Genocide

Chris Burford cburford at gn.apc.org
Sat Sep 11 00:58:07 PDT 1999


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



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