Genocide by attrition

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Genocide by attrition is the prohibited act of "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part". [1] [2] The concept was introduced by Raphael Lemkin in 1944, while the term was coined by Helen Fein in 1997. [1]

Lemkin described this process as "racial discrimination in feeding." [3] The concept corresponds to Article II of the 1948 Geneva Convention Article II (c) "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." Elyse Semerdjian notes the inclusion of this article into the Geneva Convention was informed by the extreme deprivation of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. [1]

Multiple genocide scholars note that the concept of "genocide by attrition" is useful insofar as it illustrates that genocide is a process rather than a singular event like mass murder. [4] [1] [5] [6] Elyse Semerdjian states that "Genocide by Attrition seeks to conceal the perpetrator’s role in pulling the trigger. By doing so, it emboldens the perpetrator to frame mass starvation as a natural disaster or a generalized tragedy." [1]

Cases of genocide by attrition include Azerbaijan's siege of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, [7] [8] Israel's blockade of Gaza, the German Hunger Plan, and the mass killings by Europeans of the buffalo in the Great Plains. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Semerdjian, Elyse (17 July 2024). "Gazafication and Genocide by Attrition in Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh and the Occupied Palestinian Territories". Journal of Genocide Research: 1–22. doi:10.1080/14623528.2024.2377871.
  2. ↑ Wakeham, Pauline (3 July 2022). "The Slow Violence of Settler Colonialism: Genocide, Attrition, and the Long Emergency of Invasion". Journal of Genocide Research. 24 (3): 337–356. doi:10.1080/14623528.2021.1885571.
  3. ↑ Lemkin, Raphael. Axis rule in occupied Europe: Laws of occupation, analysis of government, proposals for redress. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2014. "Racial Discrimination in Feeding. Rationing of food is organized according to racial principles throughout the occupied countries. 'The German people come before all other peoples for food,' declared Reich Minister Göring on October 4, 1942."
  4. ↑ Chakhmakhchyan, Svetah; Meyroyan, Edgar (2025-06-30). "Slow-Burn Destruction: Reading "Conditions of Life" into Twenty-First Century Genocide". International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies. 10 (1): 102–128. doi: 10.51442/ijags.0065 . ISSN   1829-4405.
  5. ↑ "Genocide Museum | The Armenian Genocide Museum-institute". genocide-museum.am. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  6. ↑ Rosenberg, Sheri P., and Everita Silina. "Genocide by attrition: Silent and efficient." Genocide Matters. Routledge, 2013. 106-126.
  7. ↑ Forgey, Elisa von Joeden (2023-12-30). "Why Prevention Fails: Chronicling the Genocide in Artsakh". International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies. 8 (2): 98. doi:10.51442/ijags.0046. ISSN   1829-4405.
  8. ↑ Gzoyan, Edita; Chakhmakhchyan, Svetah; Meyroyan, Edgar (2023-12-30). "Ethnic Cleansing In Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh): Issues of Definition and Criminal Responsibility". International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies. 8 (2): 57. doi:10.51442/ijags.0045. ISSN   1829-4405.
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