The Feasibility of the Criminalization of Politicide with Emphasis on International Instruments: International Law in Harmony with Reality

Based on 1948 Genocide Convention and Rome Statute, the commission of genocide as the most dreadful international crime occurs with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. But when ratifying, it was repeatedly criticized since it was not supposed to include and consequently endorse political groups whereas the number of political victims has historically been high. In the 1980s, some authors sought to theorize that politicide or political genocide must be included in genocide as well. Therefore, they reconciled the actus reus and mens rea of politicide to genocide though the legal element has remained challenging. A teleological interpretation of international criminal law and the criminalization of genocide may ultimately lead us to the fact that it is the time that an amendment to the international instruments to criminalize politicide will function.