ARIARATNAM, KAGUSTHAN

Student ID # 8460541

Karia046@uOttawa.ca

The Difference between Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing

December 16, 2016

ECH1100A: Introduction to the Study of Conflicts and Human Rights

Instructor: Dr. Jean-François Ratelle

Fall 2016

Faculty of Social Sciences

University of Ottawa

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Introduction

The distinction between genocide and ethnic cleansing is considered a “grey area” that

blurs the understanding of scholars, policy makers and learners alike. The concepts of

“genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” can be better explained through the use of examples. With

respect to genocide, the Holocaust refers to the systematic and brutal obliteration of the Jewish

population during the Second World War in Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, and, the more

recent mass murders of some 800, 000 Tutsi people in Rwanda by Hutu tribe in 1994 is another

blatant example of a genocide. Ethnic cleansing, like genocide, also involves the intention of

exterminating a population, but, is more limited to forced deportation or population transfer, as

illustrated by the Jammu and Kashmir example. Specifically, terrorists forced the migration of

50,000 Hindus from the state of Jammu and Kashmir through the use of fear, rape and assault,

and the destruction of property.

This essay will further clarify the differences between the concepts of genocide and

ethnic cleansing. Firstly, it will explain the term “genocide” as defined by the United Nations’

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Secondly, it will

outline the origins and definition of the term “ethnic cleansing” according to the United Nations

Commission’s Report on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

(ICTY). Finally, the two will be discussed in relation to one another, and ultimately

differentiated.

Genocide

It has been outlined in Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of

the Crime of Genocide in 1948, that genocide requires the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a

national, ethnical, racial, or religious group (United Nations of the Human Rights Office, 1948).

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The Convention explicitly outlines the very acts that are considered under the definition of

genocide:

(a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to

members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life

calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing

measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring

children of the group to another group (United Nations of the Human Rights Office

1948).

Each component of this Article involves lethal force. Furthermore, the Genocide

Convention not only defines genocide, but prohibits it; more specifically, the Convention

obligates any country to prevent genocide and punish those who have committed acts of

genocide (United Nations of the Human Rights Office 1948). While the Convention stipulates a

country’s responsibility to more than merely refrain from genocidal acts, it also requires

prevention and punishment, which gives rise to Universal Jurisdiction. This highlights the

international concern for genocide. It becomes difficult to prove cases of genocide, however,

since the following two components are broad in nature, and thus, make “intent” difficult to

interpret and prove: (1) The intent to destroy a particular group, and (2) The Commission of

specific acts in support of the intent (Ratelle 2016).

Ethnic cleansing

The basic foundations of ethnic cleansing are widely understood; however, ethnic cleansing

in contradiction or distinguished from genocide has never been codified in international law.

Instead, ethnic cleansing is understood as a form of previously-defined crimes. For example, the

commission of experts in the ICTY have identified practices employed in ethnic cleansing as

“crimes against humanity” that “can be assimilated to specific war crimes” and added, “that such

acts could also fall within the meaning of the Genocide Convention” (Lieberman 2010). This

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quote illustrates the close relationship that the two concepts share, as ethnic cleansing is used

interchangeably with genocide or understood as a result of genocide. With respect to previously-

defined crimes, the warfare of the former Yugoslavia brought a detailed inspection of the term

ethnic cleansing; however, failed to anchor the term within international law (Lieberman 2010).

The effect of this incoherence within legal arguments can be seen in the work of the ICTY, but

more specifically, in the effects of legal proceedings. The ICTY is the legal body responsible for

punishing crimes associated with ethnic cleansing, and its proceedings have most often

mentioned ethnic cleansing with the purpose of providing background to a case or evidence of

another related crime. Also, within court proceedings, ethnic cleansing is often seen as a term

within quotation marks. This, therefore, facilitates the confusion, and the continuation of a gray-

area for scholars, policy makers and learners who use the term. In fact, one attorney, in

defending the ICTY, sought to use the absence of an international legal definition as grounds to

challenge the use of the term, stating that “It does not exist in [the] Genocide Convention or in

the international customary law” (United Nations, Case number IT‐97–24‐PT).

Nevertheless, Benjamin Lieberman (2010) explains that in the early 1990s, ‘ethnic

cleansing’ entered the academic circle as a new term closely linked with genocide. Lieberman

notes:

Language referring to the idea of clearing away groups had been used in previous

conflicts, but the particular term ethnic cleansing only gained widespread attention

during the wars for the former Yugoslavia. Though now widely condemned, the

term ‘ethnic cleansing’ may actually have been coined by supporters of violent

attacks designed to drive Bosnian Muslims out of mixed communities in the spring

of 1992 (2010: 2).

Since its origin, the use of the term ‘ethnic cleansing’ triggered controversy because it

could function as a synonym, that is, a more favorable term to cover up macro acts of violence or

make the phenomenon sound less harmful. Nonetheless, despite its origin and potential for the

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misconception, the term ethnic cleansing quickly gained common recognition as a major form of

violence directed toward groups of people. It is a methodical attempt by one political, social, or

religious group to remove an ethnic or religious group from a specific area through coercive

means, where killing may be involved (Lieberman 2010). It includes both forced migration and

the threat of brutal killings to terrorize a minority population and force them to leave a specific

territory (Lieberman 2010). In addition, the means utilized to achieve ethnic cleansing may

include torture, arbitrary arrest, execution, assault, rape, forcible eviction, loot and arson,

destruction of property and so on.

Difference between Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing

To simplify, the term genocide commonly refers to mass murder that is prohibited and

punishable under the jurisdiction of the Convention. Genocide and ethnic cleansing are very

similar with respect to their intent or purpose; that is, a political or religious group intends to

exterminate another political or religious group from the midst of their presence. However, the

difference is found within the means by which each concept achieves their intentions. Genocide

adopts a much more brutal approach that utilizes mass murders and brutal killings, while ethnic

cleansing adopts a more limited approach that utilizes forced deportation or population

transfer. In other words, ethnic cleansing chooses to terrify a particular ethnic group, forcing

them to leave a particular area in order to create a more homogenous population (Lieberman

2010). For example, although historians have used the word ethnic cleansing to explain the

systematic and brutal killings of Jews during the Holocaust of the Second World War, the very

fact that it involved mass murders of some six million Jews indicates that it was more of a

genocide than ethnic cleansing (Ratelle 2016). To distinguish, some 50,000 Hindus from the

state of Jammu and Kashmir were displaced through acts of bodily harm and theft or the

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imposition of fear therefrom; thereby illustrating the acts of ethnic cleansing.

Debates over the classification of ethnic cleansing often focus on the intent of the

perpetrator. Refugee movements, for example, confirms the characteristic of ethnic cleansing

actions, but to apply the term ethnic cleansing, one must also entail a judgment or interpretation

of the organization’s intent and the planning of their encouraged eviction. For example, the

removal of civilians during wartime could be considered a war crime, however; the distinction of

ethnic cleansing occurs when refugees flee a war zone as the result of the fear of uncertainty or

the risk of grave harm. Genocide, on the other hand, would not involve such large emigration of

refugees due to the mere extent of murder that would be involved. Therefore, it becomes clear

that both ethnic cleansing and genocide involve roots of ethnic and religious hatred and refer to

the intention of removing an ethnic or religious group from a particular area. The only difference

that separates ethnic cleansing from genocide lies in the fact that ethnic cleansing is more of the

nature of forced migrations, while genocide strictly involves absolute elimination through mass

murders and brutal killings.

Conclusion

The global community deserves to understand the difference between these two

ambiguous concepts since this distinction outlines the extent of the destruction caused, the extent

to which people are targeted, and the explanations for why they are targeted. In short, the

international scholar community must become more attentive to the finer details of each case of

genocide and ethnic cleansing, as these populations who suffer horrendous crimes deserve legal

justice. The international community will become further misguided if they only engage in legal

debates surrounding the crimes committed, rather than become focused on their moral

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responsibility of proactively preventing future crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing by way of

clear identification.

References

Lieberman, B. (2010). ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ versus Genocide? Oxford Handbooks Online.

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232116.013.0003

Ratelle, J. F. (November, 2016). Lecture on Introduction to the Study of Conflicts and Human

Rights. Personal Collection of J.F. Ratelle, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON

United Nations. (n.d.) United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Retrieved December 13, 2016 from http://www.icty.org/

United Nations of the Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. Prevention and

Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. (1951). Retrieved December 13, 2016 from

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CrimeOfGenocide.aspx