The UN and Genocide: A Comparative Analysis of Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia

Abstract

Raphael Lemkin, a jurist who coined the term ‘genocide’, argued that the attempt to systematically destroy a group of people based on their ethnic, national, religious or other identity is not a contemporary phenomenon; it is one that has been a part of civilization for centuries. What is new, however, is the international community’s ability to prevent it (Lavene, 2000: 306). The UN serves in this capacity because preventing genocide was part of the UN’s agenda from the very beginning. Resolution 96(1) pledged to prevent and punish genocide and called for the drafting of the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948). Under Article VII of the Charter, the Security Council has the power to adopt resolutions that take the necessary measures to maintain peace and security within the international community (Blocq, 2006: 203), measures that can include sanctions, embargoes, and authorizing the use of force to ensure that its mandate is met and respected (Totten and Bartrop, 2004: 8). It is under Article VII of the Charter that the Security Council and the UN have the power to prevent and punish genocide, as specified in Article I of the Genocide Convention.