Cultural Genocide in International Law (Il Genocidio Culturale nel Diritto Internazionale)
Abstract
The aim of this study is to analyze the role assumed by the international law about the protection recognized to the bond among a people and his cultural heritage inside the discipline of a specific crime: the genocide. The existence of the cultural genocide as autonomous crime, in fact, is and has been over the time, as will be seen in the course of the discussion, a highly debated theme in doctrine. Despite in the last years more voices have been raised for its recognition, the prevailing position is that the crime of genocide doesn’t constitute if the behaviors that mine the culture of the protected groups are not accompanied by actions of physical or biological aggression. The paper therefore provides a definition of the concept also through the reconstruction of the genesis of its first theorization by the undisputed father of this specific crime Raphael Lemkin.
Sunto
Scopo di questo studio è analizzare la posizione assunta dal diritto internazionale circa la tutela che si è ritenuto di dover accordare al legame tra un popolo ed il suo patrimonio culturale nell’ambito della disciplina di un crimine specifico: il genocidio. La sussistenza del genocidio culturale come fattispecie autonoma, infatti, è ed è stata nel tempo, come si vedrà nel corso della trattazione, un tema assai dibattuto in dottrina. Nonostante negli ultimi anni più voci si siano levate per il suo riconoscimento, la posizione che si è affermata quale prevalente è quella per cui non possa configurarsi il crimine di genocidio qualora siano perpetrate delle condotte che minano la cultura di uno dei gruppi protetti di cui si intende perseguire la distruzione, prescindendo però da forme di aggressione fisica o biologica nei confronti dei suoi membri. Si cercherà dunque di fornire una definizione del concetto anche attraverso la ricostruzione della genesi della sua prima teorizzazione ad opera del padre indiscusso del crimine, Raphael Lemkin.
Parole chiave: genocidio culturale; gruppi protetti; Lemkin: patrimonio culturale; Convenzione; GenocidioKeywords
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23756/sp.v5i1.347
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