Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Table of Cases
- Table of Treaties and other International Instruments
- Table of Abbreviations
- PART A INTRODUCTION
- PART B PROSECUTIONS IN NATIONAL COURTS
- PART C INTERNATIONAL PROSECUTIONS
- PART D SUBSTANTIVE LAW OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMES
- 10 Genocide
- 11 Crimes Against Humanity
- 12 War Crimes
- 13 Aggression
- 14 Transnational Crimes, Terrorism and Torture
- PART E PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES OF INTERNATIONAL PROSECUTIONS
- PART F RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS
- Index
- References
10 - Genocide
from PART D - SUBSTANTIVE LAW OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMES
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Table of Cases
- Table of Treaties and other International Instruments
- Table of Abbreviations
- PART A INTRODUCTION
- PART B PROSECUTIONS IN NATIONAL COURTS
- PART C INTERNATIONAL PROSECUTIONS
- PART D SUBSTANTIVE LAW OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMES
- 10 Genocide
- 11 Crimes Against Humanity
- 12 War Crimes
- 13 Aggression
- 14 Transnational Crimes, Terrorism and Torture
- PART E PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES OF INTERNATIONAL PROSECUTIONS
- PART F RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Overview
Genocide, as General Assembly Resolution 96(1) declared, ‘is a denial of the right of existence of entire human groups, as homicide is the denial of the right to live of individual human beings’. It is a crime simultaneously directed against individual victims, the group to which they belong, and human diversity.
The legal concept of genocide is narrowly circumscribed, the term ‘genocide’ being reserved in law for a particular subset of atrocities which are committed with the intent to destroy groups, even if colloquially the word is used for any large-scale killings. Most of the crimes committed by the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia in 1975–78, for example, are atrocities which do not readily fit within the narrow definition, however dreadful the suffering they caused. A decision that a particular atrocity is not ‘genocide’ does not of course remove the moral or legal guilt for conduct that falls within the definition of other international crimes. Many acts which do not constitute genocide will constitute crimes against humanity.
The form of intent that is a necessary element of the crime, that of intending to destroy a group, marks it out from all other international crimes. This explains why genocide is regarded as having a particular seriousness, and has been referred to as the ‘crime of crimes’.
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- An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure , pp. 203 - 229Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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