EU plans far-reaching 'genocide denial' law
The Telegraph (London) - 2:03am GMT 02/02/2007
By Bruno Waterfield
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.
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."
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