The Legal and Historical Evolution of
Genocide
Dr. Irving Berkowitz,
Dean of Academic Affairs
Palm Beach State College
“HAVING LOST MY OWN FAMILY AND SIX MILLION OTHER MEMBERS OF MY SMALL TRIBE OF 15 MILLION IN THE
WHOLE WORLD DURING ONE OF HUMANITIES DARKEST EPOCHS, I CARRY A HOLOCAUST BIOGRAPHYY DEEP
INSIDE ME. BY REACHING AND TEACHING AS MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN ABOUT THE NAZI HOLOCAUST AND THE
CRIME OF GENOCIDE, I LET THE ETERNITY OF MY PEOPLE LIVE ON IN ME.”
Dr. Irving Berkowitz
“PROTECTING MINORITIES FROM THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE PRESERVES THE INVALUABLE DIVERSITY OF HUMANKIND AND
THEIR UNIQUE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ONE RACE THAT SUPERCEDES ALL OTHERS, THE HUMAN RACE.”
Dr. Irving Berkowitz
“OUR FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THE HUMANITY OF THE MULTITUDES MASSACRED IN THE RECENT AND REMOTE EPISODES OF
GENOCIDE AND TO PREVENT THEIR REOCCURENCE, UTTERLY DEGRADES AND DISGRACES OUR OWN HUMANITY.”
Dr. Irving Berkowitz
“WHEN HUMAN LIVES ARE ENDANGERED AND HUMAN DIGNITY IS IN JEOPARDY, NATIONAL BORDERS AND
SENSITIVITIES BECOME IRRELEVANT. WHEREVER MEN AND WOMEN ARE PERSECUTED BECAUSE OF THEIR RACE,
RELIGION OR POLITICAL VIEWS, THAT PLACE MUST, AT THAT MOMENT, BECOME THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.”
Elie Wiesel
1987 Acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize
“INDIFFERENCE IS THE FRIEND OF THE ENEMY.”
Elie Wiesel
THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE: AN OVERVIEW
GENOCIDE: U.N. RESOLUTION 96 (1)
In 1946, the very first session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the
following resolution:
Genocide 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; such denial of the right of existence
shocks the conscience of mankind, results in great losses to humanity in the form of cultural
and other contributions represented by these human groups, and is contrary to moral law
and to the spirit and aims of the United Nations.
The General Assembly, therefore,
Affirms that genocide is a crime under international law which the civilized world
condemns, and for the commission of which principals and accomplices - whether
private individuals, public officials or statesmen, and whether the crime is
committed on religious, racial, political or any other grounds --are punishable;
Invites the Member States to enact the necessary legislation for the prevention and
punishment of this crime;
GENOCIDE: DEFINITION
Defined in 1948 for the first time by the United Nations General
Assembly when it adopted the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
…any of the following acts committed with the intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or,
religious
group,
such.
....any
ofas
the
following acts committed with
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.
If genocide is "murder aimed at members of a
group," or "groups explicitly targeted for destruction"
then what groups are not included (unprotected)
under the U.N. definition?
GENOCIDE:
UNPROTECTED GROUPS
--
Political/Civic
Groups united by common principles and beliefs whose aim is to elect or
remove politicians and influence public policy (e.g. political parties,
counter- revolutionaries, rightists, leftists, ACLU, AARP, NUL, )
--
Ideological
--
Sexual Orientation/
Identity
Groups united by common concerns or interests whose work is driven by
deeply held beliefs (e.g. NAACP, NOW, AIPAC, LGBT)
--
Health
Groups defined and distinguished by their romantic desire and sexual
preference for persons of the same gender, or those who have undergone
medical treatment to become a member of the opposite sex (e.g. gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender).
Groups characterized by the presence of mental or physical impairments
or disabilities
-- Economic
Groups who promote, advance and protect the economic interests of
their members, (e.g. social classes based upon wealth or lack thereof,
business groups, labor unions)
-- Military
Groups representing the armed forces of the state or other paramilitary
and insurgent forces.
-- Professional
Groups that regulate their professions and lobby for public policies that
benefit their members, professional associations such as AMA, ABA, NEA,
AAUP)
GENOCIDE: MOTIVES
1.
TO DEAL WITH PERCEIVED THREATS TO GOVERNMENT;
(Armenian Genocide by the Turks)
2.
TO DESTROY THOSE ONE HATES OR ENVIES;
(Jewish Holocaust by the Nazi’s)
3.
TO PURSUE IDEOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION;
(Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in China)
4.
TO ‘PURIFY’ SOCIETY
(Slobodan Milosevic’s “Ethnic Cleansing” in Serbia)
5.
TO ACHIEVE ECONOMIC & MATERIAL GAIN.
(the purges of Joseph Stalin)
A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
FOR UNDERSTANDING GENOCIDE: Continued

Expropriation
The state-sanctioned, forcible seizure, confiscation, involuntary surrender or dispossession of the
personal private property of a persecuted group without compensation

Dehumanization
The systematic degradation of a hated and persecuted segment of the society such that they are
collectively viewed and treated as sub-human, without dignity or a right to life. The Nazis used the
image of a rat to portray Jews as “undesirables” and labeled them as Lebensunwertes Lebel (Life
unworthy of Life).

Isolation
The act of physically and socially segregating and secluding a hated segment of the society defined as
undesirable or sub-human under conditions best described as inhumane, barbaric, merciless and
intolerable.

Extermination
Commonly referred to as the action(s) taken to eliminate or destroy vermin, disgusting animals such as
rats and cockroaches, Now also used synonymously with the term Genocide, meaning the systematic
and intentional annihilation of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group; undesirables .
A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
FOR UNDERSTANDING GENOCIDE

Accusation
A period during which a particular racial, ethnic, religious or social group is the subject of an intensely
denigrating and accusatory propaganda campaign aimed at assigning blame/responsibility for the
problems (e.g. economic, social, political, etc.) that beset the larger society. This promotes widespread
“hatred” toward the particular group.

Marginalization
A process that relegates the despised group to a subordinate, inferior, powerless and pariah social
status resulting in their exclusion from mainstream society.

Demonization
An extension of the marginalization process that inculcates in the masses a widespread public
perception of the hated/feared group as diabolically evil, morally culpable and an enemy that must
be destroyed.

Persecution
Hostile and oppressive actions and policies sanctioned by the state that result in the subjugation,
maltreatment, suffering, enslavement and death of members of a marginalized and demonized racial,
ethnic, religious or social group.
WORLDWIDE ESTIMATED DEATHS
IN THE 20TH CENTURY

In 1900 the world population numbered between 1.6 to 1.8 billion people.
By 2000 the world population reached 6 billion.

In the 20th century, governments are estimated to have murdered 174
million people (4 times the number killed in combat in all domestic and
foreign wars during the century).
THE WORST MURDERING GOVERNMENTS OF
THE 20TH CENTURY
THE WORST MURDERING GOVERNMENTS OF
1. Soviet Union
THE 20TH CENTURY
2.
3.
4.
(under Lenin, Stalin and their successors)
The Republic of China
(under Mao Zedong and his successors)
Germany’s Nazi Regime
(under Hitler)
Chinese Nationalist Government
(under Chiang Kai-shek)
62 million
39 million
21 million
10 million
Other Governments that Killed up to 10 Million:
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Japan (1937-1945)
Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge (1979)
Turkey (1909-1918)
Vietnam (1945-1987)
North Korea (1948-2002)
Poland (1945-1948)
Pakistan (1958-1987)
Mexico (1900-1920)
Yugoslavia (1944-1987)
6 million
2 million
1.9 million
1.7 million
2.0 million
1.6 million
1.5 million
1.4 million
1 million
GENOCIDE: Alternative Definitions
GENOCIDE IS THE MASS KILLING OF SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS OF HUMAN BEINGS. . .
UNDER CONDITIONS OF THE ESSENTIAL DEFENSELESSNESS AND HELPLESSNESS OF THE
VICTIMS.
• (Note: Emphasizes "murder," and that mass killing need not be explicitly
“intentional.” Also not tied to group membership)
 GENOCIDE IS SUSTAINED, PURPOSEFUL ACTION BY A PERPETRATOR TO PHYSICALLY
DESTROY A COLLECTIVITY, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, REGARDLESS OF SURRENDER OR
LACK OF THREAT BY THE VICTIM(S).
• (Note: Applies to any "collectivity.“)
 THE INTENTIONAL KILLING (MURDER) BY GOVERNMENT OF PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THEIR
GROUP IDENTITY.
• (Note: Equates genocide with murder and only murder, not non-lethal physical
or mental conditions imposed. Also includes “any group.”)
 ANY INTENTIONAL KILLING (MURDER) OF UNARMED AND HELPLESS PEOPLE BY
GOVERNMENT.
• (Note: This definition covers mass murder for reasons other than group
membership)

Rafael Lemkin (1900-1959)
Raphael Lemkin was the Polish-Jewish jurist who
coined the word “genocide” and led a global
crusade to have the destruction of human groups
criminalized. His single-minded dedication led to the
1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of Genocide, defining genocide as
the foremost international and moral crime. A modern
day “renaissance man,” he was fluent in almost a
dozen languages, a jurisprudential genius, a politically
astute lobbyist and campaigner and a keen student
of the social sciences. His miraculous escape from
Nazi-occupied Poland, together with his tragic losses
(most of his family was killed in the Holocaust),
amounts to an incredible story of the human spirit.
Indeed, Lemkin’s passionate appreciation for cultural
diversity, which he considered to be the soul of
humanity, was what drove him to establish genocide
as the “crime of crimes. ”He was nominated four times
for the Noble Peace Prize. His legacy is enjoying a
resurgence of interest. It is because of him that we
today have an enterprising academic field in
genocide studies and an ever vigorous movement in
international law and politics against genocide and
crimes against humanity.