Topic :
While legal systems are crucial in promoting accountability and deterrence, they cannot prevent mass atrocities on their own. This paper will address the concerns of international human rights law limitations to its ability to prevent atrocities, more specifically in regard to the Holocaust.
readings:
Trent. “Racial Purity Laws in the US and Germany: The Targeting Process.
Rundle (2009) “The Impossibility of an Exterminatory Legality: Law and the Holocaust.”
Arendt, Hannah. Chapter 9: “The Decline of the Nation-State and the End of the Rights of Man.” The Origins of Totalitarianism. pp. 267-302.
Case studies:
Nuremberg Laws: The Nuremberg Laws, enacted by Nazi Germany in 1935, stripped Jews of their citizenship and legal rights, laying the groundwork for their systematic persecution. These laws illustrate how legal frameworks can be manipulated to target specific groups and perpetrate human rights violations.
Wannsee Conference: The Wannsee Conference, held in 1942, was a meeting of senior Nazi officials where the coordination of the Final Solution, the systematic extermination of Jews, was discussed and planned. This event demonstrates how pseudo-legal processes were used to justify and legitimize mass murder within the framework of the Nazi legal system.
Nuremberg Trials: Following World War II, the Nuremberg Trials were held to prosecute prominent Nazi leaders for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. While these trials represented a landmark in international justice, they also underscored the limitations of legal accountability in preventing atrocities, as many perpetrators were never brought to justice.
Tie it back to the Bosnian Genocide to tie it back into how this can play out again in later history
Bosnian Genocide: The Bosnian Genocide, which took place during the Bosnian War in the 1990s, involved the systematic persecution and killing of Bosniak Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces. Despite evidence of widespread human rights abuses, including mass killings and ethnic cleansing, the international community struggled to intervene decisively to halt the atrocities, underscoring the challenges of enforcement and political will in preventing mass violence.
Please cite in APA7
instructions in the document attached
