Genocide

[Chris Burford]

There was some argument at the height of the Kosovo war about whether what
was happening to the Albanian majority, was genocide. People took up
positions for and against the use of this term partly in accordance with
their perception of the politics behind the war. Some argued that it was
too strong.

Now in the case of East Timor, where the politics are different, can we all
agree that what has happened and is happening, fits the working definition
of genocide, which includes partial genocide?

Or is there still a different argument, that there is no such thing as
genocide, or that there should be no international working definition of
it, or that governments, which are almost always either imperialist or
capitalist, should not try to prevent it, because they themselves are
instruments of dictatorship over the working class and any attempt to
clothe themselves in this mantle is by definition a devious attempt the
better to fool and exploit the people of the world?

Is East Timor a case of genocide?

Chris Burford

London