Genocidal intent

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Intent to destroy" redirects here. For the film, see Intent to Destroy.

Genocidal intent is the

crime of genocide.[1] "Intent to destroy" is one of the elements of the crime of genocide according to the 1948 Genocide Convention. There is an unresolved "intend debate" over whether dolus directus [definition needed] needs to be proven to convict for genocide, or whether a knowledge-based standard should be enough to convict for genocide.[2]

For an act to be classified as genocide, it is essential to demonstrate that the perpetrators had a deliberate and specific aim (

dolus specialis) to physically destroy the group based on its real or perceived nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion. Intention to destroy the group's culture or intending to scatter the group does not suffice.[3]

The

International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and International Court of Justice have ruled that, in the absence of a confession, genocidal intent can be proven with circumstantial evidence, especially "the scale of atrocities committed, their general nature, in a region or a country, or furthermore, the fact of deliberately and systematically targeting victims on account of their membership of a particular group, while excluding the members of other groups."[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][excessive citations
]

Cases

It is non-controversial that proving dolus directus[

Akayesu and Jelisić have rejected the knowledge standard.[15] The acquittal of Jelisić under the more onerous standard was controversial, and one scholar opined that Nazis would have been allowed to go free under the ICTY's ruling.[16] When Radislav Krstić became the first Serb convicted by the ICTY under the purpose standard, the Krstić court explained that its decision did not rule out a knowledge standard under customary international law.[15]

In 2010, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal referred to the precedent of the ICTR in discussing the role of genocidal intent.[17]

In the 2004 United Nations Commission of Inquiry into the

Holocaust would not have been convicted for genocide.[16]

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-349-56169-8
    .
  2. ^ Rodenhäuser, Tilman (2018). Organizing Rebellion: Non-state Armed Groups Under International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law, and International Criminal Law. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 284.
  3. ^ "United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect". www.un.org. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  4. ISBN 978-3-319-78169-3
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  5. ISBN 978-1-349-27348-5
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  6. ISBN 978-0-7391-7847-8
    .
  7. ISBN 978-94-6265-123-4
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  8. S2CID 143072669
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  9. S2CID 216136915
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  10. S2CID 144141503
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  11. S2CID 152124051
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  12. doi:10.3138/gsp.5.1.39
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  13. S2CID 148074049
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  14. doi:10.1017/S1816383110000056
    .
  15. ^ a b Nersessian, David L. (2002). "The Contours of Genocidal Intent: Troubling Jurisprudence from the International Criminal Tribunals". Texas International Law Journal. 37: 231.
  16. ^
    S2CID 146191450
    .
  17. ^ Park, Ryan (2010). "Proving Genocidal Intent: International Precedent and ECCC Case 002" (PDF). Rutgers Law Review. 63: 129.
  18. doi:10.1093/jicj/mqi054
    .
  19. doi:10.1093/jicj/mqm036
    .
  20. doi:10.1093/jicj/mqz025
    .
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