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Raphael Lemkin's Radov Architect Of The Bosnian Genocide

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Raphael Lemkin coined the word genocide and lobbied for his entire life to have the world prevent as well as punish genocide. Eventually, in 1948, the United Nations adopted Lemkin’s work and promised to prevent genocide from happening again, but they failed on several occasions, most notably in 1992, when a genocide was carried out in Bosnia. This genocide was orchestrated by Radovan Karadžić. Robert Donia’s book, Radovan Karadžić: Architect of the Bosnian Genocide, goes into chronicling the life of Radovan Karadžić and seeks to understand how he went from a “man of great ability and immense promise,” to eventually transform “himself into the architect of the worst atrocities in Europe since the Second World War by unequivocally embracing …show more content…

By November of the same year, ICTY began to include charges of genocide. With the end of the war in 1995, Karadžić became a fugitive. He took on the name Dr. Dragan David Dabić to conceal his true identity as he worked as an alternative medicine practitioner and wrote several poems. He grew a long white beard and wore glasses to hide his face. Karadžić hid from the world for more than a decade. Eventually, Karadžić was caught in 2008 and brought to justice before the ICTY. He was put on trial and charged with eleven crimes. The first three charges involve his acts of genocide and persecution. The first charges apply to his slaughtering of 7,000 men and boys in Srebrenica. The third charge is for his persecution of Croats and Bosniaks between 1992 and 1995. The fourth, fifth, and sixth charge are for carrying out the murderous extermination of the non-Serbs in Bosnia. In addition, he is also charged for his siege of Sarajevo that resulted in the mass killings of innocent civilians. The seventh charge is for unlawful deportation of Croats and Bosniaks. The eighth charge involves inhumane acts committed on innocent people of Bosnia. These inhumane act can consist crimes such as rape, harassment, torture, and destruction of culture. The ninth and tenth charge accuses him for using terror and unlawful …show more content…

However, three genocides took place throughout the world and nothing was done to prevent it, making Lemkin a failure. That being said, Karadžić’s trial was a great triumph for the United Nations and was “likened to the Nuremberg trials of former Nazi leaders.” Many decades have passed since the world agreed to Lemkin’s idea to stop this atrocious crime. Radovan Karadžić’s trial caused a turning point for the world because genocide was finally being punished. It may have reminded the world of the forgotten promise they made back in 1948. Karadžić’s trial proved that the world would punish this evil crime, thus upholding the protection of human rights. In addition, this ultimately “marked the first ever genocide conviction in Europe” and fulfilled Lemkin’s life-long goal. If another sinister deed is executed that involves the mass-extermination of a group of people, there is hope that the United Nations will carry out Lemkin’s dream of preventing it and bringing those responsible—like Karadžić—to

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