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PREVENTING GENOCIDE
What the article is about?
- Talks about genocide and related obligations for India under International Convention, in the backdrop of the Haridwar hate speech incident.
Syllabus: GS-II Effect of Policies & Politics of Countries on India's Interests
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,(Genocide Convention)
- It is an instrument abiding by international law which codified the crime of genocide for the first time.
- The Genocide Convention has as its objective the prevention of genocide as well as the punishment of the crime.
- Legal obligations on states that are party to the convention include:
- the obligation not to commit genocide, to prevent genocide, and to punish genocide(Article I),
- to enact legislation to give effect to the provisions of the convention (Article V);
- to provide for effective penalties for those found guilty of criminal conduct (Article V);
- and the obligation to try those charged with genocide in a competent tribunal (Article VI).
- India has signed and ratified this convention.
India’s position:
- India has not enacted any legislation in accordance with Article VI of the Convention.
- Indian domestic law doesn’t have any comparable provisions for the prosecution of mass crimes, least of all genocide.
- IPC provisions relating to rioting, unlawful assembly and ‘promoting enmity between different groups’ do not embody the basic elements of the crime of genocide, which is against a collectivity or a group, with the specific intent to cause its destruction.
- Justice S. Muralidhar of the Delhi High Court, in State v. Sajjan Kumar (2018) judgement said that “Neither ‘crimes against humanity’ nor ‘genocide’ has been made part of India’s criminal law, a lacuna that needs to be addressed urgently.”
- The case concerned the mass killing of Sikhs during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 in Delhi and throughout the country.
Conclusion:
- It would be advisable for India to show political will and constructively engage with the International Law Commission (ILC), which would also, in the process, address the shortcomings in the domestic criminal justice system.
- Turning a blind eye to the mass crimes taking place in its territory and shielding the perpetrators reflect poorly on India’s status as a democracy.
- Furthermore, the fact that India has international legal obligation under the Genocide Convention which it is not adhering to must be rectified.
