Genocidal Intent

In this book chapter, Dojčinović focuses on the specific research and analytical project within the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the ICTY in the trial of Ratko Mladić, the Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS). (For more, see: https://humanrights.uconn.edu/icty-digital-archive/#predrag) The analytical model designed and utilized throughout this trial is based on the specific speech acts and utterances identified in all categories of evidence indicating genocidal and persecutory intent of the Accused shared with other members of the joint criminal enterprise (JCE) at all levels. The chapter places strong emphasis on the semantic content of the utterances, the type of intent identified in the utterances, the effect they may have had on the principle perpetrators, as well as their relevance, probative value and modes of admissibility as a special category of evidence. Ultimately, the chapter demonstrates that international criminal proceedings have seen the emergence of a new type of key evidence: a cognitive, linguistic, contextually-determined manifestation of mens rea within a shared historical, political and cultural referential framework. Dojčinović argues that this emerging body of evidence requires a new set of rules and methods in international criminal proceedings, and a more comprehensive intellectual, scientifically-minded approach to the identification and interpretation of mental elements in mass atrocity crimes.

This paper critically examines the Islamic State's annihilatory violence committed against the Êzîdîs in Iraq since 2014. It argues that the violence is a product of both Êzîdî marginality and the ideology of the Islamic State, which is grounded in its particular neo-historical iteration of Islam. Annihilatory violence is fundamental for the IS to actualize its iteration of the holy Qur'ān, the words and actions of the Islamic prophet, and historical events, dividing the world into binaries of the Abode of Islam and the Abode of War, or good and evil. It draws from anthropological research and interviews conducted by the authors with survivors and perpetrators in 2014 and 2016 to argue that the Islamic State's campaign against the Êzîdîs constitutes the subjective and objective elements of the crime of genocide.

Uluslararası toplum, tarihinde ilk defa Ad Hoc Mahkemeler olarak kurulan mahkemeler aracılığıyla Soykırım Sözleşmesi hükümlerinin yorumlanması ve uygulanmasına tanıklık etmektedir. Şüphesiz ki, uluslararası ceza hukuku alanında soykırım suçunun unsurlarının ve kapsamının belirlenmesi bakımından, adı geçen mahkemelerin uygulamaları önemli bir yere sahiptir. Ad Hoc Mahkemelerin uygulamaları yanında, Uluslararası Adalet Divanı da Bosna Hersek devleti tarafından Sırbistan aleyhine açılan Soykırım Suçunun İşlenmesinin Önlenmesi ve Sorumlularının Cezalandırılması Sözleşmesinin Uygulanmasıyla İlgili Davada (Soykırım Davası), diğer birçok sorunun yanında, soykırım suçunun unsurlarıyla da ilgilenmek zorunda kalmıştır. Ancak, uluslararası ceza hukuku alanında bireysel cezai sorumluluğun tesisiyle görevli Ad Hoc Mahkemelerin, soykırım suçunu diğer uluslararası suçlardan ayırt etmeye yarayan ve suçun en önemli unsurunu oluşturan soykırım kastı olarak ifade edilen özel kasta yönelik görüşü, Uluslararası Adalet Divanı’nın yorum ve uygulamasından farklılık arz etmektedir. Uluslararası düzeyde faaliyet gösteren Ad Hoc Mahkemeler ile Uluslararası Adalet Divanı arasındaki bu farklı yorumlama ve uygulama nasıl açıklanabilir? İçtihat birlikteliği? Ya da İhtilaf?

I have been writing news articles about the Rohingya genocide since 2012.  We have been described as genocide under State Policy, but the World media and politicians have denied that it was genocide.  The UN used the term ethnic cleansing and to refer to the 2012 genocide of the Rohingya as a communal conflict.  Naming the violence against the Rohingyas as a communal conflict, the Burmese government has postponed the Rohingyas being locked up in ghettos instead of solving the problem.  More than 240,000 Rohingyas who were displaced in 2012 and they are still not allowed to return to their homes and live in poverty in IDP camps.
        The international community has not taken action against Burma's military leaders, leaving them with an opportunity for further violence.  In 2016, clearance operations were launched to massacre the Rohingyas.  In 2017, more than 400 Rohingya villages were set on fire.  More than 10,000 Rohingyas, including children, were brutally massacred.  Many women were raped.  As a result, nearly a million Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.  Since then, the international media has begun to report on the genocide of the Rohingya.
          The international community is increasingly interested in the Roh-ingya issue as the Gambia prosecutes Burma over the Rohingya genocide.  To this day, however, the Rohingya continue to suffer persecution as the United States and other major powers do not officially use the term Rohingya Genocide.  We urgently need the help of International Community to free the Rohingyas from genocide. 
      The United Nations has long characterized Myanmar's Rohingyas as one of the World's most persecuted minorities and Myanmar consistently denies their existence or considering them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They have been being kept in ghetto-like villages - encompassing restrictions on religious freedom, lethal use of force, forced displacement and denial of equal citizenship rights - has not only exasperated the humanitarian crises confronting the Rohingyas but also threatens to undermine democracy transition and commit crime against humanity. 
              To understand the nature of Rohingya problem, it is necessary to see the historical background of Myanmar dictators who violated their own laws as well as international laws. All human beings should be equal before the law; implementing particular laws for the particular people in a country is not only illegitimate but also a crime against humanity.  Improving a community is possible only by elevating the young generations to the rank of humanity, not by obliterating the bad ones; spreading propaganda against other faiths or races will harm stability and prosperity of the country.
            Those who are full of bad feelings and whose souls are influenced by the egoism look like human beings, whether they really are human is doubtful. Rules and regulation are beneficial to guarantee human happiness and help us attain true humanity while the apartheid policy destroys human dignity. Humanity is a tree, and nations are its branches, denying a nation for its biological and ideological differences harms existence of the tree.
        Denying Rohingya and their legitimate right of citizenship, Myanmar authority has committed crime against humanity. I will explain two as-pects of institutionalized violations; legal rights of Rohingyas and histori-cal evidence that will be enough to say Myanmar has committed Rohingya Genocide.
        On 23 January 2020, the ICJ issued an order on The Gambia's re-quest for provisional measures. The order "indicated" provisional measures ordering Myanmar to prevent genocidal acts against the  Rohingyas the pendency of the case, and to report regularly on its implementation of the order. According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into neighboring Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a brutal crackdown in August 2017.
            Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA). More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, titled Forced Migration of Rohingyas: The Untold Experience. As many as 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police, while over 115,000 Rohingyas homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalized.
      The ICJ directed Myanmar to prevent genocide, and this could have a real impact in protecting the 600,000 Rohingyas who remain in the country. Additionally, the ICJ process means Rohingya survivors and activists have a platform for their experiences to be recognized. Rohing-yas inside Arakan have been being kept in the ghetto-like situation since 1980s, more than 240000 internally displayed Rohingyas have been living in the concentration camps since 2012 and more than one million live in Bangladesh refugee camps since 2017. We need support of international community to end ongoing Rohingya Genocide in Myanmar.

This paper critically examines the Islamic State's annihilatory violence committed against the Êzîdîs in Iraq since 2014. It argues that the violence is a product of both Êzîdî marginality and the ideology of the Islamic State, which is grounded in its particular neo-historical iteration of Islam. Annihilatory violence is fundamental for the IS to actualize its iteration of the holy Qur'ān, the words and actions of the Islamic prophet, and historical events, dividing the world into binaries of the Abode of Islam and the Abode of War, or good and evil. It draws from anthropological research and interviews conducted by the authors with survivors and perpetrators in 2014 and 2016 to argue that the Islamic State's campaign against the Êzîdîs constitutes the subjective and objective elements of the crime of genocide.