Cultural Genocide in International Law: A Normative Evolution?

Culture is all around us, it is the glue that holds us together as a people. Through history, cultural heritage has been deliberately targeted in attempts to eradicate all traces of the targeted people. This thesis analysis the normative evolutions of the concept know as Cultural Genocide through history up till today.

The first part of the thesis deals with the understanding of culture and the importance of culture for the surviving of a people. Since culture in large involves identity, the chapter looks at the various definitions of identity through various aspects. The chapter also address the various values that culture incorporates; such as group or community, nationalism or humanity.

The second part explores the normative evolution of the legal protection of cultural property and cultural heritage and will show how such protection has developed through time. It will conclude that the normative evolution regarding the legal protection of cultural property and cultural heritage has been following the thoughts of its time and society – always reacting to make the protection even better for the future.

The third part will take a similar look at the normative evolution of genocide and especially cultural genocide. Through addressing the historical development up till the 1948 Genocide Convention, including an analysis of the drafting of the Convention and the reason why cultural genocide were left out. In conclusion, this part argues that, in regards to genocide, the normative evolution has not been in any way progressive after 1948.

Finally, the thesis evaluates whether international law, at both its normative and enforcement level, deals with the concept of cultural genocide; especially in the context of deliberate targeting and destruction of cultural property. By examine the correlation between the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1954 Hague Convention, the thesis will argue that that cultural genocide today can be argued to act as a 'autonomous' category side by side with genocide, so that the 1954 Hague Convention and its Protocols serve to complement the 1948 Genocide Convention rather than be considered under International Law as one distinct category of genocide.