Politicization of genocide: the case of Bucha

Abstract

The aim of this thesis was to analyze the political statements and parliamentary debates of the following 7 countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Ireland, and Canada concerning the alleged genocidal practices that took place in Bucha, Ukraine after the full-scale invasion by the Russian armed forces in February 2022. For this, the creation of the legal norm of genocide and the historical usage of genocide by governments and/or political entities were examined to identify potential limitations and shortcomings in the 1948 Genocide Convention that could have affected legal responses to historical cases of alleged genocidal practices and the current Bucha case. In other words, in what way has the defining of genocide gone beyond its legal perimeters? Although the statements made by the national parliaments about the Bucha atrocities are political assessments, politicians are the ones who decide whether to join cases seeking justice for international crimes. This is the reason these are important in the Bucha case – the political statements and parliamentary debates serve as a tool to convince the audience about intent in alleged genocidal practices. This is because intent must be inferred from the circumstances and these circumstances do not include only conflict-based criteria.