Rethinking the concept of Cultural Genocide under International Law

The German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine wrote “Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings”, thereby famously laying bare the link between the mass slaughter of human beings and attacks on the cultural heritage around the world. Raphael Lemkin had envisioned the crime of genocide as not only consisting of the physical or biological intentional destruction of a particular group of people but also the destruction of its cultural heritage. In the initial drafts of the Genocide Convention it can easily be traced that Lemkin wanted the definition of genocide to include cultural genocide. In fact, the ad hoc criminal tribunals have considered the systematic and intentional destruction of cultural heritage as evidence of the specific intent to destroy a group. Cultural heritage is as much a reflection of the identity of a group if not more as are their physical or biological features. There are numerous examples around the world where the perpetrators have not only physically tried to annihilate a group but have tried to further obliterate any signs of their ever existing on this planet by intentionally destroying their cultural heritage. This paper aims to firstly, understand the term cultural genocide by considering it as a crime against persons and not solely against property. Secondly, to further examine whether it should be incorporated into the wider definition of genocide by putting forth arguments for or against and examining the reasons as to why it has not been incorporated yet.