Legal Identity as a Tool of State-Sponsored Genocide: Enforcing the Responsibility to Prevent Through a Norm of Active Engagement

Abstract

The world is not ignorant of the plight facing the most vulnerable communities, yet there are no enforceable binding mechanisms to identify, prevent, or intervene in the development of state genocidal regimes. As the global community advanced international legal customs for prosecuting state actors of genocide, limited development has been made towards identifying cognizable factors forlegitimizing early intervention. The international community has repeatedly stated “never again” following atrocities, but will States ever enforce their “Responsibility to Prevent” to hinder sovereign domestic policies from escalating to the crime of genocide? Can there be a preventative approach to genocide, or has the codification of the crimes of persecution and genocide confined theinternational community to retrospectively punish genocidal actors?