Global Human Rights Case Study Reflection

Dr. Kathleen Barrett

Juna Hwang

Reflection on Case Study

The case study I worked on was about genocide. Me and my classmate, Andrea worked on

this study together. We divided our roles in research and put together all the information in

one presentation. Our study mainly focused on the definition of genocide and how the term

was coined. We looked at some other concepts similar to genocide and drew a clear line of

demarcation between them to help the class better understand what genocide is. Then, we

looked at two major examples of genocide that occurred throughout history: the Holocaust

and the Uyghurs Genocide.

In this reflection, I would like to summarize the study in the order of the definition and

genocide in history. Then, I would propose suggestions on advocacy to enhance or prevent

genocide from happening.

The term genocide was first introduced by Polish lawyer Raphäel Lemkin. The word can

be divided into two, genos and cide. "Genos" means race or tribe and "cide" means killing,

which when combined means the killing of race or tribe. This initial interpretation of the

concept was then developed not only in response to the Nazi policies of the systematic

murder of Jewish people but also in response to previous cases where particular groups of

people were targeted. This development of definition is notable as it limits the meaning of the

term to a "systematic" and "targeted" killing of a race or tribe.

1
 Later, genocide was recognized and codified as an international crime under the law in

1946 by the United Nations General Assembly. It was put in written form in the 1948

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, also known as the

Genocide Convention. I dug deeper into the Genocide Convention, looking at each of the

articles. The most important article is Article II which clarifies the exact meaning of

genocide. The official meaning of genocide is "any of the following acts committed with

intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." Notably,

the meaning is strictly limited to four groups, national, ethnic, racial, and religious.

After clarifying the origin and the meaning of genocide, I looked at the list of countries

that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Genocide Convention. As of July 2019, the

Convention has been ratified by 152 States. States that have not yet ratified included seven

states in the Americas, twenty states in Africa, and seventeen states in Asia. Then a question

arose. Why have the 44 states not ratified the convention?

I also looked at the year the United States had ratified the convention. Despite the public

support for ratifying the convention, U.S. President Ronal Reagan signed the convention in

1988, which is forty years after it was codified. A second question arose. Why has the United

States signed the convention of one of the clearest violations of human rights so late?

According to some sources, the mainly estimated reason why countries are hesitant to

ratify the Genocide Convention is because of the fear that international covenants were

threats to the state's sovereignty. This means that the states are worried that the convention

would allow intervention in other states’ internal affairs even if genocide wasn't occurring.

However, the most important feature of this convention is that whether or not states have

ratified the Genocide Convention, they are all obligated to follow and admit that genocide is a
2
crime prohibited under international law. That means no derogation is allowed. Accordingly,

in reality, the ratification of the Genocide Convention mainly implies that the state is attentive

to this matter. Beyond the matter of attentiveness, states are all bound as a matter of law that

genocide is a crime and is prohibited under international law.

After looking at the definition, elements of crime, and the Genocide Convention, I

explained four concepts, also a crime, to help better understand the exact meaning of

genocide and its scope of where it is recognized as a crime. Moreover, I introduced some

examples of the four crimes. The four crimes were massacre, crimes against humanity,

democide, and ethnic cleansing. I highlighted massacre is perceived as a broader idea than

genocide, as it is the intentional killing of a "considerable number of human beings." On the

contrary, crimes against humanity are a narrower concept than genocide. It focuses on the

killing of large numbers of "individuals" while genocide focuses not on the killing of

individuals but the "destruction of groups." Democide differs from the concept of genocide as

its focuses on the intentional killing of an unarmed or disarmed person "by government

agents" acting in their authoritative capacity. Democide is there to cover up forms of

government murder that are not covered by genocide. Lastly, unlike all of the other three

crimes that are recognized as independent crimes under international law, ethnic cleansing

has not yet been identified under the law, so, there was no precise definition of this concept.

Nevertheless, it is usually used when referring to the "expulsion" of a group from a certain

area.

Next, we introduced two genocides, one from the past and one which is still happening, the

Holocaust and the Uyghurs Genocide. We picked these two genocides as the former shaped

the meaning of genocide and the latter because as a citizen living in a globalized world, we

3
are obliged to know what is currently happening. We put more emphasis on the Uyghurs

Genocide than on the Holocaust as what is happening to the Uyghurs is relatively unknown.

The Holocaust is the major cause of the creation of the Genocide Convention. It is the

persecution of the Jews and anyone considered "inferior" in the Nazi era. The Nazi German

regime and its allies systematically persecuted and murdered six million European Jews.

They were targeted because the Nazis were radically antisemitic. The Nazis accused Jews of

Germany's domestic problems as well as their defeat in World War I.

The Holocaust helped shape the definition of genocide. It was an "intent to destroy, in

whole or in part, an ethnical, religious group," the Jews. According to the council of Europe,

the Holocaust is regarded as a paradigm for every kind of human rights violation and crime

against humanity.

The Uyghurs Genocide case caught my interest. Not only it is currently happening, but it is

also a case not far from Korea. As the Uyghurs were not a familiar ethnicity to me, I

researched about Uyghurs and their origins to better understand their relationship with the

Chinese government. There are currently about twelve million Uyghurs living in the Xinjiang

region, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. This is about

90 percent of all the Uyghurs worldwide. Due to the fear of any ethnic group or religion that

does not follow China's communist ideology, China has been carrying out crimes to eliminate

the Uyghur population and erase their culture.

Since 2014, the Chinese government has been pursuing policies that incarcerated more

than an estimated one million people in internment camps without any legal process. This is

the largest-scale detention since World War II. What is happening is an attempt to totally

eradicate the Uyghur people in China. The Uyghur birthrate has fallen 60 percent in the last
4
three years and women are even forced to abort their children. Furthermore, hundreds of

thousands of children have been forcibly separated from their parents and sent to boarding

schools. China's goal is to not only erase the people in their country but also erase any last

remnant of Uyghur history and culture.

We focused more on what China said related to this matter. China is denying all

allegations of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. The internment camps that were

mentioned above were renamed "re-education camps" where the CCP states that vocational

training is carried out for the Uyghurs to better adjust to life. However, testimony from the

region says that many are "detained" and are being transferred from camps to formal prisons

instead of assisting them as they claimed before.

What China has consistently claimed is that what they are doing to the Uyghurs is

necessary to prevent terrorism and root out Islamist extremism. They believe that the

concentration camps are an effective tool to fight against terrorism. They also claim that the

Uyghur people are plotting bombings, sabotage, and civic unrest that is a threat to the

government, but this is just an exaggeration to justify the repression of the Uyghurs.

The actions CCP is taking have been described as the forced assimilation of Xinjiang, or

as "genocide." When applying the definition of genocide to the Uyghur's situation, what is

currently happening can be defined as "Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in

part," a "racial or religious group" including "causing serious bodily or mental harm to

members of the group" and "measures intended to prevent births within the group". This is a

clear violation of the Genocide Convention which China has also signed.

Many actions are currently taken to prevent genocide from happening. For example, the

Genocide Task Force was created in 2007 to develop a strategy to prevent and stop
5
genocides. The Genocide Task Force realizes that a "comprehensive strategy" is needed. This

strategy includes early warning systems, preventive action before a crisis, preparation for

military intervention, strengthening of international institutions and norms, and a willingness

for world leaders to take decisive action. (Genocide Prevention Task Force) This

comprehensive strategy is also recognized and acknowledged by the United Nations. In

reaction to the Rwandan Genocide, the UN outlined a five-point action plan for preventing

genocide which is very similar to the "comprehensive strategy."

It is crucial to remember that genocide is not something that happens suddenly without

warning. Thus, the "comprehensive strategy" gives a good step to prevent genocide from

happening from the start. The strategy needs to be conducted with the collaboration between

countries and with the help of international organizations such as the United Nations.

Along with the "comprehensive strategy," efforts at the civilian level are also needed. It is

very important for the media to portray the human rights violations constantly so that the

people are aware of what is happening and to keep their attention continue.