Ethnic Cleansing - An Attempt at Methodology

III. Definitions of Ethnic Cleansing

Special Rapporteur Mazowiecki defined ethnic cleansing in his report of 17 November 1992 in the following terms:

The term ethnic cleansing refers to the elimination by the ethnic group exerting control over a given territory of members of other ethnic groups.⁷³

Later, in his Sixth Report the Special Rapporteur argued that:

ethnic cleansing may be equated with the systematic purge of the civilian population based on ethnic criteria, with the view to forcing it to abandon the territories where it lives.⁷⁴

A further definition was provided by the Commission of Experts, in their first Interim Report of 10 February 1993.⁷⁵ They were of the view that:

considered in the context of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, ethnic cleansing means rendering an area ethnically homogenous by using force and intimidation to remove persons of given groups from the area.

Andrew Bell-Fialkoff gives his definition:

(...) ethnic cleansing can be understood as the expulsion of an `undesirable' population from a given territory due to religious or ethnic discrimination, political, strategic or ideological considerations, or a combination of these.⁷⁶

For Michael Roux,

(...) c'est de politique d'homogénéisation nationale forcée d'un territoire par expulsion (et accessoirement massacre) des éléments jugés indésirables.⁷⁷

There are even broader definitions of ethnic cleansing.⁷⁸ It is the present writer's view that ethnic cleansing is a well-defined policy of a particular group of persons to systematically eliminate another group from a given territory on the basis of religious, ethnic or national origin. Such a policy involves violence and is very often connected with military operations. It is to be achieved by all possible means, from discrimination to extermination, and entails violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

This definition outlines the main characteristics of ethnic cleansing.

A) International reports make reference to one crucial element of ethnic cleansing - its systematic character. This has already been pointed out in this article.⁷⁹

B) Related to its systematic character is the fact that the authorities support this process, by participation or instigation, or at least by refraining from taking action to restrain those responsible^.80

C) Ethnic cleansing is perpetrated against particular groups of individuals, according to their ethnic, national, religious, or other characteristics.⁸¹ This means that it is directed against the members of the given population as such, especially civilians⁸² (including women, children and other non-combatants). The target of ethnic cleansing is defined by its origin, and not by its activity.⁸³

D) Individuals advocating the policy of ethnic cleansing, by definition, cannot respect international humanitarian law,⁸⁴ in spite of their formal commitments.⁸⁵ Respecting it would simply deprive this policy of its means, methods and object. Special Rapporteur Mazowiecki states that `massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are not simply features of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are being used deliberately to achieve ethnically homogenous areas'.⁸⁶

E) Ethnic cleansing has different forms, ranging from simple administrative and economic discrimination to the extermination of a target group. Differences of forms, methods and targets of ethnic cleansing seem to depend primarily on the means at the disposal of different parties⁸⁷ and the global character of their projects.⁸⁸

73 UN Doc. A/47/666 and S/24809 of 17 November 1992.

74 Sixth Mazowiecki Report II, at 44, point 283.

75 Supra note 1.

76 Bell-Fialkoff, supra note 4, at 110.

77 Roux, supra note 1, at 51.

78 `In estrema sintesi, la pulizia etnica è il rifiuto radicale della convivenza fra gruppi diversi per origine e religione, è l'ultima e più tragica conseguenza del nazionalismo e del razzismo in crescita un po' dovunque in Europa', E. Doni, C. Valentini, L'arma dello stupro, Voci dei donne della Bosnia (1993) 15.

79 Supra text notes 55 to 67.

80 It is a question of whether those units and groups have been under effective control of military and political forces. See, e.g., Declaration of Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the ICRC at the London Conference on Former Yugoslavia, 26 August 1992, Livre noir de l'ex-Yougoslavie, supra note 45, at 179-180; First Mazowiecki Report I, at 6, point 31. P. Morillon, Croire et oser (1993) 115; Fourth Mazowiecki Report, at 55, point 258; A Wound to the Soul, Amnesty International, supra note 10, at 3.

81 There are examples of the pressure on Ukrainians in Bosnia-Herzegovina. See Fourth Mazowiecki Report I, at 7, point 23. `... the victims (of rape) are of different nationality from the perpetrator, that is, women have been singled out for humiliation on account of their nationality...' Rape and Sexual Abuse by Armed Forces, Amnesty International, supra note 39, at 5.

82 `... the vast majority of the victims are civilians who take no part in the hostilities and are thus especially vulnerable'. Statement by Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, 29 July 1992, supra note 79.

83 Detainees defined as the `potential combatants', Third Mazowiecki Report I, at 14, point 34.

84 `The violations of international human rights and humanitarian law have been primarily employed as a means for "ethnic cleansing"', Fifth Mazowiecki Report II, at 14, point 99.

85 Obradovic, `The "Yugoslav War" Experience and the Problem of Revising International Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts', Paper presented to the Round Table, Fribourg/ Switzerland, July 1993.

86 Fourth Mazowiecki Report II, at 7, point 16.

87 `They are used by all the parties involved, to an extent determined by the means at their disposal...' Statement by Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, Geneva 29 July 1992, supra note 79.

88 `Sans doute Croates et Musulmans ont-ils eux aussi recours, avec moins d'ampleur puisque sont eux qui perdent du terrain, à telles pratiques. Mais, il n'est pas possible de le revoyer dos à dos avec les Serbes.' Roux, supra note 1, at 50.

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