Killing Them Softly: Forcible Transfers of Indigenous Children

The forcible transfer of indigenous children in North America and Australia are part of a global phenomenon that consisted of the kidnapping, trafficking, removal, and identity changes of children of particular groups. Article II(e) of the United Nation Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide prohibits the forcible transfer of children of a group to another group (FTC). The FTC echoes domestic and international legal norms and policies for the protection of children since early twentieth century. Its particular applicability to specific victims within a protected group – children –conveys a unique ethical position compared to the other acts enumerated acts in Article II, and the UNGC as a whole. This uniqueness may justify the much needed conceptual leap from the legalistic western-biased notion of genocide towards a more inclusive recognition of the political, social, and economical aspects of genocide