EU plans far-reaching ‘genocide denial’ law
By Bruno Waterfield
The Daily Telegraph/UK
02/02/2007
People who question the official history of recent conflicts in Africa
and the Balkans could be jailed for up to three years for "genocide
denial", under proposed EU legislation.
Germany, current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, will table
new legislation to outlaw "racism and xenophobia" this spring.
Bosnian Muslims fleeing Srebrenica in 1995. Up to 8,000 were killed in
the UN-designated ‘safe area’ when the town fell to Bosnian Serbs
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 Daily Telegraph, go much further and
would criminalise those who question the extent of war crimes that
have taken place in the past 20 years.
The legislation will trigger a major row across Europe over free
speech and academic freedom.
Deborah Lipstadt, the professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies
at Emory University, Atlanta, believes the German proposals are
misplaced. "I adhere to that pesky little thing called free speech and
I am very concerned when governments restrict it," she said yesterday.
"How will we determine precisely what is denial? Will history be
decided by historians or in a courtroom?"
Berlin’s draft EU directive extends 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 ICC was set up in 2002 following international outcry about war
crimes and alleged genocides in the former Yugoslavia and in
Africa. It was felt that the courts in those countries were either
unable or unwilling to ensure justice was done.
The draft 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’… the Statute of the ICC."
General Lewis MacKenzie, the former commander of UN peacekeepers in
Bosnia, courted controversy two years ago by questioning the numbers
killed at Srebrenica in 1995.
He took issue with the official definition of the massacre as genocide
and highlighted "serious doubt" over the estimate of 8,000 Bosnian
fatalities. "The math just doesn’t support the scale of 8,000 killed,"
he wrote.
Balkans human rights activists have branded Gen MacKenzie an
"outspoken Srebrenica genocide denier" and, if approved, the EU
legislation could see similar comments investigated by the police or
prosecuted in the courts after complaints from war crimes
investigators or campaigners.
A German government spokesman said: "Whether a specific historic crime
falls within these definitions would be decided by a court in each
case."
If agreed by EU member states, the legislation is likely to declare
open season for human rights activists and organisations seeking to
establish a body of genocide denial law in Europe’s courts.
European Commission officials insist that the legislation is
necessary: "racism and xenophobia can manifest themselves in the form
of genocide denial so that it is very important to take strong
action".
But the legislation faces stiff opposition from academics who fear it
would stifle debate over some of the biggest issues in contemporary
international relations.
Prof Lipstadt has an international reputation for challenging
Holocaust denial.
She was sued unsuccessfully for libel in 2000 by David Irving, the
British historian, after exposing his misrepresentation of historical
evidence and association with Right-wing extremists. But she does not
believe denying the Holocaust or genocide should be a crime.
"The Holocaust has the dubious distinction of being the best
documented genocide in history," she said.
"When you pass these kinds of laws it suggests to the uninformed
bystander that you don’t have the evidence to prove your case."
The professor is also worried by broad-brush definitions of genocide
denial, particularly applied to recent conflicts that are still being
researched and investigated.
Even without the threat of prosecution, there is concern that
academics will try to avoid controversy by ignoring or even
suppressing research that challenges genocide claims or numbers of
those killed.
David Chandler, the professor of international relations at the
University of Westminster’s Centre for the Study of Democracy, fears
that the draft law could inhibit his work.
"My work teaching and training researchers, and academic work more
broadly, is focused upon encouraging critical thinking. Measures like
this make academic debate and discussion more difficult," he said.
Prof Chandler also worries that the legislators will close down
democratic debate on foreign policy. "Genocide claims and war crimes
tribunals are highly political and are often linked to controversial
Western military interventions. Should this be unquestioned? Is it
right for judges to settle such arguments?" he asked.
Norman Stone, the professor of history at Turkey’s Koç University,
argues that any attempt to legislate against genocide denial is "quite
absurd".
"I am dead against this kind of thing," he said. "We can not have EU
or international legal bodies blundering in and telling us what we can
and can not say."