logo czasopisma

Articles

Vol. 61 No. 2 (2026): Law&Social Bonds

Cultural Genocide: Between Recognition and Denial

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36128/a2rqc420
Submitted
17 June 2025
Published
9 May 2026

Abstract

This article explores the concept of cultural genocide, returning to its conceptual “roots” and aiming, among other things, to explore its origins as articulated by its foremost advocate, Raphael Lemkin. As the scholar who coined the term “genocide” and played a pivotal role in shaping the 1948 Genocide Convention, Lemkin’s contributions provide essential context for this analysis. During the drafting of the Convention, cultural genocide emerged as a central issue, occupying a prominent place in the debate on the nature of the crime. Despite its prominence in the discussions, it was ultimately excluded from the final text following extensive debate among the Convention’s drafters. Unlike biological and physical genocide, which were retained as the core forms of the crime, cultural genocide was excluded. What were the principal arguments advanced for and against the recognition of cultural genocide? Why does the debate over its inclusion persist decades after its exclusion from the Genocide Convention? To what extent – if at all – do these discussions hold legal significance today? These are the central issues that this article seeks to address.

References

  1. Akhavan, Payam. “Cultural Genocide: Legal Label or Mourning Metaphor?” McGill Law Journal – Revue de Droit De McGill 62, no. 1 (2016): 243–271.
  2. Bachman, Jeffrey S. “An Historical Perspective: The Exclusion of Cultural Genocide from the Genocide Convention.” In Cultural Genocide: Law, Politics, and Global Manifestations, edited by Jeffrey S. Bachman, 45–61. London and New York: Routledge Studies in Genocide and Crimes against Humanity, 2019.
  3. Bilsky, Leora i Rachel Klagsbrun. “The Return of Cultural Genocide?” European Journal of International Law 29, no. 2 (2018): 373–396.
  4. Cassese, Antonio. International Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
  5. Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Ukraine, Declaration 9 (2024), 15 October 2024.
  6. Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Paris, 17 October 2003.
  7. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. United Nations, Treaty Series, Vol. 78, 277.
  8. Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society. Council of Europe Treaty Series, no. 199, 27 October 2005.
  9. Council of Europe Office in Ukraine. Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Ukraine. https://www.coe.int/en/web/kyiv/-/destruction-of-cultural-heritage-in-ukraine
  10. Discrimination Against Indigenous Peoples. Report of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations on its 19th session; Commission on Human Rights Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, 58th session, Agenda item 14, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1993/29, 23 August 1993. https://www.refworld.org/reference/themreport/unsubcom/1993/en/91751
  11. Draft Code of Crimes Against Peace and Security of Mankind with Commentaries. International Law Commission, 48th session, 6 May – 26 July 1996. https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/commentaries/7_4_1996.pdf
  12. Draft Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Economic and Social Council, 26 June 1947. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/611058?v=pdf
  13. Gerstenblith, Patty. “The Destruction of Cultural Heritage: A Crime Against Property or a Crime Against People?” The John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law (2016): 335–393.
  14. Guercio, Laura i Paolina Massidda. “Cultural Heritage: A Critical Element of the Right to Education and the Right to Identity of Children in Armed Conflict.” In Heritage in War and Peace. Law and Visual Jurisprudence, edited by Gianluigi Mastandrea Bonaviri and Mirosław Michał Sadowski, 491–506. Cham: Springer, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47347-0_31
  15. International Court of Justice, Case Concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), Judgment, 26 February 2007.
  16. Irvin-Erickson, Douglas. “Raphael Lemkin: Culture and Cultural Genocide.” In Cultural Genocide: Law, Politics, and Global Manifestations, edited by Jeffrey S. Bachman, 21–44. London and New York: Routledge Studies in Genocide and Crimes against Humanity, 2019.
  17. Kozak-Balaniuk, Iryna i Ihor Kozak. “Genocide of Ukrainian Children. The Forcible Transfer of Ukrainian Children by Russia as an Attempt to Erase National Identity.” Prawo i Więź, no. 4 (57) (2025): 971–992. https://doi.org/10.36128/PRIW.VI57.1264
  18. Lemkin, Raphael. Genocide – A Modern Crime, April 1945. http://www.preventgenocide.org/lemkin/freeworld1945.htm
  19. Lemkin, Raphael. Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, Laws of Occupation, Analysis of Government, Proposals for Redress. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1944, reprinted in New Introduction by Samantha Power (The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Clark, 2005).
  20. Lemkin, Raphael. “Genocide as a crime under international law.” The American Journal of International Law 41, no. 1 (1947): 145–151.
  21. Lemkin, Raphael. “Genocide.” The American Scholar 15, no. 2 (1946): 227–230.
  22. Luck, Edward C. Cultural Genocide and the Protection of Cultural Heritage. J. Paul Getty Trust Occasional Papers in Cultural Heritage Policy, 2/2018.
  23. Mako, Shamiran. “Cultural Genocide and Key International Instruments: Framing the Indigenous Experience.” International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 19 (2012): 175–194.
  24. Moodrick-Even Khen, Hilly B. “The Forcible Transfer of Children from Ukraine as Genocide: Awakening the Dormant Prohibition of the Genocide Convention.” The International Journal of Children’s Rights 32 (2024): 78–118.
  25. Nersessian, David. “A Modern Perspective: The Current Status of Cultural Genocide Under International Law.” In Cultural Genocide: Law, Politics, and Global Manifestations, edited by Jeffrey S. Bachman, 62–91. London and New York: Routledge Studies in Genocide and Crimes against Humanity, 2019.
  26. Nersessian, David. “Rethinking Cultural Genocide Under International Law, Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Cultural Rights.” Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, 22 April 2005. https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/media/series/dialogue/human-rights-dialogue-1994-2005-series-2-no-12-spring-2005-cultural-rights-section-1-rethinking-cultural-genocide-under-international-law
  27. Official Records of the 3rd Session of the General Assembly. Part 1: Legal Questions: 6th Committee: Summary Records of Meetings, 21 September – 10 December 1948. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/698144?v=pdf
  28. O’Keefe, Roger. “Cultural Heritage and International Criminal Law.” In Sustainable Development, International Criminal Justice, and Treaty Implementation, edited by Sébastien Jodoin and Marie Claire Cordonier Segger, 120–150. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
  29. Powell, Christopher. “What do genocides kill? A relational conception of genocide.” Journal of Genocide Research 9, no. 4 (2007): 527–547.
  30. Prosecutor v. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi (Situation in the Republic of Mali), ICC-01/12-01/15, 27 September 2016.
  31. Prosecutor v. Jean Paul Akayesu, Judgment, Case No. ICTR-96-4-T, 2 September 1998.
  32. Prosecutor v. Goran Jelisić, Judgment, Case No. IT-95-10-T, 14 December 1999.
  33. Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić, Judgment, Case No. IT-95-5/18-T, 24 March 2016.
  34. Prosecutor v. Radoslav Krstić, Judgment, Case No. IT-98-33-T, 2 August 2001.
  35. Prosecutor v. Laurent Semanza, Judgment and Sentence, Case No. ICTR-97-20-T, 15 May 2003.
  36. Prosecutor v. Georges Anderson Nderubumwe Rutaganda, Judgment and Sentence in the Trial Chamber, Case No. ICTR-96-3-T, 6 December 1999.
  37. Prosecutor v. Zdravko Tolimir, Judgment, Case No. IT-05-88/2-T, 12 December 2012.
  38. Prosecutor v. Zdravko Tolimir, Judgment, Case No. IT-05-88/2-A, 8 April 2015.
  39. Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the European Cultural Heritage Strategy for the 21st century, CM/Rec(2017), 22 February 2017.
  40. Report of the Committee and Draft Convention drawn up by the Committee / Ad Hoc Committee on Genocide (Karim Azkoul – Rapporteur), 24 May 1948. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/604195?ln=en&v=pdf
  41. Report of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations on its eleventh session; Commission on Human Rights Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Forty-fifth session, Agenda item 14, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1993/29, 23 August 1993. https://www.refworld.org/reference/themreport/unsubcom/1993/en/91751
  42. Sandhar, Jaspreet K. “Cultural Genocide in Tibet: The Failure of Article 8 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Protecting the Cultural Rights of Tibetans.” Santander Art and Culture Law Review 1, no. 2 (2015): 175–198.
  43. Schabas, William A. Genocide in International Law. The Crime of Crimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
  44. Schabas, William A. “Genocide.” Max Planck Encyclopedias of International Law [MPIL], March 2023. https://opil.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e804
  45. Sixth Committee: Draft Convention on Genocide: Report of the Economic and Social Council: Report and Draft Resolution / Adopted by Sub-Committee 2 on [the] Progressive Development and Codification of International Law, 11 November 1947. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/603461?ln=en&v=pdf
  46. Thake, Ann Marie. “The Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage as a Genocidal Act and a Crime Against Humanity.” European Society of International Law Conference Papers Series 10, no. 5 (2017): 1–25.
  47. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015. https://irsi.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/inline-files/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf
  48. UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, A/RES/61/295, 13 September 2007.
  49. UNESCO. Damaged Cultural Sites in Ukraine Verified by UNESCO, 22 September 2025. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/damaged-cultural-sites-ukraine-verified-unesco
  50. UNESCO. Impact on Cultural Heritage, 9 October 2025. https://www.unesco.org/en/gaza/assessment
  51. Vrdoljak, Ana Filipa. “Cultural Heritage in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.” In International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, edited by Orna Ben-Naftali, 250–302. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
  52. Vrdoljak, Ana Filipa. “The Criminalisation of the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage.” In Forging a Socio-Legal Approach to Environmental Harm: Global Perspectives, edited by Emanuela Orlando and Tiffany Bergin, 1–30. London: Routledge, 2016. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2676470

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.