Genocide Lecture Notes

Flashcards about Genocide

Genocide

Coordinated plan to destroy a national, ethnic, social, or religious group.

Genocide: Act 1

Killing members of the group.

Genocide: Act 2

Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.

Genocide: Act 3

Inflicting conditions designed to bring about physical destruction of the group.

Genocide: Act 4

Preventing births within the group.

Genocide: Act 5

Removing children from the group.

Raphael Lemkin

Polish legal scholar who devised the term Genocide.

Armenian Genocide (1915-1918)

Genocide that inspired Raphael Lemkin to coin the term Genocide.

Soghomon Tehlirian

Killed the Turkish Minister of the Interior for his role in the Armenian Genocide.

Madrid Conference 1933

Conference where Lemkin wanted to present a law dealing with the destruction of groups but was banned.

Addressing Armenian Genocide and warning people about Hitler

Why Lemkin was banned from the Madrid Conference.

These acts are very rare

Reason why many believed a law against genocide was unnecessary.

Moscow Declaration 1943

Br., U.S., U.S.S.R. pledged that perpetrators of atrocities against civilians will be brought to justice.

Charges at Nuremberg Trials

Crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, violating rules of war.

Nazi Argument 1

Argument that only a state can be held for crimes, not an individual.

Nazi Argument 2

Argument that actions of a country is protected from outside interference.

Legal Principle 1 from Nuremberg

A person that commits a crime under international law will be held responsible.

Legal Principle 2 from Nuremberg

If a state doesn’t have a law against an act, but international community does, the person will be held responsible.

Legal Principle 3 from Nuremberg

One’s position in government does not provide exemption from being held responsible.

Legal Principle 4 from Nuremberg

Following a direct order does not provide exemption from punishment if a moral choice was possible.

U.N. General Assembly Resolution (Dec 1946)

U.N. resolution that condemned genocide and began to draft a treaty to ban the crime.

U.N. passed Genocide Convention (Dec 1948)

Officially made genocide a crime and obligated signers to prevent, suppress, and punish those that commit the crime.

President Truman

President who supported the U.N. Genocide Convention.

U.S. Response to Genocide Convention - Fear

Fear: What exactly was meant by mental harm?

U.S. Response to Genocide Convention - Question

Question: What is the magic number that makes an event genocide?

U.S. Concern About Genocide Definition

Segregation of the south-is this mental harm?

U.S. Concern About Past Actions

Removal and killing of Native Americans-Is this genocide?

Senator William Proxmire

Senator who gave a speech to the Senate everyday for 17 years to ratify the Genocide Convention.

February 11, 1986

Year the U.S. ratified the Genocide Convention.

Stage 1 of Genocide: Classification

Getting people to distinguish between 'us and them'.

Bipolar Societies

Societies where genocides are most likely to occur.

Stage 2 of Genocide: Symbolization

Give names or symbols to the classifications.

Stage 3 of Genocide: Discrimination

Dominant group uses laws, customs, political power to deny rights.

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

Laws used to discriminate.

Stage 4 of Genocide: Dehumanization

Denying the humanity of another group by equating them to animals, vermin, insects, or diseases.

Organized

Genocides are always…

Stage 5 of Genocide: Polarization

Extremists drive the groups apart by using hate propaganda.

Stage 6 of Genocide: Preparation

Plans are made with euphemisms used to disguise intent.

Stage 7 of Genocide: Persecution

Victims identified and separated out, death lists created, killings begin to test the waters.

Stage 8 of Genocide: Extermination

Begins and quickly escalates to mass killings.