8. Under Article III of the UN Convention the following acts
are punishable under the law:
a) Genocide;
b) Conspiracy to Commit Genocide
c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
d) Attempt to commit genocide;
e) Complicity in genocide
9. "Article IV states that all persons shall be held accountable
for acts committed under Article III, 'whether they are
constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials, or
private individuals.' Article V calls upon the nations
of the world to enact 'the necessary legislation to give
effect to the present Convention and, in particular, to
provide effective penalties for persons guilty of genocide
or any of the other acts enumerated under III.' The
Convention was intended to prevent as well as punish commission
of genocide. Thus a broad latitude of meaning, centering on
notions of 'advocacy' has been associated with the provisions
concerning incitement of [Article III (c)] and complicity
in [Article III (e)] genocide and/or genocidal processes.
(Churchill, Ibid. p.15) In situations where there is
disagreement as to the meaning of such terms, or in which a
given government professes confusion concerning the substance
of the law, the Convention provides, under Article IX, for
the interpretation and adjudication by the International Court
of Justice [ICJ]." (Ibid p.15);
10. Although most nations ratified the Genocide Convention, the
US declined to do so for 40 years. "The reason for this
extensive delay resides primarily, as is revealed in the
records of Senate debates on the Genocide Convention since
it was referred to that body by President Truman in 1950,
in congressional concern that a broad range of federal policies
vis-a-vis minority populations in the U.S. might be viewed
as genocidally criminal under international law." (see Lawrence
J. LeBlanc, "The United States and the Genocide Convention
Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1991) quoted Ibid p. 16
11. "Considerable anxiety was expressed by various senators and
expert witnesses over the eyars that certain activities of
subordinate (state and local) governments and private
parties, each of them sanctioned and/or protected by the
federal government, might well violate the terms of the
Convention. (Ibid p. 16) Examples include the persistence of
'Jim Crow' laws in various southern states, despite the
extreme and well-recognized harm such statutes imposed
upon African-American and other readily identifiable
minority populations." (Ibid p. 16)
12. When the United States finally ratified the Genocide
Convention during the closing days of the 100th Congress, it
was largely on the basis of a growing belief that the U.S.
was forfeiting 'moral leadership' in world affairs as a
result of its nonratification, (see 132 Congressional Record
S1253-77, FEb 18, 1986 and also see U.S. Senate Hearings
on the Genocide Convention Before the Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations 97th Cong. 1st Session, U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 1985) and on the basis
of the Genocide Implementation Act of 1988 (Title 18,
Part I, U.S.C.; otherwise known as "The Proxmire Act",
a statute which incorporated certain language designed to
narrow the intent of the internationally-accepted
convention in its application to the United States."
(U.S. Senate, Hearing on Legislation to Implement the
Genocide Convention Before the Senate Committee on the
Judiciary (S 1851) Washington, D.C. 100th Congress,
2nd Session, U.S. Govt Printing Office, 1989) quoted
Ibid. p 17.)
To be continued....
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