The Genocide Factor in the Yugoslav Wars of Dismemberment

Abstract

To observe the years of Yugoslavia’s fragmented demise through the lens of genocide calls for a brief introduction of the term itself. Its coiner—Raphael Lemkin—struggled to give the word substantive meaning. On the one hand, Lemkin was concerned with finding an appropriate conceptualization of genocide, namely, “What is the phenomenon genocide?”; on the other, Lemkin sought to spell out for lawyers exactly “What constitutes a genocidal act?” Both aspects of genocide—the thought and the deed—are enshrined in the 1948 United Nations’ Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. Though subsequent tribunals have adopted the UN definition, all have found it wanting in practice and even, at times, self-defeating. Not surprisingly, the idea and the execution of the crime of genocide have been amended and expanded to suit post-World War II circumstances, with the result that there was and remains considerable confusion and dissent as to the precise meaning of genocide, between “literalists” and “generalists” in interpreting the 1948 Convention. Thus, an event that is considered by some to be a clear-cut example of genocide may be interpreted by others as falling short of being a bona fide genocide.