The Forgotten History of Genocide, Part II
Before we start, I think it is important to know what the word genocide means. In Webster's 21st Century Dictionary it tells us that the word genocide is a noun and that it is the willful killing of a Nation. But where did this word come from?
The word genocide was unknown before 1944. A Jewish lawyer from Poland coined the word while he was working with the United States War Department in Washington, D. C. His name was Raphael Lemkin. The word genocide was formed from two root words. "Genos," which is Greek for family, tribe or race and "Cide," which is Latin for killing.
Mr. Lemkin wrote a text that documented patterns of destruction and occupation throughout all the Nazi held territories. In this text he used the word genocide for the very first time.
Thanks to Mr. Lemkin's work, genocide was at last put before the delegates at the United Nations. They would debate it until there was at last an international law on genocide. On December 9, 1948 the United Nations Convention on The Prevention And Punishment of Genocide was adopted. After more then 20 countries ratified it, it went into affect on January 12, 1951.
Here is the part I don't understand. President Ronald Reagan signed it on November 5, 1988. That is almost 38 years later. Why did the United States wait so long to do the right thing? It seems that there was strong opponents to the Convention and they had argued that the law would infringe on United States national sovereignty and supporters.
The law did have a very strong supporter in the Senator from Wisconsin, Senator William Proxmire. It seems that every day that the Senate was in session between 1968 and 1987, a total of 19 years, Senator Proxmire would give a speech in favor of signing the law. If my count is correct, that is over 3,000 speeches. This was a man who would not give up.
Now we need to look at the International Law on Genocide. In the law genocide was defined as any of the following acts that are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial, ethnical or religious group as such:
1. The killing of any members of any of the above groups.
2. The causing of any serious bodily or mental harm to any members of the above groups.
3. Deliberately inflicting on any of the above groups, conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
4. The imposing of measures intended to prevent births within any of the above groups.
5. The forcibly transferring of children of any of the above groups to another group.
Genocide is considered to be one of the worst moral crimes that a government can commit against its own citizens or those it controls. But what are some of the motives that would drive a government to such vile acts? Here are just five reasons:
1. Economic gain.
2. To destroy a group that is thought to be a threat to the ruling power.
3. The pursuit of an ideological transformation of society.
4. To destroy those who are hated, envied or resented.
5. The attempt to eliminate from society perceived alien beliefs, cultures, practices and ethnic groups.
That is genocide in a nut shell. Now we are ready for the history lesson on the subject. I did not try to color or lean what will follow in any way. I just told the story, the way it was, the way it always has been. You draw from it what you will...
The word genocide was unknown before 1944. A Jewish lawyer from Poland coined the word while he was working with the United States War Department in Washington, D. C. His name was Raphael Lemkin. The word genocide was formed from two root words. "Genos," which is Greek for family, tribe or race and "Cide," which is Latin for killing.
Mr. Lemkin wrote a text that documented patterns of destruction and occupation throughout all the Nazi held territories. In this text he used the word genocide for the very first time.
Thanks to Mr. Lemkin's work, genocide was at last put before the delegates at the United Nations. They would debate it until there was at last an international law on genocide. On December 9, 1948 the United Nations Convention on The Prevention And Punishment of Genocide was adopted. After more then 20 countries ratified it, it went into affect on January 12, 1951.
Here is the part I don't understand. President Ronald Reagan signed it on November 5, 1988. That is almost 38 years later. Why did the United States wait so long to do the right thing? It seems that there was strong opponents to the Convention and they had argued that the law would infringe on United States national sovereignty and supporters.
The law did have a very strong supporter in the Senator from Wisconsin, Senator William Proxmire. It seems that every day that the Senate was in session between 1968 and 1987, a total of 19 years, Senator Proxmire would give a speech in favor of signing the law. If my count is correct, that is over 3,000 speeches. This was a man who would not give up.
Now we need to look at the International Law on Genocide. In the law genocide was defined as any of the following acts that are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial, ethnical or religious group as such:
1. The killing of any members of any of the above groups.
2. The causing of any serious bodily or mental harm to any members of the above groups.
3. Deliberately inflicting on any of the above groups, conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
4. The imposing of measures intended to prevent births within any of the above groups.
5. The forcibly transferring of children of any of the above groups to another group.
Genocide is considered to be one of the worst moral crimes that a government can commit against its own citizens or those it controls. But what are some of the motives that would drive a government to such vile acts? Here are just five reasons:
1. Economic gain.
2. To destroy a group that is thought to be a threat to the ruling power.
3. The pursuit of an ideological transformation of society.
4. To destroy those who are hated, envied or resented.
5. The attempt to eliminate from society perceived alien beliefs, cultures, practices and ethnic groups.
That is genocide in a nut shell. Now we are ready for the history lesson on the subject. I did not try to color or lean what will follow in any way. I just told the story, the way it was, the way it always has been. You draw from it what you will...