Putin does not believe in the existence of an independent Ukraine and is ready to destroy Ukrainians as a nation.
Mention of the term “genocide” in Russia's war against Ukraine is justified, writes AFP.
The notion of the crime of genocide arose after World War II, thanks to a Jew whose family was killed by the Nazis.
The Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide entered into force in 1951. It has been ratified by more than 150 countries, including the United States. The authors of the document demanded that the world not only condemn, but prevent and ensure the prosecution of genocide in the future.
US President Joe Biden on April 12 accused Russian dictator Vladimir Putin of trying to “destroy the very idea of being Ukrainian” . Other world leaders, such as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, were more restrained in their assessments, clarifying that the court should call what is happening in Ukraine genocide.
What is “genocide”?
The concept The genocide was introduced by a Polish Jew, Rafal Lemkin, who in the midst of World War II and the Holocaust tried to define what Nazi Germany wanted to do to Jews throughout Europe, as Turkey did to Armenians in 1910.
< p>The lawyer combined the Greek word geno, which means “race”, and cide in Latin – “murder”. And all his life he demanded that genocide be classified as a crime.
In 1948, the UN General Assembly approved the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide.
What is “genocide” from a legal point of view? ?
According to the Convention, the crime of genocide is an attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in part or in full.
The methods of achieving the goal can be various: mass murder, forced sterilization, ill-treatment that causes serious damage to physical or mental health, the removal of children from a certain group and their transfer to other people.
Or Is Russia committing genocide in Ukraine?
The answer to this question can be found in Putin's statements.
The Russian military is accused of atrocities against peaceful Ukrainians , mass killings. These are war crimes. But is such an act a crime of genocide?
“It simply came to our notice then. Any attempt to determine whether Russian crimes in Ukraine are linked to genocide must focus on Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements, “said Bohdan Vitvytskyi, a former US federal prosecutor and special adviser to Ukraine's attorney general. strong>.
Putin denies the existence of Ukraine as an independent state and Ukrainians as a separate people and sees it as part of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union.
Last year, he published an article ” On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians “, in which he clearly demonstrated the depth of determination in this matter. And he called the border between Ukraine and Russia “our common great disaster and tragedy.”
Putin and the propaganda media call Ukrainian leaders “drug addicts” and “Nazis” and the war against the neighboring state “denazification.” p <<> Human rights lawyer Gissu Nia , who worked on war crimes in The Hague, draws attention to two points that indicate Russia's intention to genocide against Ukrainians:
- < li> Deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia ;
- The story of 25 women and girls from Bucha, whom the Russian military promised to “rape them until they lose the opportunity to give birth to Ukrainian children.”
Why should world leaders use the term “genocide” in relation to Russia's actions?
One clause of the Convention is of concern to ratifying countries: if they recognize that genocide has taken place, they undertake to at least investigate and prosecute.
People and countries that commit genocide, ” should be punished “- the text of the document cuts off the field for maneuver.
American leaders have always been wary of using this term, which could force them to act during the massacres in Cambodia, Bosnia, Iraq, Rwanda and elsewhere .
In 1999, US President Bill Clinton repenting of his inability to protect the Tutsi people in Rwanda in 1994, he became the first American leader to recognize an act of genocide at the time of its commission. It was a campaign by Serbs against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
NATO forces intervened in the war and forced the Serbs to retreat. An international tribunal has accused Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic of war crimes, although he died before the trial ended.
Since 2005, world leaders have claimed responsibility for collective action to end the genocide. , war crimes and crimes against humanity.
However, atrocities and campaigns to exterminate ethnic groups still exist in the world, and collective responsibility for protection is rarely invoked.
And if the United States still recognizes Russia's actions as genocide?
The United States has long feared that recognizing genocide will require intervention, even the deployment of troops, with all the risks, costs, and political responses. For the most part, this is why leaders limit themselves to angry statements and humanitarian aid.
Biden insists that the US military will not take part in the war on Ukraine's side and against Russia, as it “threatens World War III.”
The United States and its allies are imposing sanctions on Russia and sending weapons to Ukraine. They also call for war crimes trials. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has launched its own investigation.
But fears from the United States, as well as Russia's veto power in the UN Security Council, complicate and prolong the process. In fact, it is impossible to bring Putin to justice quickly.
The position of Americans who opposed the participation of troops in foreign wars also hindered the fight against the US genocide more actively.
“But Russia's invasion of the neighboring country and brutality the people of Ukraine were outraged by the Americans in the same way as the campaigns in Cambodia, the Kurdish regions of Iraq and other places were outraged, ”the article reads.
A recent poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 40 percent of Americans believe the United States should play a “key role” in stopping Russia's invasion. And only 13% believe that the United States should not take part in this at all.
Read also: The massacre in Bucha should be called genocide – the Prime Minister of Poland
On the eve of the Deputy Secretary of State The United States on political issues, Victoria Nuland, said the United States was “highly likely” to recognize the Russian military's actions in Ukraine as genocide.
The Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau also believes that Russia's actions in Ukraine should be considered genocide.
“I think, as President Biden emphasized, there are official preconditions for determining genocide. But I think it is absolutely right that more and more people are saying and using the word genocide in terms of what Russia (in Ukraine) is doing to Vladimir Putin, “he said.
See special topic: Nine humanitarian corridors to operate in Ukraine on April 14 Green Corridors will open for the evacuation of people in Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. UN Secretary General: Russia's war against Ukraine could doom much of humanity to a famine unprecedented in decades The only solution to the war and its consequences for the world's poorest and most vulnerable – this is peace. Special operations forces blew up a bridge with enemy vehicles on the way to Izyum – General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Urals ». The Pentagon held a meeting with arms manufacturers on the need to arm Ukraine – CNN The main issues were logistics and priority of contracts. Office of the Prosecutor General: Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, more than 548 children have been injured and 197 have died 351 children have been injured.
