Genocide is a foreign term, says Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate // Text of International Covenant on Genocide, December 9 1948
In her petition challenging the 'clean chit' given by a special investigation team to Narendra Modi and others in the Gulberg Society killings, Zakia Jafri had used the expressions "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide". On Thursday, Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate B J Ganatra dismissed both "foreign terms" as not applicable while rejecting Zakia's petition.
NB - For the benefit of the magistrate, here is the foreign term ethnic cleansing used to describe the plight of Kashmiri Pandits:
And here are the contents of the international convention on the foreign term 'genocide' (ratified by India in 1949)
Here is another foreign term for our judiciary to consider:
SUPERIOR OR COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY
Ganatra also rejected the "larger conspiracy" argument raised by Jafri. Excerpts from his order: "Based on all the witness statements and documents on record, this court has to see whether the Gulberg Society incident was because of a conspiracy by powerful people in the state government or not. And whether, as the complainant says, this can be called 'ethnic cleansing' and 'genocide'. "The court goes into the origin of the expressions and notes that "ethnic cleansing" was first used during the struggle that broke out over the division of Yugoslavia, where people were killed based on community. And "genocide is a Greek and Latin usage which means the killing of people on the basis of race," reads the order, going on to define the term. "For this, we have to see the definition of 'genocide' as per the dictionary.. read more: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/2002-riots-ethnic-cleansing-genocide-are-foreign-terms...-cannot-be-considered/1212232/
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Adopted by
Resolution 260 (III) A of the United Nations General Assembly on 9
December 1948 .
The
Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace
or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to
prevent and to punish.
In
the present Convention, genocide means 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.
The
following acts shall be punishable:
- (a) Genocide;
- (b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
- (c) Direct and public incitement to commit
genocide;
- (d) Attempt to commit genocide;
- (e) Complicity in genocide.
Persons
committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be
punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public
officials or private individuals.
The
Contracting Parties undertake to enact, in accordance with their respective
Constitutions, the necessary legislation to give effect to the provisions of
the present Convention and, in particular, to provide effective penalties for
persons guilty of genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3.
Persons
charged with genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be
tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act
was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction
with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its
jurisdiction.
List of signatory nations (including India)
See also:
Probe larger conspiracy says Zakia Jafri's counsel, reminds SIT of SC order regarding 2002 riots
Public Appeal by R.B. SREEKUMAR, FORMER DGP, GUJARAT
Modi says Congress committed 'sin' of partition // The Non-politics of the RSS
