US President Joe Biden has accused Russia of trying to commit genocide in Ukraine and doubled down when asked if he meant what he had said.
“Evidence is mounting,” he said on Tuesday, that Moscow is trying to “wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian”.
While Ukrainian officials and supporters have used the term genocide, other international leaders and organisations have shied away from using the word.
Genocide, they point out, has a specific legal definition and carries severe implications.
Here is everything you need to know about the term and what Mr Biden’s comments could mean for Russia.
What is the definition of genocide?
The term genocide was coined by Jewish-Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, who studied linguistics in the now Ukrainian city of Lviv.
Disturbed that there was no specific crime for targeting an ethnic, racial or religious group with extermination solely on the basis of its identity, he made it his life’s work to have it defined as a crime in international law.
He wrote in 1948 that the use of the term genocide “is intended rather to signify a co-ordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves”.
Lemkin, who lost family members in the Holocaust, worked on the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. His work paid off.
After the Second World War, the crime of genocide gained international recognition with the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, or the Genocide Convention, for short.
The 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as a crime committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.
Criminal acts comprising genocide include killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, creating conditions calculated to destroy them, preventing births or forcibly transferring children to other groups.
The UN convention makes this illegal – but it’s far harder to prove.
The convention calls on all states that have ratified it to enact legislation to criminalise genocide. It states that anyone so accused should face trial in the country in which the action took place “or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction”.
Who has used the word genocide about Ukraine?
As well as Mr Biden, the Ukrainian government has called Russia’s offensive a genocide and has pressed the West to use the term. Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously accused Kyiv of committing genocide against Russian-speaking communities in Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week that the scale of atrocities “doesn’t look far short of genocide”.
But Ukraine’s call for the wider adoption of the term has yet to be adopted by other international leaders.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called Russia’s actions in Ukraine “a violation of international law” but has not used the word genocide.
While French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly condemned Russia’s actions, he said Mr Biden’s use of the term could be an unhelpful “verbal escalation”.
“I would say that Russia unilaterally unleashed the most brutal war, that it is now established that war crimes were committed by the Russian army,” he told France 2 TV. Yet, he said, it was best to be “careful” with terminology.
Who has a say on what constitutes genocide?
More or less anyone can brand an act of violence genocide but some accusations carry more weight than others.
Numerous instances of mass violence have been labelled genocide, by many countries and international bodies, since 1948. But only three cases since then met the threshold for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, although several charges filed have not yet been tried.
These are the Khmer Rouge’s slaughter of an estimated 1.7 million, including minority Cham Cambodians and Vietnamese, in the 1970s, the mass killings of 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 and the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Bosnia the next year.
There have been convictions in all three cases.
The definition of genocide is quite specific and may not always be applicable, even to the mass killing of civilians.
“Genocide is a difficult crime to prove. Parties have to bring a lot to the table,” Melanie O’Brien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, told Reuters.
She said it requires the prosecutors demonstrate intent, the targeting of a protected group and crimes such as the forcible removal of children.
Has there been a genocide in Ukraine?
That is not the official position of many countries but the International Criminal Court, which can try cases of genocide as well as crimes against humanity, opened an investigation into allegations of war crimes.
Ukrainian prosecutors have also been compiling what they say are hundreds of cases of possible war crimes.
But experts question whether there is evidence of genocide at this stage.
“It is not immediately apparent to me, on the basis of evidence available, that this standard is met,” said Philippe Sands, director of the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals at University College London.
“That said, there is genocidal rhetoric and it is important to be alert. Equally, it must be said, that there is no hierarchy of crimes in international law, and crimes against humanity, which appear to be occurring, are no less terrible than genocide,” he said.
This is an important point: even if a mass act of violence does not satisfy the legal definition of genocide it can still be a crime against humanity or a war crime which is also illegal under international law.
One of the key points that separate genocide from crimes against humanity is intent, which the UN says is the hardest to prove.
“Intent is the most difficult element to determine. To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,” the UN said.
Rather than wrangle over whether genocide has been committed, Mr Sands pointed out there are other avenues to pursue in holding to account those who may have broken international law.
“I would also put the accent on the crime of aggression, waging a manifestly illegal war – it’s the only way to reach the top table with any degree of certitude.”
Mr Sands said Mr Biden’s remarks may not represent a legal accusation or even the US government’s official position.
“It may be that the term is being used in a political rather than legal sense.”
Eliav Lieblich, a professor of international criminal law at Tel Aviv University, picked up Mr Sands’ point that without a hierarchy in international law Ukraine could seek charges of crimes against humanity rather than genocide to avoid the wrangling over the definition.
“Charging Russians with crimes against humanity or war crimes is much easier legally since you don’t have to prove the special intent required for the crime of genocide, meaning, that the act was with intent to destroy a group as such,” Prof Lieblich said.
“There might be some marginal legal effects to classifying what’s happening in Ukraine as genocide, but clearly the key issue here is expressive. Genocide carries connotations of a supreme evil, beyond any tangible legal effects,” he said.
Sergey Vasiliev, an associate professor at the Amsterdam Center for Criminal Justice also highlights the political aspect of the term.
"In public discourse, genocide is often seen as the ‘crime of crimes’. The notion immediately evokes strong emotions and the imagery of past genocides such as the Holocaust, Srebrenica and the 1994 Rwandan genocide after which the international community made the solemn promise of ‘never again’ – broken over and over again," he says.
"Calling a situation in which mass atrocities are committed (such as what has come to surface in Bucha) as genocide often serves as a rhetorical trigger to spur the international community, especially its hesitating members, into more decisive action which may range from the harsher sanctions against the culprit state to joining as a party to the armed conflict."
Who tries cases of genocide?
As the 1944 convention states, cases should be tried in the country where the action took place. That’s not always possible and any signatory country can try a case as well as the International Criminal Court.
The case of the murder of tens of thousands of Yazidi and minority groups by ISIS in Iraq between 2014 and 2017 has been branded genocide by dozens of countries and UN bodies. The UN Security Council has formed an investigatory team to determine if the killings amount to genocide but has yet to instruct the International Criminal Court to take up the case.
That did not stop Germany last year from convicting Iraqi citizen and ISIS member Taha Al Jumailly, 29, to life in prison for genocide for his role in the killings.
Implications of genocide accusation for Russia
In the short term, the implications of Mr Biden’s remarks are likely to be limited.
There is no indication that the US plans to file charges against Russian leaders or military commanders or seek their extradition to face a trial.
So, unless more states start to adopt the position and a case is brought before the International Criminal Court, it is unclear that Mr Biden’s remarks will have any tangible legal impact on Russia.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The specs: 2018 Honda City
Price, base: From Dh57,000
Engine: 1.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 118hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 146Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.8L / 100km
If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
England v South Africa schedule
- First Test: Starts Thursday, Lord's, 2pm (UAE)
- Second Test: July 14-18, Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 2pm
- Third Test: The Oval, London, July 27-31, 2pm
- Fourth Test: Old Trafford, Manchester, August 4-8
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
Mobile phone packages comparison
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Results
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Reem Baynounah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Afham, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Haqeeqy, Dane O’Neill, John Hyde.
The five pillars of Islam
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
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Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
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HEADLINE HERE
- I would recommend writing out the text in the body
- And then copy into this box
- It can be as long as you link
- But I recommend you use the bullet point function (see red square)
- Or try to keep the word count down
- Be wary of other embeds lengthy fact boxes could crash into
- That's about it
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16 second leg
Paris Saint-Germain (1) v Borussia Dortmund (2)
Kick-off: Midnight, Thursday, March 12
Stadium: Parc des Princes
Live: On beIN Sports HD
The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
