THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE: HISTORICAL ASPECTS, POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS AND MEMORY LAWS IN UKRAINE
Date
2024
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Abstract
The history of every country has dark and tragic pages of the past. The scale and intensity of the mass violence that took place on the territories of modern Ukraine are striking example. These lands became the battlegrounds of two world wars, accompanied by ethnic cleansing, pogroms, deportations, and mass murders. The topic of the Stalinist regime and Nazi crimes stands apart. Finally, at the present stage, Ukraine has become the object of Russian aggression. After Ukraine gained its independence, an open discussion about the tragic events of the past, including the crime of genocide in the country’s history, was launched. As a result, a system of memory laws condemning systemic acts of mass violence and genocide in the past was formed at the official state level. Among the central topics for discus- sion were the events of the Holodomor, the Great Terror, and the Holocaust. These laws aim to form their own inclusive and critical national picture of the past. In addition, from the perspective of transitional justice, they can be seen as a form of reconciliation of different narratives of the past within the country, as well as at least symbolic reparation for the crimes committed. At the same time, the pro- cess of incorporating international law into the current legislation of Ukraine was underway to prevent atrocities of this kind and establish responsibility for such actions in the future.
How is the invention of the crime of genocide related to the history of Ukraine?
What are the peculiarities of the legal interpretation of the crime of genocide in modern Ukrainian legislation? What is the place of genocide in the system of memorial laws of Ukraine? How has the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine actualized the theme of genocide in the modern world? How did the Russian Federation instrumentalize the crime of genocide during the war against Ukraine?
What do Ukraine’s past and present genocidal experiences tell us from a global per- spective? I will try to answer these questions in the present chapter.
Description
Kaparulin Y. The crime of genocide: Historical aspects, political discussions and memory laws in Ukraine (2024) The Russian-Ukrainian Conflict and War Crimes: Challenges for Documentation and International Prosecution, pp. 53 – 70 .