Interesting Points:
– The definition of Genocide is all encompassing. Even if there are just nine or ten people in a religious cult the conspiracy to wipe them out would be defined as Genocide. I guess I find it interesting that this term doesn’t just apply to large numbers of people – it has to do with any sized group.
– If it is possible, the offenders will be tried in a state judicial system, instead of an international war crimes tribunal. I was under the impression that all trials as serious as these would be on an international level.
– The ratification process extends for quite a long period of time. It is not over in one day with countries voting “yay” or “nay”. The process begins on 9 December 1948 and goes up until 31 December 1949 – over one year long.
Questions:
– I understand that people had never seen controlled killings like the Holocaust before, but don’t you think the countries of the world should’ve had legislation in place before any of this happened in the first place?
– Why would any country NOT ratify this legislation. Some African countries may have wanted to stay away from it so they could continue their use of “crowd control” (Rwanda), but denying the bill is just begging to be scorned by the international community.
Observation:
– The convention would cease to exist if the number of countries went below sixteen. I have no idea why they would include this stipulation as I would want to keep the legislation in effect even if there was only one country holding onto it.
To answer your first question, the Holocaust is what led to such strict policies and awareness of genocide. It is extremely difficult to imagine how such brutality and cruelty was taking place during the Nazi regime, and how Hitler was able to get away with it for almost twelve years. I think the Holocaust was something that almost nobody, no matter how pessimistic their views on mankind were, could have forecasted.
I think another reason it was hard for this legislation to come about until after the holocaust was the accessibility between countries. It was much easier for countries to not let news of their actions get out in the past and it allowed them to keep most of their actions secret. The Holocaust was a big enough event that the world took notice but before that a lot of events were kept in the dark.