Al-Haq announces the launch of its Genocide Legal Brief Series, examining different elements of the crime of genocide, as a legal toolkit for practitioners working on Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. As Israel continues its intensified genocidal assault on Palestinians with impunity, characterised by open statements of genocidal intent, and horrific relentless attacks on the Palestinian population, including through the denial of aid, starvation and the orchestration of a man-made famine, coupled with plans to forcibly remove the entire population of Gaza from Palestine –– this Genocide Legal Brief Series appraises the legal elements of genocide to assist in the legal characterisation of such acts.

Genocide is defined under Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (emphasis added) “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: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”

Starting with “Legal Brief I: Special Intent (Dolus Specialis) Required to Classify Acts as Genocide”, the brief examines the special “intent to destroy”, also described as the dolus specialis, that must accompany any of those acts enumerated in Article II in order to characterise such acts as Genocide. In order to do so, the brief assesses the overall notion of special intent (dolus specialis) in (Part I), and address various aspects of the definition of genocidal intent, namely the “intent to destroy” in (Part II), “a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” (Part III), “in whole or in part” (Part IV), and “as such” (Part V). It subsequently assesses the evidence required in order to prove that certain acts were committed, or are being committed, with such special intent (Part VI), addressing both individual liability (Part VI (a)), and State responsibility (Part VI (b)), and concludes in (Part VII).

The series aims to provide a toolkit of legal analysis and relevant caselaw on genocide to aid and assist practitioners of law, and those engaging in legal research and advocacy on genocide, and the destruction of the Palestinian people in particular.

• Legal Brief I: Special Intent (Dolus Specialis) can be found here.

The ‘Genocide Series’ will follow with:

• Legal Brief II: The Protected Group
• Legal Brief III: Starvation and the Denial of Humanitarian Assistance
• Legal Brief IV: The Qualification of Forcible Transfer
• Legal Brief V: Incitement to Genocide
• Legal Brief VI: Relationship with International Humanitarian Law