Author : Megan Smith (College teacher)
Release : 2022
Genre : Crimes against humanity
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Believing the Unbelievable by : Megan Smith (College teacher)

Download or read book Believing the Unbelievable written by Megan Smith (College teacher). This book was released on 2022. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Convincing the world to "believe the unbelievable" is an obstacle that all atrocity victims face. However, it remains to be seen if this belief is translated into the international community labeling atrocities and taking action. Crimes against humanity and genocide were codified as international crimes under international law in 1945 and 1946 through the Nuremberg Tribunal and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Following their codification, two schools of thought emerged. Both agree that there is a moral obligation for the international community to respond in instances where these terms are invoked, yet disagreement persists regarding whether there is an additional legal obligation to respond. In addition, an empirically verified link between atrocity labels and action by the international community remains to be identified and gaps within the literature remain. As a result, I seek to determine if this potential legal obligation is fulfilled when these labels are used and proposes the following question: Do patterns exist in which invoking the terms "genocide" and/or "crimes against humanity" leads to action by the international community?To address this question, I begin by exploring the previous literature with the aim of defining crimes against humanity and genocide, exploring the two schools of thought regarding the legal obligation to respond, and what we know about the use of these labels and subsequent action on the part of the international community. I then conduct a historical analysis and a comparative case study. The historical analysis tracks the evolution of atrocity rhetoric and the terms 'genocide' and 'crimes against humanity.' This analysis works to examine what these terms have come to mean both legally and connotatively. Following this historical analysis, a comparative case study is conducted which includes atrocities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Darfur, and Myanmar. Finally, patterns regarding the invocation of 'genocide' and 'crimes against humanity' are identified and analyzed. The findings of this study indicate that the invocation of these terms and subsequent action is dependent on and determined by political considerations and national interests of the international community.