAN STATES COMMIT GENOCIDE ? Whether a state could actually perpetrate genocide, and engage its responsibility for doing so pursuant to the Convention, remained at the heart of Bosnia v Serbia case. The court observed that the obligation on states 'not to commit genocide themselves' was 'not expressly imposed by the actual terms of the Convention'. This was a question better addressed from the article 1 than article 9, which is essentially a jurisdictional provision, it International Journal of Law Management & Humanities Page 302

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