Genocidal massacre

The term genocidal massacre was introduced by Leo Kuper (1908–1994) to describe incidents with a genocidal component but which are committed on a smaller scale when compared to genocides such as the Rwandan Genocide. Others such as Robert Melson, who also makes a similar differentiation, class genocidal massacres as "partial genocide".

Ben Kiernan states in his book Blood and Soil that imperial powers have often resorted to genocidal massacres to control difficult minorities within their empires. He gives as an example the actions by two Roman legions who were sent in 68 AD to quell Jews rioting in Alexandria in support of Jews taking part in the First Jewish–Roman War. The Roman governor Tiberius Julius Alexander ordered two legions to massacre the inhabitants of the Jewish quarter, which was carried out to the letter, sparing none whatever their age or sex. The massacre ended after about 50,000 had been killed when Alexander, listening to the pleas of some yet to be killed, felt pity for them and ordered an end to the killings.

Kiernan makes the point that in his opinion like genocide, the killings do not have to be organized by the state. He gives several examples:

Keran states that some genocidal massacres are carried out against groups that are not covered by the Genocide Convention—such as being a member of a political party, or social class—but that these are covered under local laws and international treaties that criminalise crimes against humanity. However he does acknowledge that massacres against groups other than those in the Genocide Convention, and where the intention of the perpetrators did not specifically intend to commit genocide, are a grey area.

William Schabas makes the point that genocidal massacres are criminal offences under international law as a crime against humanity, and during an armed conflict under the laws of war. However he points out that international prosecutions for individual acts are not covered by the Rome Statute (which brought into existence the International Court of Justice) because crimes against humanity must be "widespread or systematic" and war crimes usually have to have a threshold above the individual crime "in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes".

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