Abstract
Ethnic cleansing is a term often used as a euphemism for the crime of genocide. It describes the forceful transfer of a population, generally to a new place or group, and is often accompanied by violence, killings, or deportations. The removal of the population is designed to ‘ethnically homogenize’ the territory.
The term is frequently invoked in condemnations of rogue regimes by human rights groups, the media, and international bodies like the UN and the two ad hoc international tribunals established to prosecute violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda (ICTY, ICTR). However, despite its frequent use and popular currency, there is no internationally accepted definition of ethnic cleansing and it rarely appears as an acknowledged legal concept.
There is a growing recognition of the need to consider rethinking the conceptualization and jurisprudence surrounding the practice of ethnic cleansing. In particular, this Article focuses on the need to look beyond its traditional association with the genocidal intent of physically destroying a group, and asks whether there are reasons to extend its meaning to include other discriminatory criteria, such as religion.
The precise definition of ethnic cleansing varies, but it is broadly defined as a policy designed by one group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas (Commission of Experts First Interim Report para 59). Its scope thus includes techniques such as killings, forced displacement, deportation, confinement of the civilian population in ghetto areas, wanton destruction of property and various forms of terrorism.