Prosecuting Lemkin’s Concept of Genocide: Successes and Controversies

This paper is an exploration of genocide prosecutions since the inception of the term in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin, its legal definition by the United Nations in 1948, and the eventual establishing of the International Criminal Court in 1998. The paper is in three parts. The first part examines the history of genocide legislation, particularly the international legal frameworks established since Lemkin first devised the term in 1944. The second part details, for the first time, the extent of genocide prosecutions to date. To do so, it employs material from various international criminal tribunals, the International Criminal Court, national courts, and media accounts contemporary with the events. The final part illustrates the politics involved in genocide prosecutions, using a case study of the International Criminal Court’s involvement in Africa and the failed extradition of Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir. The case study uses a range of secondary sources, including documents from the ICC, the African Union, National Governments, and other contemporary accounts. Overall, the paper argues that despite some successes in prosecuting genocide and the deterrent effects of international tribunals and courts, the international community has not yet been able to stop what Lemkin described over 70 years ago as “an old practice in its modern development”