Genocide as an International Crime

Hussain Talabani.

Written by Author Hussain Talabani.

In light of the arrest of Ajaj, the executioner of Nugrat Al-Saman 

Genocide is a term coined by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin after World War II to define the crime of mass killing of the Jews by the Natzi. The definition is: the deliberate and systematic destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, that group. This destruction can manifest through various acts, including killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction, imposing measures to prevent births, or forcibly transferring children. 

This definition was adopted by the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide on 9 December 1948, marking a landmark in international treaty law that defines Genocide and obligates state parties to prevent and punish this crime. 

On 12 January 1951, the treaty was signed by 153 states and entered into force. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, adopted in 1948, defines Genocide and criminalizes punishable acts. In Article 3, the treaty defines the punishable persons; Section (e) states: Complicity in genocide. The point is that there is no excuse are verification that Ajaj should not be prosecuted and punished. 

Some may argue that this person was following orders, and he is not responsible for his acts. In response, we say: Article 4 of the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide states: 

Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials, or private individuals.

In the case of Ajaj, he was a public official, since he was a police officer assigned by Saddam Hussain’s government. 

According to Article 5 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, the countries that signed the treaty are obligated to punish persons who committed the crime of genocide that was mentioned in Article 3. And since the state of Iraq ratified the convention, its government is obligated to try Ajaj in a court of law and sentence him for the crimes he committed. 

General or special amnesties cannot be a means of absolving criminal responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, since: 

1 - The Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols that do not allow impunity through general or special amnesties.

2 - The International Criminal Court considers these crimes not subject to amnesty or statute of limitations.