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5 Int'l Crim. L. Rev. 387 (2005)
Defining or Diverting Genocide: Changing the Comportment of Genocide

handle is hein.journals/intcrimlrb5 and id is 395 raw text is: International Criminal Law Review 5: 387-400, 2005. 387 © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV Printed in the Netherlands. Defining or Diverting Genocide: Changing the Comportment of Genocide FREDA KABATSI* It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me. But it can keep him from lynch- ing me, and I think that's pretty important (Martin Luther King) Introduction Genocide is in general understood as the intentional killing, destruction or extermination of entire groups or members of a group.' It has been labelled the crime of all crimes2 but is curiously one of the hardest to prove. Prosecuting genocide today is difficult despite the gravity that has been attached to it. Genocide is special in the sense that its victims are sought after because of their identity. Alain Finkielkraut the French philosopher has correctly pointed out, that it is quite a different thing to be regarded as an enemy than as a particular species of vermin to be systematically wiped out.3 Despite the magnitude of genocide, it is disturbing that up to date we still have not found a consensual bearing on the definition of this crime - a crime that has been dubbed the crime of all crimes.4 What perhaps is reassuring is that much thought, time and dedication has, and is, being directed towards finding a suitable definition and creating the parameters of this crime. But one would naturally question whether this is enough considering the several * Freda Kabatsi, University College London (State Attorney, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kampala - Uganda). 'Antonio Cassese et al (eds) The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court - A Commentary, Volume I Oxford 2002 (hereinafter Antonio Cassese) at 335. 2Prosecutor v. Akayesu, Case No. ICTR-95-1-95, Available at <www.ictr.org>, at par.523. I Special Report on the Crime of Genocide, Valentina's Nightmare, available at <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/rwanda/reports/dsetexhe.html> (20.10.2004) 4 Akayesu, supra n. 3.