EU bid to outlaw genocide denial faces backlash
Bruno Waterfield in London
February 3, 2007
PEOPLE who question the official history of conflicts in Africa and
the Balkans could be jailed for up to three years for "genocide denial",
under proposed European Union legislation.
Germany, the current holder of the union’s rotating presidency, is to
table legislation to outlaw "racism and xenophobia". Included in the
draft EU directive are plans to outlaw Holocaust denial, creating an
offence that does not exist in British law.
But the proposals, seen by the Telegraph of London, go much further and
would criminalise those who question the extent of war crimes that have
taken place in the past 20 years.
Deborah Lipstadt, professor of modern Jewish and Holocaust studies at
Emory University, Atlanta, said the proposals were misplaced. "I adhere
to that pesky little thing called free speech and I am very concerned
when governments restrict it," Professor Lipstadt said.
"How will we determine precisely what is denial? Will history be decided
by historians or in a courtroom?"
The proposals extend the idea of Holocaust denial to the "gross
minimisation of genocide out of racist and xenophobic motives", to
include crimes dealt with by the International Criminal Court.
The text states: "Each member state shall take the measures necessary to
ensure that the following intentional conduct is punishable: ‘publicly
condoning, denying or grossly trivialising of crimes of genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes as defined in’?â??¦ the Statute of the ICC."
General Lewis MacKenzie, the former commander of United Nations
peacekeepers in Bosnia, courted controversy two years ago by questioning
the number of Bosnians killed at Srebrenica in 1995. He took issue with
the official definition of the massacre as genocide. "The math just
doesn’t support the scale of 8000 killed," he wrote.
Balkans human rights activists have branded General MacKenzie an
"outspoken Srebrenica genocide denier" and, if approved, the EU
legislation could see similar comments investigated by police or
prosecuted in the courts.
"Whether a specific historic crime falls within these definitions would
be decided by a court in each case," a German Government spokesman said.
But the legislation faces stiff opposition from academics who fear it
would stifle debate about some of the biggest issues in international
relations.
Norman Stone, a professor of history at Turkey’s Koc University, argues
that any attempt to legislate against genocide denial is "quite absurd".
"We cannot have EU or international legal bodies blundering in and
telling us what we can and cannot say," he said.
Professor Lipstadt agrees. "When you pass these kinds of laws it
suggests to the uninformed bystander that you don’t have the evidence to
prove your case," she said.
Telegraph, London