The genocide convention

What is the course about?

The course focuses on the ‘The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide’ signed in 1948 to explain the legal ideas that define what has been called ‘the crime of crimes’. Genocide is a neologism – a new word and idea developed by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin. We will decode the Convention text and show how its ideas can be applied to real world situations. We will ask whether the Convention has ever prevented a genocide occurring and why the crime is so challenging. Is ‘Never Again’ feasible and if not why not?

What will we cover?

The course will tell the dramatic story of Lemkin’s struggle to persuade the United Nations to accept his revolutionary idea.

We will show how the victorious Allied powers, Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union sought to undermine the scope of the Convention and why.

The course will also explain the way the Convention defines the crime, warning signs and how genocide might be prevented.

The course will take key examples of genocide to understand how the Convention applies to real world scenarios.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

- understand the key legal concepts such as ‘special intent’ and ‘inchoate crimes’ that underpin the Convention and how these might be used to analyse the history of genocide
- identify key warning signs that a genocide might be occurring via the focus on the language of international treaties, its meanings and how it can be used.
- apply what they have learnt to both contemporary conflicts and historical genocides that took place in the colonial period.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

Everyone is welcome, but the course requires some knowledge of 20th Century history and an interest in international law. However, any legal concepts relevant to course will be clearly established and explained.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

The tutor will provide the text of the Genocide Convention that will be the focus of the course. We will annotate the text of the treaty to decode its meanings. Additional course materials will provide essential information about specific case studies such as the Srebrenica genocide and the persecution of the Yazidis. One the text of the Convention has been analysed in class, students will have the opportunity to explain how it applies to real world situations.

City Lit Writing endeavours to create a safe and welcoming space for all. Please therefore note that the course will explore difficult topics and enrolling means agreering to being sensitive to this and respectful in all discussions.

The course will be taught by Chris Hale. Chris is a veteran documentary producer and award winning author of five non-fiction books. He holds a Masters/LLM in Human Rights Law from the University of Edinburgh, specialising in genocide. As a producer, he focused on science stories for the prestigious BBC strand Horizon. As a non-fiction author, (CH?} has researched and written highly original works about the Holocaust and colonial history in SE Asia. These include ‘Hitler’s Foreign Executioners: Europe’s Dirty Secret’ (2008, 2022) which exposed the non-German murder squads recruited by the SS and ‘Deception’ (2017) about the Hungarian Holocaust. As a producer and executive producer, (CH) has worked extensively in South and Southeast Asia where he established a documentary production unit in Singapore. His books ‘Massacre in Malaya’ (2013) and ‘A Brief History of Singapore and Malaysia’ (2023) focused on the impact of European colonial powers.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

There are no additional costs but you may wish to bring pen and paper, or a digital equaivalent, for notetaking.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

HPC189 Human Rights: a beginners’ introduction
HPC190 Genocide, asylum and illegal war: Introduction to International Criminal Law.