The long effort to make genocide a crime in the United States may finally be realized if Congress, as expected, adopts legislation implementing the United Nations convention against genocide this month.
But Warren Eisenberg, director of the B’nai B’rith International Council, warned Tuesday that the implementation legislation could still be blocked if conservative senators, who opposed ratification of the U.N. convention, filibuster the bill.
The Senate, by an 83-11 vote on Feb. 19, 1986, ratified the convention 37 years after it was first submitted to the Senate by President Harry Truman and 40 years after it was adopted by the United Nations.
But before genocide can become a crime under the U.S. criminal code, implementing legislation must be adopted by both the Senate and the House.
The legislation makes genocide a federal crime if committed in the United States or by a U.S. citizen anywhere. It was introduced in the House by Rep. Peter Rodino (D-N.J.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and in the Senate by Sens. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) and William Proxmire (D-Wis.).
The law imposes a fine up to $1 million and/or 20 years in prison if the act results in a death. Anyone convicted of “incitement to genocide” would face a fine of up to $500,000 and/or five years in prison.
The House Judiciary Committee has sent the bill to the floor, where a vote is expected April 14, Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah). The Senate Judiciary Committee may take final action on the bill next week.
Two members of the Senate committee, Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), the ranking Republican, and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), were among the 11 senators who voted against ratification of the convention.
TWO SENATORS STILL OPPOSED
At a committee hearing Feb. 19, both repeated their opposition, declaring that the convention does not include political genocide.
Opponents of the U.N. convention threatened a filibuster to prevent ratification in 1986. But they abandoned the move after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee adopted two amendments submitted by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), another opponent of the convention.
The amendments would bar the World Court from hearing a case brought against the United States under the convention without Washington’s consent and would prohibit the United States from taking any action under the convention forbidden by the U.S. Constitution.
Eisenberg said that there was no indication that opponents in the Senate would try to filibuster to prevent adoption of the implementing legislation, but added that such a move cannot be ruled out.
B’nai B’rith has sent a memorandum to its members urging they contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the bill.
The memorandum, prepared by Eisenberg and his assistant, Reva Price, warns against another tactic to stop the bill: an amendment to add the death penalty to the bill. The fear is that many supporters of the legislation are opposed to capital punishment.
The State Department has taken the lead for the Reagan administration in pressing for adoption of the bill, because of the implications that rejection would have on the world community, according to Eisenberg. The convention has been adopted and is law in at least 97 countries.
“U.S. implementation of the genocide convention is important to the United States and to those throughout the world who do look to this country for leadership and strength in the area of human rights,” Richard Schifter, assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs, said in testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
