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The Current State Of Genocide
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Published: August 17, 2006
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as the international physical destruction of groups in whole or in part.
Groups can be defined by national, ethnic, racial or religious characteristics. In 1951, the Genocide Convention went into effect, establishing a body of international law to prevent and punish genocide.
However, genocide has continued to exist long after the European Holocaust of the 1930s and 1940s. Some experts say political and ethnic conflicts will only continue to intensify due to problems brought on by global population growth and the depletion of the earth's resources.
In 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell declared that genocide was occurring at the hands of government-sponsored militias in Sudan. The growing conflict in Sudan provides more reason to address the problems in abolishing genocide.
One of the major problems is that too much time is spent on debating whether atrocities should be labeled as genocides. Many United Nations members are hesitant to infringe on another nation's sovereignty and are unwilling to fund the efforts needed to prevent and stop genocide. As a result, debate becomes an excuse for nations to stall the decision-making process regarding whether to act upon potential genocide cases. A current example is the conflict taking place in the Dafur region of Sudan.
Between 200,000 and 400,000 civilians have been murdered, raped, tortured and forcibly displaced based on an ethnic-based strategy carried out by a government-supported militia. The member nations of the United Nations refused to label the atrocities as genocide and instead called the situation a humanitarian crisis. Although the United States has labeled the atrocities in Sudan as genocide, it has failed to take any significant action.
Another problem is the lack of rapidly-deployable peace-keeping operations in effect. It usually takes several months to put forces on the ground. In the meantime, more atrocities are being committed. Although steps have been taken to establish this type of operation, such as the creation of the State of High Readiness Brigade in 2000, these groups are still plagued by problems such as sensitivities on command and control of the operation, training problems with multi-national forces and funding. Yet, governments have other options at their disposal. They can offer or withhold aid, impose economic sanctions, condemn the regime's behavior or aid the opposition groups.
The United Nations needs to improve integrated systems for responding to genocide and speed is necessary. The United Nations has a record of deploying peace-keeping forces at a slow pace with insufficient personnel, equipment and inadequate mandate to suppress violent attacks on non-combatants. The nations of the world can no longer afford to wait for larger numbers of people to die before the decide to take action.
Groups can be defined by national, ethnic, racial or religious characteristics. In 1951, the Genocide Convention went into effect, establishing a body of international law to prevent and punish genocide.
Related Articles
In 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell declared that genocide was occurring at the hands of government-sponsored militias in Sudan. The growing conflict in Sudan provides more reason to address the problems in abolishing genocide.
One of the major problems is that too much time is spent on debating whether atrocities should be labeled as genocides. Many United Nations members are hesitant to infringe on another nation's sovereignty and are unwilling to fund the efforts needed to prevent and stop genocide. As a result, debate becomes an excuse for nations to stall the decision-making process regarding whether to act upon potential genocide cases. A current example is the conflict taking place in the Dafur region of Sudan.
Between 200,000 and 400,000 civilians have been murdered, raped, tortured and forcibly displaced based on an ethnic-based strategy carried out by a government-supported militia. The member nations of the United Nations refused to label the atrocities as genocide and instead called the situation a humanitarian crisis. Although the United States has labeled the atrocities in Sudan as genocide, it has failed to take any significant action.
Another problem is the lack of rapidly-deployable peace-keeping operations in effect. It usually takes several months to put forces on the ground. In the meantime, more atrocities are being committed. Although steps have been taken to establish this type of operation, such as the creation of the State of High Readiness Brigade in 2000, these groups are still plagued by problems such as sensitivities on command and control of the operation, training problems with multi-national forces and funding. Yet, governments have other options at their disposal. They can offer or withhold aid, impose economic sanctions, condemn the regime's behavior or aid the opposition groups.
The United Nations needs to improve integrated systems for responding to genocide and speed is necessary. The United Nations has a record of deploying peace-keeping forces at a slow pace with insufficient personnel, equipment and inadequate mandate to suppress violent attacks on non-combatants. The nations of the world can no longer afford to wait for larger numbers of people to die before the decide to take action.
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