Mr. E's Forum: 2006-2007 -> Multicultural Studies -> News #6: Serbia Cleared of Genocide
Post Info TOPIC: News #6: Serbia Cleared of Genocide
mre

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News #6: Serbia Cleared of Genocide
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The Bosnian War was a serious conflict raging in Europe in the beginning of the 1990's.  When the nation of Yugoslavia fell apart at the end of the Cold War, its major provinces, Bosnia and Serbia, went to war with one another.  One of the worst slaughters happened at a place called Srebrenica, where the town was emptied of all women while over 8000 men and boys were murdered.  Read the article below and the details on the court ruling and then answer the following questions: Was the govrenment of Serbia innocent?  What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?  What is your definition of genocide? [80 points] Ask a question or provide a comment to another student's post [20 points] as well. 

Court clears Serbia of genocide
The UN's highest court has cleared Serbia of direct responsibility for genocide during the 1990s Bosnian war.

But the International Court of Justice did rule that Belgrade had violated international law by failing to prevent the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica.

Bosnia brought the case and would have sought billions of dollars from Serbia in compensation if successful.

The case is the first of a state being charged with genocide. Individuals have been convicted of genocide in Bosnia.

The Bosnian Muslim leader expressed disappointment at the ruling, which was welcomed both in Serbia and the Bosnian Serb Republic.

At least 100,000 people died in the 1992-1995 war, triggered by the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. Bosnia's Muslims and Croats wanted to cut ties with Belgrade, a move opposed by Bosnian Serbs.

No reparations

The case, Bosnia and Herzegovina versus Serbia and Montenegro, began a year ago and a panel of judges has been deliberating since hearings ended in May 2006.


 
INTERNATIONAL COURT
UN's highest legal body, resolving disputes between states
Based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, began work in 1946
The court has 15 judges of different nationalities elected to nine-year terms of office
If one state fails to comply with a ruling, the other party can take the issue to the UN Security Council

Bosnia argued that Belgrade incited ethnic hatred, armed Bosnian Serbs and was an active participant in the killings.

Belgrade said the conflict was an internal war between Bosnia's ethnic groups and denied any state role in genocide.

In the ruling, the president of the court, Judge Rosalyn Higgins, said: "The court finds that the acts of genocide at Srebrenica cannot be attributed to the respondent's (Serbia) state organs."

However the court added that the leaders of Serbia failed to comply with its international obligation to prevent the killings and punish hose responsible.

The court also rejected Bosnia's claim for reparations.

"Financial compensation is not the appropriate form of reparation," the ruling said.

The war crimes tribunal in The Hague has already found individuals guilty of genocide in Bosnia and established the Srebrenica massacre as genocide.

Stalled talks

Under a 1995 peace accord, Bosnia remained a single state, but power was devolved to a Muslim-Croat federation and a Bosnian Serb Republic.




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nathan

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Was the govrenment of Serbia innocent?
      No the government of Seria was not innocent because of that slaughters that happened in the town called Srebrencia. The town was cleared of all woman, and over 8000 men and boys were slaughtered. Serbia should not have been cleared of genocide because thay are commiting a very big crime and that cannot be overlooked. It is not fair for all the families that lost their wives of husbands and boys. They would be very upset to see that the country was cleared of the murders. 

What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?
       I think that this action proved to other countries that it IS alright to commit these war crimes and not be punished, this is wrong and should not happen in the near future. Hopefuly it would show for this not to happen again.

What is your definition of genocide?
     To me the word genocide means when a large group of people are all killed at once. It is a mass killing. Killing members of the group, causing serious body or mental harm to members of the group, affecting the groups conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group, and being taken from their families.




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Tiffany

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No i dont think that the goverment of serbia was innocent because they knew about it  and they  had no met there obligation , although the genocide act was done under the serbian authorites, so there  i do think they played a part in all of this . The evidence during this ruling that  I learned like i had mentioned before they were enforced by the Serbia authorites, they also endorced the act I think that if Sebia wanted the genoicede not to happen or to be stopped I think they would have reacted or done something about it.The Court found that Serbia was responsible for failing to prevent the genocide at Srebrenica even though this took place outside Serbian territory, because it could have anticipated that there was a risk of genocide but “manifestly refrained” from using its influence over Bosnian Serb forces to try to avert itbout it. This is why i feel so strongly about how sebia could have stopped the genocide. There were also said that they didnt even  punish genocide, because it had not cooperated fully with the Yugoslavia war . I thinik that they knew and they didn even  care. I think genocide is when the person could care less if this human is a human being or not they just care that they are not like them so they want to  hate them for it . This is not fair because we are no all the same we are all different and because of that we should have to be all the same so we dont have to be killed or have any act of genoicde.

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Leslie

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Was the government of Serbia innocent? I do not think in any way that the government of Serbia was innocent.  I don’t even know how anyone who could actually think that they were in any way innocent.  It is very obvious that they very well know what was going on and were capable of stopping it.What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?This ruling gave out a message that the court didn’t think that it was that big of a deal and that in a way it was okay to do it.  Maybe that wasn’t the case but that’s exactly what it looked like because it was almost like they didn’t want to pay too much attention to it by giving them their innocence.What is your definition of genocide?

My definition of genocide would be the horrible killings of many people because of certain things.  In this one it was all the men and boys of that place, eliminating the women, in the Rwandan genocide it was all of the Tutsi people of Rwanda, and in the Holocaust genocide it was all of the Jewish people by the Germans. So it’s the brutal killing of a group of people because of certain circumstances.  Those circumstances could be because of color, because of race, because of gender, because of religion, etc.



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Leslie

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nathan wrote:

Was the govrenment of Serbia innocent?
      No the government of Seria was not innocent because of that slaughters that happened in the town called Srebrencia. The town was cleared of all woman, and over 8000 men and boys were slaughtered. Serbia should not have been cleared of genocide because thay are commiting a very big crime and that cannot be overlooked. It is not fair for all the families that lost their wives of husbands and boys. They would be very upset to see that the country was cleared of the murders. 

What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?
       I think that this action proved to other countries that it IS alright to commit these war crimes and not be punished, this is wrong and should not happen in the near future. Hopefuly it would show for this not to happen again.

What is your definition of genocide?
     To me the word genocide means when a large group of people are all killed at once. It is a mass killing. Killing members of the group, causing serious body or mental harm to members of the group, affecting the groups conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group, and being taken from their families.



I definitely agree with what you said in your second answer. I thought the same thing. By the court ruling their innocence it definitely put out the message that they thought it was okay. Do you think that gangs could be considered to be commiting a type of genocide by killing and continuously attacking other gangs? That's something that i been wondering since we started talking about different examples of genocide and just wanted to get someone else's opinion!! Great Answers!!!



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Ashley Rego

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No the government of Serbria was not innocent. They killed many innocent men and women. Serbia failed to comply with the international obligation to prevent the killings, and punish whose responsible. The lessons or examples is the court sysytem. The International Court of Justice ruled that Belgrade violated the international law by failing to prevent the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica. My definition of genocide is a series of unexplained wars, where innocent people are killed for no apparent reason.

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jAMIE dias!

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Was the govrenment of Serbia innocent?

I dont believe they were innocent because many people died and they didnt do anything to help at all.THEy knew wat was going on and they could have stopped it but did NOTHING instead.

What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?

The ruling the court made was that it didnt matter what happened liek they didnt care much and it was okay to do it.They didnt pay attention to making them be punsihed for what they did

What is your definition of genocide?

 the word genocide means killing  a whole group of people the same type of person for no reason simply because you dont like what they are.

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Jamie Dias

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nathan wrote:

Was the govrenment of Serbia innocent?
      No the government of Seria was not innocent because of that slaughters that happened in the town called Srebrencia. The town was cleared of all woman, and over 8000 men and boys were slaughtered. Serbia should not have been cleared of genocide because thay are commiting a very big crime and that cannot be overlooked. It is not fair for all the families that lost their wives of husbands and boys. They would be very upset to see that the country was cleared of the murders. 

What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?
       I think that this action proved to other countries that it IS alright to commit these war crimes and not be punished, this is wrong and should not happen in the near future. Hopefuly it would show for this not to happen again.

What is your definition of genocide?
     To me the word genocide means when a large group of people are all killed at once. It is a mass killing. Killing members of the group, causing serious body or mental harm to members of the group, affecting the groups conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group, and being taken from their families.




GOOD JOB ! i think everything you said was righttt



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lexie wetzel

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The government of Serbia in my opinion was not innocent.  The leaders of Serbia failed to
comply with its international obligation to prevent killings and punish those who were responsible.
How could Srebrenica just be cleared of all woman and have over 8000 men and boys
slaughtered for no reason and be innocent? The government couldn’t possibly be innocent even
though, the court found that “the acts of genocide at Srebrenica couldn’t be attributed to the
respondent’s.” (Serbia)

Lessons and examples that this ruling provides are that the court didn’t necessarily believe that
the slaughtering of these innocent people was of any significance and that countries like Serbia
and Rwanda for example could get away with such hate crimes and not be punished which is
totally wrong no one should be killed for any reason ever not now, not back then, nor in the future.
 My definition of genocide is a planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political or
ethnic group. 

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Amanda

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Was the government of Serbia innocent?               The government of Serbia is not completely innocent because it allowed this genocide to go on without intervening.  Although the government did not actively participate in the genocide, it did nothing to stop it.  If the government claims that it had no part and it was only the actions of a group of people within the country, it could have attempted to intervene and punish those who were responsible, which is why it is not completely innocent in this matter.
What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?               The lessons that this ruling provides are that when genocide occurs, the government of that country in which it occurs is not always considered to be guilty, even though they allowed it to go on.  They should, however, do something to stop it if they expect to be considered innocent in the matter.  They shouldn’t allow genocide to go on in their country by intervening and punishing the people who are guilty of genocide..
What is your definition of genocide?  

            My definition of genocide is the killing of a very large group of people because of religious, political or cultural conflicts in a particular country.



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Shallyn

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(1)  I think that the Serbian government is not innocent at all because hundreds of people were slaughtered.The Army of Republika Srpska, a paramilitary unit from Serbia known as the "Scorpions" participated in the massacre. The government knew of the tragedies taking place and refused to take any action to stop or prevent it.

(2) It seemed that the court was stating that it was ok  to committ such murderes. The court made it seemed that none of these people should be punished. Which i think is horrible!

(3)Genocide: is a massacre of numerous amounts of people. A genocide is the mass slaughtering of people . Basically genocide is started when one side (like rwanda) feels inferior to the other, and they plan to destroy  the other side.





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Amanda

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jAMIE dias! wrote:

Was the govrenment of Serbia innocent?

I dont believe they were innocent because many people died and they didnt do anything to help at all.THEy knew wat was going on and they could have stopped it but did NOTHING instead.

What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?

The ruling the court made was that it didnt matter what happened liek they didnt care much and it was okay to do it.They didnt pay attention to making them be punsihed for what they did

What is your definition of genocide?

 the word genocide means killing  a whole group of people the same type of person for no reason simply because you dont like what they are.
I agree that the government of Serbia should have done something to end the genocide and that they should not have been found innocent in the trial.



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lexie wetzel

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Leslie wrote:

Was the government of Serbia innocent? I do not think in any way that the government of Serbia was innocent.  I don’t even know how anyone who could actually think that they were in any way innocent.  It is very obvious that they very well know what was going on and were capable of stopping it.What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?This ruling gave out a message that the court didn’t think that it was that big of a deal and that in a way it was okay to do it.  Maybe that wasn’t the case but that’s exactly what it looked like because it was almost like they didn’t want to pay too much attention to it by giving them their innocence.What is your definition of genocide?

My definition of genocide would be the horrible killings of many people because of certain things.  In this one it was all the men and boys of that place, eliminating the women, in the Rwandan genocide it was all of the Tutsi people of Rwanda, and in the Holocaust genocide it was all of the Jewish people by the Germans. So it’s the brutal killing of a group of people because of certain circumstances.  Those circumstances could be because of color, because of race, because of gender, because of religion, etc.


I definitely agree with all of your responses especially, your examples that you used in the
definition for genocide. Keep up the good work :)




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Catherine

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Was the govrenment of Serbia innocent?
      No the government of Seria was not innocent because of that slaughters that happened and they didnt do anything to stop it they went along with it. So many innocent people were murdered and genocide would be the perfect name for what happened they and it was wrong and more people should of tryed to help or at least tryed to stop it.

What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?
      The lesson that the ruling provide was that they think they could kill people and get away with it and its ok and that it is a lesson to all countries but its not a good lesson and it should not happen again and if it does more people should try to stop it and speck out.

What is your definition of genocide?
     Genocide is a large group of people killing each other even innocent people its like a massacure that doesnt stop it killes what ever goes in there way from women to babies. It can happen anywere at anytime genocide is a horrible thing to go through that needs to be stoped if it happeneds again.

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Catherine

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Shallyn wrote:

(1)  I think that the Serbian government is not innocent at all because hundreds of people were slaughtered.The Army of Republika Srpska, a paramilitary unit from Serbia known as the "Scorpions" participated in the massacre. The government knew of the tragedies taking place and refused to take any action to stop or prevent it.

(2) It seemed that the court was stating that it was ok  to committ such murderes. The court made it seemed that none of these people should be punished. Which i think is horrible!

(3)Genocide: is a massacre of numerous amounts of people. A genocide is the mass slaughtering of people . Basically genocide is started when one side (like rwanda) feels inferior to the other, and they plan to destroy  the other side.




That is a good definition for genocide do you think its going to happen again?



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Nicholai

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No, the gorvernment was not innocent but they also weren't completely guilty.  Everybody in Serbia holds some sort of guilt in this matter.  In this ruling it sets the example that you can pretty much do anything you want in this world.  My definition of genocide is: a systematic killing of a certain race, gender or ethnic group by another race, gender, or ethnic group.  It's wrong whether you commit the crime or you don't do anything to stop it or prevent it. "The Only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

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shallyn carreiro

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it depends ....god forbid it happens again but to prevent it all you need is peace and unity in the country.

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Valdir

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             The Serbian government is just as guilty in the Srebrenica Massacres as the actual culprits. They took little – if any – action preventing the killings, and later, had no intent on punishing those responsible. I think this ruling, continuing in the trend of convicting individuals instead of states, shows just how difficult it is to find a government guilty of war crimes. More importantly, the trial’s outcome truly highlights the lack of sensitivity the international court has for the victim’s families. I can certainly understand why Serbia, entirely, was acquitted of their charges; but, how can the true victims of the atrocities, those left without husbands, fathers, or brothers, not be due some type of reparation. What’s left to these people? According to International Court, financial reparations aren’t the answer. It’s sad.

            I define genocide as ethnic cleansing; the deliberate and planned purge of a specific group of people, based on an aspect of their being, whether it be race, ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, etc. It’s extermination; the kids who chose to pour the water are now the culprits, and the recipients, helpless victims, assume the role as the feeble insects.   

  



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Heather Roy

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Was the government of Serbia innocent?!?
No the government was not innocent because they killed innocent people for no reason and nothing was done about it. Nobody should turn away from a country that is going through a genocide, I don't know how it could just be ignored. It hurts to even think of, I don't know how people could just let it go on.

What lessons/examples does this ruling provide?!?
This could happen anywhere, and it's wrong to just let it happen. Innocent people are being killed and it's almost like being excepted. They're basically saying it's okay to kill people and what they did isn't wrong.

What is your definition of genocide?!?
Genocide is the elimination of a race/religion. Like the holocaust for example, innocent people get killed because one person or a group of people doesn't agree with the way they live or who they are. So they try to elimate the race so there is no more of that type of person around.



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Heather Roy

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Catherine wrote:

Was the govrenment of Serbia innocent?
      No the government of Seria was not innocent because of that slaughters that happened and they didnt do anything to stop it they went along with it. So many innocent people were murdered and genocide would be the perfect name for what happened they and it was wrong and more people should of tryed to help or at least tryed to stop it.

What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?
      The lesson that the ruling provide was that they think they could kill people and get away with it and its ok and that it is a lesson to all countries but its not a good lesson and it should not happen again and if it does more people should try to stop it and speck out.

What is your definition of genocide?
     Genocide is a large group of people killing each other even innocent people its like a massacure that doesnt stop it killes what ever goes in there way from women to babies. It can happen anywere at anytime genocide is a horrible thing to go through that needs to be stoped if it happeneds again.

I definately agree with you, we definately need to make sure we stop another genocide before it gets to serious...do you think if a genocide happened somewhere in the world America would step in immediately?




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mre

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Grades updated - March 26th

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JAIMIE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!

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1 I THINK THE SERBIA GOV'T WAS NOT INNOCENT THEY LET 8000 MEN AND BOYS BE KILLED AND THEY CLEARED EVERY WOMEN IN THE TOWN ITS WRONG AND THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO STOP IT HOW DO YOU THINK THE FAMILIES FEEL WHO LOST SOMEONE!! I THINK SOME ONE WHO CARES SHOULD TEACH THEM HOW WRONG IT IS AND THAT IT IS A TRAGETY IN THIER HISTORY NOT A GOOD THING TO LOOK BACK ON.
gENOCIDE IS A KILLING OF A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON.



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mike jones

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1) The goverment of serbia is definatly not innocent. When you exterminate 8000 grown men and young boys there!!!It is absurd how tehy were cleared of those hanous crimes.

2) It shows other European countries that Genocide is a real threat if your goverment falls into bad hands.

3) To me GENOCIDE means the killing of a extremely large group of people due too beliefs that they follow or the dislike of these people

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diego

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The Serbia goverment wasnt innocent because they knew they were killing over 8000 men and young boys and they cleared all the women out of the town.


I think that this shows that the goverment of Serbia doesnt care to what happens to their people.


To me the definition of GENOCIDE is when a group of innocent people are killed for chosing their own religion and other problems.



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Kate Snell!

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Genocide is the elimination of a certain ethinic group or culture through violence/murder.
The fact the Serbia was not fully blamed for acts of genocide is pretty sick.  It's hard to put myself in the position of someone who has witnessed their entire culture be massacred. But to think that the people actually got away with it is scary.
They said that there wasnt enough evidence that they were completely to blame for the genocide, but if their enemy has been slaughtered, is there any more evidence needed?

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Sabrina

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No the government of Serbia was not innocent they chose to go to war just like Bosnia did.  They also removed all the women leaving their own men and young boys to go to war and be murdered.  The ruling doesnt really show anything the only fortunate thing that came out of it was that they ruled it an act of genocide.  I believe it was an act of genocide including Serbia no matter what the evidence shows or how much evidence the courts may have had both countries should have been punished more than they were, especially Serbia.

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Sabrina

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Nathan i also agree that Serbia was not innocent.  It is unfortunate that 8000 men and boys had to loose their lives.  Good job!!!!

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KEVIN

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NO way was serbia innocent after the murder of thousands of people and to think that they can just brush it under the rug and pretend its no big deal is riddiculous also genocide is the mass murdering of a type of people because of their difference to other humans that the other humans dont agree with.

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jenna

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Was the government of Serbia innocent?
In my opinion I believe that Serbia was not innocent because they definitely knew what was going on and had every chance to stop it and they didnt.
What lessons or examples does this ruling provide?
An example that it provides in my opinion is that its okay to go out and kill and invade a whole culture group. Because if I knew that I wasnt going to get in much trouble if I didnt something wrong then most likely Im going to do it. Same thing applies if you dont get punished for the wrong acts that you commit then that gives an impression on others to do the same because they wont get in trouble.
What is your definition of genocide?
My definition of genocide is when one group takes over another, by killing and overpowering the other group. To me acts of genocide shouldnt be put up with anywhere and if it does appear in a community then it should be stopped at once. Acts of genocide is basically about power and control.

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jenna

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KEVIN wrote:

NO way was serbia innocent after the murder of thousands of people and to think that they can just brush it under the rug and pretend its no big deal is riddiculous also genocide is the mass murdering of a type of people because of their difference to other humans that the other humans dont agree with.

This is so true i can't believe that something so big just gets just a slap on the wrest.



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mre

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Grades updated 4/1/07

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