Hi everyone I was just doing a bit of googling on genocide to get some background info on the topic. The definition below is what the UN regards as genocide.
...any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(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.
– Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article II
Point (e) states that forcibly transferring children of the group to another group is a form of genocide. So was the Stolen Generation a form of genocide???? Many Aboriginal children were moved away from there parents to try to assimilate the children into the mainstream Australian culture. By doing this I assume the general goal was to slowly destroy the Aboriginal culture and population. I don’t know if what I am saying is obvious but I never thought that the Stolen Generation was a form of genocide. What do you guys think?
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4 comments:
Hey Josie, interesting post! Good to get a clear definition of genocide!
I guess Australias past isn't as bad as other countries but we still have our skeletons. I would say the stolen genaration could be classified as a genocide. I think (b) would also have been violated especially the 'mental harm' aspect.
Hey Josie, thats an interesting point, and a scary one at that!! i suppose that that definition is rather broad, but the from what ive read about the stolen generation it does fit into that category. Crazy.
Hi Josie, in todays lecture where we watched the DVD on Rwanda it was really interesting how the legal definition of "genocide" was such a controversial issue. America refused to label what happened in Rwanda as genocide in a way to avoid having to face up to the horrible reality of what happened.It was so frustrating for me watching and for the poor people involved. So maybe the definition of genoside needs improving. Clare.
Hey Josie,
I thought you might find this article interesting its about genocide in Australia:
http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/5747/DP08.pdf
I have to say from the definition you provided the stolen generation would definately be classed as genocide, pretty scary really! ! Genocide has always seemed like a foreign concept but i guess maybe its alot closer to home than we think. Lets hope that we have learnt...!!???
Hope your assignment is going well! ! !
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