First Rwanda, then Darfur: How the 'g-word' Undermines Genocide
Prevention?

Presentation by Martin Mennecke and Elisabeth Moltke, Danish Institute
for International Studies

Preventing genocide, as required by Article I of the UN Genocide
Convention, is not about sending out genocide investigation teams when
acts of violence are already well-documented. Preventing genocide means
to act proactively and to take firm measures suited to curb the violence
before it turns into genocide. As with Rwanda in 1994, the Darfur crisis
once again suggests that politicians, the media and also genocide
scholars ascribe the term "genocide" a special meaning. This focus on
the "g-word" is misleading, as a forceful international response does
not - and should not - depend on a genocide determination.