18 U.S. Code § 1111 - Murder; 18 U.S. Code § 1091 - Genocide + More
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18 U.S. Code § 1111 - Murder
(a)Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Every murder perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any other kind of willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing; or committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, any arson, escape, murder, kidnapping, treason, espionage, sabotage, aggravated sexual abuse or sexual abuse, child abuse, burglary, or robbery; or perpetrated as part of a pattern or practice of assault or torture against a child or children; or perpetrated from a premeditated design unlawfully and maliciously to effect the death of any human being other than him who is killed, is murder in the first degree.
Any other murder is murder in the second degree.
(b)Within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States,
Whoever is guilty of murder in the first degree shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for life;
Whoever is guilty of murder in the second degree, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
(c)For purposes of this section—(1)the term “assault” has the same meaning as given that term in section 113;(2)the term “child” means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years and is—(A)under the perpetrator’s care or control; or(B)at least six years younger than the perpetrator;(3)the term “child abuse” means intentionally or knowingly causing death or serious bodily injury to a child;(4)the term “pattern or practice of assault or torture” means assault or torture engaged in on at least two occasions;(5)the term “serious bodily injury” has the meaning set forth in section 1365; and(6)the term “torture” means conduct, whether or not committed under the color of law, that otherwise satisfies the definition set forth in section 2340(1).
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 756; Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 1004, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2138; Pub. L. 99–646, § 87(c)(4), Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3623; Pub. L. 99–654, § 3(a)(4), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3663; Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7025, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4397; Pub. L. 103–322, title VI, § 60003(a)(4), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1969; Pub. L. 108–21, title I, § 102, Apr. 30, 2003, 117 Stat. 652.)
18 U.S. Code § 1091 - Genocide
(a)Basic Offense.—Whoever, whether in time of peace or in time of war and with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in substantial part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such—(1)kills members of that group;(2)causes serious bodily injury to members of that group;(3)causes the permanent impairment of the mental faculties of members of the group through drugs, torture, or similar techniques;(4)subjects the group to conditions of life that are intended to cause the physical destruction of the group in whole or in part;(5)imposes measures intended to prevent births within the group; or(6)transfers by force children of the group to another group;shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
(b)Punishment for Basic Offense.—The punishment for an offense under subsection (a) is—(1)in the case of an offense under subsection (a)(1), where death results, by death or imprisonment for life and a fine of not more than $1,000,000, or both; and(2)a fine of not more than $1,000,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both, in any other case.
(c)Incitement Offense.—Whoever directly and publicly incites another to violate subsection (a) shall be fined not more than $500,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(d)Attempt and Conspiracy.—Any person who attempts or conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be punished in the same manner as a person who completes the offense.
(e)Jurisdiction.—There is jurisdiction over the offenses described in subsections (a), (c), and (d) if—(1)the offense is committed in whole or in part within the United States; or(2)regardless of where the offense is committed, the alleged offender is—(A)a national of the United States (as that term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101));(B)an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States (as that term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101));(C)a stateless person whose habitual residence is in the United States; or(D)present in the United States.
(f)Nonapplicability of Certain Limitations.—Notwithstanding section 3282, in the case of an offense under this section, an indictment may be found, or information instituted, at any time without limitation.
(Added Pub. L. 100–606, § 2(a), Nov. 4, 1988, 102 Stat. 3045; amended Pub. L. 103–322, title VI, § 60003(a)(13), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1970; Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, § 4002(a)(4), (b)(7), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1806, 1808; Pub. L. 110–151, § 2, Dec. 21, 2007, 121 Stat. 1821; Pub. L. 111–122, § 3(a), Dec. 22, 2009, 123 Stat. 3481.)
18 U.S. Code § 1093 - Definitions
As used in this chapter—
(1)the term “children” means the plural and means individuals who have not attained the age of eighteen years;
(2)the term “ethnic group” means a set of individuals whose identity as such is distinctive in terms of common cultural traditions or heritage;
(3)the term “incites” means urges another to engage imminently in conduct in circumstances under which there is a substantial likelihood of imminently causing such conduct;
(4)the term “members” means the plural;
(5)the term “national group” means a set of individuals whose identity as such is distinctive in terms of nationality or national origins;
(6)the term “racial group” means a set of individuals whose identity as such is distinctive in terms of physical characteristics or biological descent;
(7)the term “religious group” means a set of individuals whose identity as such is distinctive in terms of common religious creed, beliefs, doctrines, practices, or rituals; and
(8)the term “substantial part” means a part of a group of such numerical significance that the destruction or loss of that part would cause the destruction of the group as a viable entity within the nation of which such group is a part.
(Added Pub. L. 100–606, § 2(a), Nov. 4, 1988, 102 Stat. 3046.)
genocide
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Genocide is one of the greatest crimes under international law, often called the "crime of crimes" after the Nuremburg Trials. According to Article 2 of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
Under most legal constructions of genocide (e.g., under the statutes for the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda), liability for genocide extends to those who “planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution” of one or more of the aforementioned genocial acts [ICTY Art. 7(1)]. In general, both public and private individuals are punishable [ICTY Art. 7(2)]. Leaders can be held accountable for the criminal actions of their subordinates if they knew or should have known about the actions and failed to prevent or punish them [ICTY Art. 7(3); Krstic, ICTY, Appellate Judgment § 140].
Genocidal intent requires that acts must be committed against members of a group specifically because they belong to that group (Akayesu, ICTR, Trial Judgment § 521), but it does not require that the acts be perpetrated solely because they belong to that group (Niyitegeka, ICTR, Trial Judgment §§51-53). Genocidal intent can, “in the absence of direct explicit evidence, be inferred from” circumstantial evidence (Jelisic, ICTY, Trial Judgment § 47). When proving genocidal intent based on an inference, “that inference must be the only reasonable inference available on the evidence” (Krstic, ICTY, Appellate Judgment § 41).
Incitement to Commit Genocide
Under Art. 25(3)(e) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, a person who “directly and publicly incites others to commit genocide” has committed a crime against international law. Notably, there is no explicit requirement in this subsection of Art. 25 that genocide actually be committed. Conservative interpreters might be quick to assume such a requirement, but the drafting in Art. 25(3)(b) provides that one who “orders, solicits or induces the commission of such a crime”—in this context war crimes and crimes against humanity—is liable only if that crime “in fact occurs or is attempted.” In other words, incitement to war crimes and crimes against humanity is punishable only if the crime occurs or attempted, but incitement to genocide is punishable regardless of the crime’s actually occurring or being attempted. The ICTR's Trial Judgment in Nahimana presented historical evidence that the drafters of the U.N. Genocide Convention intended that incitement convictions not require genocidal acts (§ 678).
Direct incitement requires “a direct appeal to commit an act referred to in [the Genocide Convention]… it has to be more than a vague or indirect suggestion” (Nahimana, ICTR, Trial Judgment § 692; see also Akayesu, ICTR, Trial Judgment § 556). On the other hand, according to the Akayesu court, the “directness” of incitement must be determined in light of its context and audience; inciting speech can be coded or “implicit” or otherwise not obvious to outside observers but still be “direct” (§ 556). Akayesu’s directness test, subsequently followed by Nahimana, requires that “persons for whom the message was intended immediately grasped the implication thereof” (Akayesu § 558). That is, it must be unambiguous in its intended context (Nahimana § 701).