Genocide and International Law | Figure for the Issue

Genocide and International Law: The Power of Semantics

BOX 4 | The Obligation to Act in the Face of Genocide

The 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention imposes a legal obligation on all signatory states to prevent and punish genocide. This obligation is known as erga omnes, which means that it is owed to the entire international community and not only to the state where the crime is taking place. Thus, even a country not directly involved must intervene to the extent of its capabilities, in particular through diplomatic, economic, legal or humanitarian means. In concrete terms, this may take the form of economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, suspension of arms sales, humanitarian aid, cooperation with the courts, or speaking out at the UN.

This obligation applies to all states parties (153 today), regardless of their geography or political interests. It does not depend on the filing of a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ): the complaint is simply one legal mechanism among others, but the obligation to act exists outside of any proceedings.

Finally, it is an obligation of means, not of results: powerful states must do more, while less influential states may limit themselves to actions proportionate to their capabilities.

NB. A State may only intervene militarily to stop genocide if it has authorisation from the Security Council or a recognised collective mandate. No State may invoke genocide to justify a military attack on its own. For example, Russia attempted to justify its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 by invoking the prevention of genocide, but the ICJ rejected this argument.

Sources: Marc Galvin, Wikipedia, ChatGPT, CoPilot, UN.

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BOX 4 | The Obligation to Act in the Face of Genocide

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