On the Meaning of Genocide

The word genocide has fallen victim to a sort of verbal inflation, in much the same way as happened with the word fascist.

Rwanda and Genocide in the 20th Century

Destexhe, former secretary general of Doctors Without Borders

Using evidence from files on a laptop recovered from the FARC camp, Uribe accused Chavez of sponsoring and financing the Colombian rebels."Colombia proposes to denounce the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, in the International Criminal Court for sponsoring and financing genocide," Uribe said. In return, Chavez announced that he would level a war crime charge against Uribe.

What Is Genocide?In 1943, Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959), a legal scholar, coined the term "genocide," firstly from the Greek root genos (family, tribe or race - gene) and secondly from the Latin root -cide (meaning to kill). Lemkin wrote:

Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups.The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948 and came into effect on Jan. 12, 1951. Read full story

THE METER CONVENTION AND THE INDEX OF FAILED STATES

The case of Colombia is particularly revealing and disturbing. Most Latin American countries are Member or Associate State of the Meter Convention. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, The Dominican Republic, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela are Member States. Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Jamaica, Panama are Associates States of the Convention. Colombia has not signed the Convention and is the only country [Rank 33] listed among the top 50 failed States.

The procedure for a State to join the Meter Convention or to become an Associate of the General Conference is quite straightforward. The cost to join is modest and the benefits of participating are countless. The impact of measurement to society has been abundantly documented. For instance, the report Evolving Needs for Metrology in Trade, Industry and Society and the Role of the BIPM has emphasized the worldwide need for reliable measurement. An economic analysis of the benefits of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement[MRA], commissioned by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and undertaken by KPMG Consulting, estimated the impact of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement in reducing technical barriers to trade at US$4 billion. Around 90 % of world trade in merchandise exports is between MRA participant nations. According to United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the GDP growth rate of Colombia is expected to sharply decrease in 2008. The annual rates of GDP growth (in U.S. dollars at constant 2000 prices) was 4.7 in 2005, 6.8 in 2006, 6.6 in 2007 and is estimated to be about 4.8 in 2008.

Considering the importance of this issue, I encourage all Colombians to urge their Government to join the Meter Convention. They know better than most that: "Sin unidad, no puede haber paz." (It is not possible to translate this sentence in English because unidad means both unit and unity. This sentence means more or less the following: Without unit(y), there can be no peace.) Read full story

U.S. Seeks Intel Officer's Testimony

Drummond, an Alabama-based mining corporation, is fighting a lawsuit in a Birmingham federal court for crimes committed in Colombia. The company, which operates large facilities in La Loma, Colombia, is charged with hiring paramilitary gunmen in 2001 to kidnap, torture and murder three Colombian union leaders. This week, 12 U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos asking him to make a former intelligence officer available for testimony.

The former officer, Rafael Garcia, has previously claimed that he witnessed Augusto Jimenez, Drummond's top executive in Colombia, personally giving $200,000 in cash to the leader of an armed group as payment for the killings of Valmore Locarno Rodriquez and Victor Hugo Orcasita. U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre has ruled that the attorneys representing the families of the victims could present Garcia's testimony either by videoconferencing or by a sworn statement. "His testimony could be very damning to the coal company," Bowdre wrote.According to the Pittsburgh-based United Steelworkers, which is suing on behalf of the families, Vice President Santos promised last May to make Garcia available for testimony. But so far, the Colombian government has failed to act on the promise. On Monday, the trial will enter its third week and is expected to last another two weeks. Read fulll story

U.S. Firm on Trial for Colombia Crimes

Drummond, an Alabama-based mining corporation, operates large facilities in La Loma, Colombia. On March 14, 2002, The International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) and United Steelworkers of America filed a suit against Drummond on behalf of the families of slain workers and their labor union.The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern Alabama, is truly exceptional and unprecedented. It is the first case against a U.S. company charged with crimes committed outside the United States to appear before jurors. A little known and rarely used legal instrument, the 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act, gives Federal Courts the competence to judge American citizens for crimes committed abroad. Read full story