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War Crime Vs Total War Essay

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Deadly conflicts between rival human groups are believed to have begun over around half a million years ago however the idea and concept of warfare is relatively recent particularly total war (Markusen, 1987). Furthermore the concept of war crime is even more recent and only arose in the late 19th century when a customary internal law in regards to warfare was created (Meron, 1994; Rome statute of the international criminal court, 1998). Before the creation of such laws whether and individual would be punished for acting inhumanely towards enemy soldiers and civilians rested on who were the victors of the war (Meron, 1994). However the arise of modern wars such as total wars has seen more destruction and casualties. The number of human fatalities …show more content…

It is clear that genocide is clearly a crime against humanity which are often described as act such as murder or extermination as well as exportation etc. against the civilian population in both times of peace and war (Wald, 2007). However genocide contain elements or crimes listed under the war crimes which can be seen in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Dormann, 2003). These are stated by the Rome statute of the international criminal court, (1998) and include “Wilful killing”, “Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments”, “Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health”, “Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly”, “Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement” etc. (Dormann, 2003; Meron, 1994). These crimes of war are often seen during examples of genocide. However the distinction between genocide as a crime against humanity and a crime of war is that genocide can occur outside conflict or wars and still be a crime against humanity. However if this is the case then we can say that genocide that occur with wars can be classified as a war

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In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer came up with the word, “genocide.” However, even seventy-five years later, many people still debate what factors go into making a genocide. Of course, there is mass murder, mistreatment of large groups of people, and difficult life conditions. Take the Cambodian Genocide, for example. People were tortured and killed so much during this genocide that at one of the death camps, “as few as 12 managed to survive” (Pierpaoli).

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Per Duhaime’s Law Dictionary, a war crime is “excessive brutality during war, in contravention of an international treaty or convention” (Duhaime). One such convention would be the Geneva Conventions. Per the Geneva

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In 1944, a Polish-Jewish lawyer came up with the word, “genocide.” However, even seventy-five years later, many people still debate what factors go into making a genocide. Of course, there is mass murder, mistreatment of large groups of people, and difficult life conditions. Take the Cambodian Genocide, for example. People were tortured and killed so much during this genocide that at one of the death camps, “as few as 12 managed to survive” (Pierpaoli).

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Genocide What is Genocide? Many people have a hard time understanding what genocide actually is, is it going against humankind? Killing people for no reason just so you can prove a point to another person for no reason? Or then again could it be simply being against ethnical, racial, religious, or any type of a national gathering?

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Genocide has been something that has been going on for years, though in the span of time that it has been going on, only more recently has the word been given any meaning. In the article “The Man Who Coined ‘Genocide’...”, they talk about how this now very meaningful word was created in 1943 by a Polish lawyer, Raphael Lemkin, who paired the Greek word for race and family ‘genos’ with the Latin word for killing ‘-cidere’. He did this so that the world would finally realize and prosecute those who participated in this crime, as he had witness massacres in the 1900’s. The creation of this word lead to many massacres in history being given the title of genocide. It is important for this word to be used and recognized, as it is different and more

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Genocide is the word derived from word “Geno – derived from the Greek word for race or tribe” and “Cide – derived from Latin word for killings”. Raphael Lemkin first introduced The word Genocide. Lemkin was a Polish – Jewish Lawyer. Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy the nation, nationals, racial or religious group, such as: A) Killing of members of group B) Forcing them in a manner to bring physical destruction C) Not allowing rather preventing births of child within the group D) Causing mental trauma in that group Genocide has occurred in: Armenia – 1915 – With over 1.5 million deaths were recorded Central Europe (Holocaust) – 1939 – 1945 – With over 6 million deaths were recorded Cultural Revolution

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Genocide is the mass killing of people, usually for religious reasons, but now genocides happen mostly because no one can agree. An infamous example of one of the worst genocides was the killing of Bosnian-Muslims in Yugoslavia. After provinces like Slovenia and Croatia decided to secede from Serbia because of religious reasons, Serbia decided it was time to take action. After examining the political power, death rates, and the sole reason for the Yugoslavia murders, it is clear that the Serbian genocide is one of the worst in history. By looking at how the country was ran, the sheer panic seen in all of the government officials, and the amount of war and lives ruined, it is clear that the Bosnian-muslim genocide in Yugoslavia will always be

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Throughout Chapter five of her book Shadows of War, Carolyn Nordstrom shares her views on war in terms of social, physical and mental goals and punishes of such violence. To begin, one of the first goals of war as defined by Nordstrom is a direct result of a threat of loss of control. She explains that it is common for one military to feel the need to destroy another when their control over a certain (land area owned or controlled by someone) is under threat (56). An interesting point that Nordstrom makes is relating to/about (community of people/all good people in the world)'s do not tell the difference between the existence of different violences. As stated by Nordstrom, most people will naturally tell/show the difference between different wars; however, very few tell/show the difference between the experience of violence throughout such wars (57).

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The UN Convention defines genocide as “any of the follow acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group” (Jones 13). The wordings of the definition can

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Crimes against humanity according to the International Military Tribunal are, “crimes such as murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts against civilian populations.” Crimes against humanity are involved in International Law if they had been executed before or in relation to an international problem or war. Crimes against humanity can include war crimes or aggression during war. During the Nuremberg Trials it was made clear

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Throughout history, wars have plagued mankind. They are caused by greed, rage, and fear. We fear those who are different from us and that can lead to great hate. Hatred and fear can drive man to extreme lengths in what they view as self preservation. Although, it is sometimes for simpler reasons that moral and legal crimes against humankind are committed.

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The International Criminal Court was created as a treaty between 123 countries and its main purpose is to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The ICC is governed by the Rome Statute and has international jurisdiction under aggression, crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. One of the most serious issues that the court has dealt with various times is the international crime of genocide. In the Rome Statute Article 6, “genocide” is defined by killing members of a group, harming members of a group, deliberately inflicting physical destruction to the whole or a part of the group, imposing measures to prevent births within certain members of a group, or forcibly

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This form of mass atrocity results in serious human suffering and threatens the rich diversity in the world. Genocide can occur even without any previous armed conflict. Ethnicity and nationalism have to be considered as these terms play a part in the emergence of crimes such as genocide. Ethnicity is a type of cultural identity that

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“Genocide is an attempt to exterminate a people, not to alter their behavior.” Jack Schwartz couldn 't have said it better. Genocide is a way to get rid of your problem by elimination. It is no longer a threat if you start killing off a population. Genocide can happen anywhere as it did in Europe and in Africa.

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“Is war ever justified?”, is a question with its solution first originating from Christian theology. Saint Augustine was the first individual to offer a theory on this, and introduced the “Just War Theory”, which was later revised by Saint Thomas Aquinas, creating just 3 criteria to be met in order for a war to be just: “War needed to be waged by legitimate authority, have a just cause, and have the right intentions”. Since then, the “Just War Theory” was been used by many to justify their wars, however, there many other factors that were not taken into consideration that could be used to justify a war. I feel that war is justified and will be looking into points that are for the justification of war. War is justified when there is a “just cause”, and when it is used as a “last resort”.

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