03 Apr Can We Stop Arguing About Whether a “Genocide” Occurred?
Genocide is one of those phrases with both highly potent political ramifications as well as highly complicated legal requirements. These two characteristics, GUÉNAËL METTRAUX argues in the IHT, make the obsessive focus on whether something is or is not a genocide (Armenia? Srebenica?) a largely hopeless and unhelpful exercise for historical events.
The very proposition that legal concepts such as genocide could ever adequately measure and reflect the intricacies of such historical events could itself be questioned. International criminal law, which includes genocide, provides for ways to criminalize the conduct of individuals who have taken part in mass atrocities — not for passing judgment on history.
Even if it were capable of this, the law is likely to provide some support for both sides and might therefore contribute to grinding the process of healing historical wounds to a slow and divisive ethnic or religious standstill rather than to help resolve anything.
The debate surrounding the use of the word “genocide” has made the nations involved hostages of a legal issue that they seem unable to resolve. Better, it seems, for them to focus on recording and recognizing facts that are undeniable historical truths and leave the debate over the legal characterization of these events for another day. Future generations of Turks and Serbs would be grateful to have been freed from the burden of explaining, defending or arguing over crimes that they have no responsibility for.
The very notion of putting crime against Armenians, 1.5 milion killed over 3 year period, and 8000 people killed in Srebrenica within 5 days in the middle of the war, is wrong and missleading! It also serves the goal of portraing, again, Serbia the only guilty party for wars of the 90s’ in Yugoslavia. NOBODY in Serbia denies the crime, or glorifies the murderes of Srebrenica, they are in jail or will be there, where they belong. ECJ said that Serbia is guilty for not preventing the genocide in Srebrenica, not for doing it. Texts like these are intended, as I see them, to bloore this distnction. On the other hand war criminals in Croatia and in Bosniak part of Bosnia are being treated as heroes by the Governments of these countries. Croatian President even pardoned a convicted war criminal!!!! On the other hand, Serbia made official appology for the lifes that were taken by Serbian army. No such appology ever came from Croatian, Bosniak, Albanian or NATO side. 49.000 killed Serbs in the period 1991-1999, deserve that. or perhaps some victims are more important than the others???