The Great Irish Potato Famine: Did the British “Famine Relief” Constitute Genocide?

By Christina C. Jefferson

Christina Jefferson, a 3L at Albany Law School, graduated from Niagara University, magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Criminology and then earned a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from Niagara as well.

At Albany Law, Christina was the winner of the 2022 Donna Jo Morse Client Counseling Competition, and she has served as both a Research Assistant for Professor Evelyn Tenenbaum and a Criminal Law Teaching Assistant for Professor Vincent Bonventre. She is currently a Law Clerk at Shaw, Perelson, May & Lambert, and she is also currently working toward her Private Investigator license in New York State.

Christina enjoys hiking and has a lifetime goal of visiting every National Park in the United States.

The Great Famine in Ireland obliterated the potato crop and starved a large portion of the Irish population from 1845 to 1849.  A fungal disease named phytophthora infestans infected the entire crop and rendered the potatoes useless.  At the time, the Irish relied heavily on their potato crop due to its heartiness and ability to grow well without additional resources.  Potatoes were the staple crop of the Irish farmers, and roughly half the population relied on the crop for survival, especially the poor, rural communities.

By 1846, entire crops succumbed to the blight and were unusable. All told, it is estimated that between five hundred thousand and three million Irish people died as a result of The Great Famine.  Some people question whether the British government did enough to help their colony of Ireland during the worst blight they had experienced.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

Music That Kills: A Nazi Tool in Their Genocidal Agenda

By Nate Altman

Nate Altman is a 2023 Albany Law School graduate, who is sitting for the July Bar Examination. He grew up in Andover, MA, and received a bachelor’s degree from Union College.

Prior to law school, Nate worked in the underwriting and legal departments of Mutual of America Financial Group and lived in Manhattan. As a 3L, Nate served as Treasurer of the Albany Law School Golf Club and was heavily involved in the Albany Law School Rugby Football Club. He previously served on the Moot Court Executive Board as a 2L.

Nate has been a law clerk for the past year at Hinman Straub PC and will continue full-time after taking the bar exam. Previously, he worked at the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office as a law clerk in the Appeals Division. 

In his free time, Nate enjoys skiing, golfing, and cycling.

As a society, we are aware of the atrocities that occurred throughout Europe before and during World War II. The vast amounts of information available to the world documenting the Third Reich and its systematic oppression and extermination of the Jewish people and others is no secret. There were concentration camps, gas chambers, ghettos, wooden bunks stuffed with emaciated, dying people, mass graves, and firing squads.

Less commonly known, however, is the important role that music played in the Nazi facilitation and operation of prison camps. Music was used to physically break down, punish, dupe, humiliate, and murder prisoners. At the same time, the Nazis used music for their so-called entertainment. Prisoner-built orchestras, singing marches, and music "shows" occurred throughout the many concentration camps.

It was by design that music was a helpful tool in the decimation of Jews and others. This paper serves to enlighten the public on the Nazi's use of music during the Holocaust, adding music to the list of countless war crimes committed against prisoners and to the genocide committed against the Jewish people.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Lessons from Yugoslavia and Rwanda Support Claims of Genocide

By Philip Amur

Philip Amur is a May 2023 graduate of Albany Law School. He grew up in Walnut Creek, CA, and received his undergraduate degree from Willamette University, where he majored in Economics and Spanish.

At Albany Law School, Philip was involved with the Government Law Center Fellowship Program, the Student Bar Association, research assistance, and moot court competitions. During his time as a student, he interned with the Third Judicial District of the New York State Unified Court System, the Goldwater Institute, the Office of the New York State Comptroller, and the Claims Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office.

This September, Philip will be working as an Assistant District Attorney with the Queens County District Attorney’s Office. 

In February of 2022, Russia launched its long-anticipated invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Federation has labeled the invasion a “special military operation” intended merely to save pro-Russian Ukrainians from the alleged nationalistic tendencies of Kyiv’s current government.

However, according to world leaders other commentators, the actions of the Russian government and is military commanders sound in war crimes. Some have gone so far as to classify the acts carried out in Ukraine as genocidal.

This paper examines the legal origins of the term “genocide,” how the term has been interpreted by various ad-hoc tribunals, and whether those prior interpretations provide an adequate basis to charge President Putin with this crime.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

The Irish Potato Famine: Indifferent Colonial Rule as Genocide

By Daniel W. Richer

Daniel Richer is a second-year student at Albany Law School. He grew up in Clarence, NY, and he graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia where he majored in History and Political Science.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Dan worked as a litigation paralegal at a personal injury firm in Buffalo. Since attending law school, he has continued to pursue personal injury law while enjoying the numerous fields of study offered at Albany Law.  

Since the conclusion of World War II, the term “genocide” has been used to describe acts taken by governments with the intent of eliminating a particular class of people. These acts are typically rooted out of prejudice against another group’s race, national origin, or religion.

However, the extent to which the term “genocide” has been used in reference to deliberate inactions of governments is generally limited. Such inactions may be indifference to a group living within a ruling state’s political boundaries as evidenced by certain policy initiatives. Consequently, certain inactions of governments—particularly in the wake of humanitarian crises—have often resulted in the severe exacerbation of disease, mass starvation, and death. Thus, in comparison to systemic acts taken by governments complicit in genocide, inactions may similarly be rooted out of prejudice against another group’s religion, national origin, or social character.

Historically, the nation of Ireland remained the victim of severe poverty, colonialism, and political subjugation for centuries. This repression can ultimately be traced back to its function as a British colony and later through its incorporation by Parliament into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In turn, its role as a population was almost entirely based upon the social and economic aspirations of the British Empire, resulting in little political and economic opportunism. Though the island persisted as an ill-equipped nation of people, Ireland was left with minimal institutional structures in place capable of responding to a potential humanitarian crisis. This became particularly evident in the wake of the Irish Potato Famine--a period of scarcity and mass starvation left beyond the control of the people whom it most severely impacted.

This paper seeks to address whether the inactions of the British government at the time of the Potato Famine constituted genocide against the people of Ireland.

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To read the full paper, click HERE. 

The Holodomor (Ukrainian Genocide)

As defined by post-WWII international standards

By Harris D. Bresowsky

Harris D. Bresowsky is a third-year student at Albany Law School. He grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and he graduated from the University at Buffalo where he studied Political Science and Public Policy.

During his time in law school, Harris has been the Co-Chair of Albany Law School's chapter of the American Constitution Society and a Government Law Center Fellow. Additionally, he interned with a New York Supreme Court Judge in Nassau County, the Joint Commission of Public Ethics, and SUNY's Office of General Counsel.

Harris is passionate about international law and specifically about human rights research. Following his graduation, Harris plans on working in New York City. Harris's passions outside of law include hiking, reading, and playing golf. 

The Ukrainian flag is composed of two colors – blue and yellow. The two colors are laid out as almost a portrait of its natural landscape. The blue represents the clear sky above and the yellow represents the wheat fields that produce grain to feed much of the world. These fertile lands are attractive to any country – Russia included.

In 2022, Russia is once again on the offensive against Ukraine. The motivating factor seems to be its desire to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence. History often repeats itself and Russia (in its many forms) has been a historical colonizing empire in Eastern Europe. As a colonizing state, it has repeatedly engaged in activities to suppress its neighbors’ desires to determine their futures based on their own free wills.

These repressions often resulted in large-scale atrocities such as Holodomor. These tragedies often went unnoticed. But it is important to shine a light on every event of human suffering and recognize Holodomor for what it truly was – a genocide, as defined by contemporary international law.

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To read the full paper, click HERE.

The Irish Potato Famine: Naturally Occurring Tragedy or Genocide

By Patricia Cassidy

Patricia Cassidy is an alum of Albany Law School, Class of 2020. She is from Westchester, New York and received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from SUNY Geneseo. After beginning her professional career in politics, she now works in financial compliance.

There is a long-standing debate amongst historians and politicians on whether or not the Irish Potato Famine should be classified as a genocide. The Potato Famine began as a natural occurrence brought about by a disease that wiped out most of Ireland’s potato crop. However, the criticism of the British Government stems from the events that occurred after the famine potato began.

Did the Government do enough to aid the colonized island? And does the lack of action by the British government constitute genocide? Historians look to crucial moments during the Famine to see if there was the requisite intent required for an event to be classified as genocide.

It is clear that both the Government and the British people were anti-Catholic. But whether or not Britain intended to destroy the Irish Catholics during the Potato Famine is less clear.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

Analysis of Rwandan Genocide and Rohingya Genocide

By Victor Obech

Victor Obech is an alum of the Albany Law School Class of 2020. He completed his Master of Laws Degree (LLM) at Albany Law, having concentrated in International Law. Victor finished his undergraduate law degree at the University of Nairobi, Kenya in 2015. He is passionate about helping vulnerable immigrants with legal services. He enjoys research and community organization. Victor also works at The Devereux Foundation, a nonprofit organization with interest in providing support to individuals with developmental disability in the society.

Throughout the centuries, different nations and people have experienced acts of genocide. Even though genocide was formally recognized through the Genocide Conventions, targeted killing towards different particular groups of people started way before that. For instance, it is estimated that the Mongols killed and destroyed the lives of about 5% of the world’s population during the peak of their empire. At that time, there were no formalized laws that prevented or guided conduct during wars, and this led to massive deaths during the early century acts of war crime. The perpetrators were also not formally tried or punished in a manner that would deter future acts of war crimes like genocide.

This paper particularly looks into the Rwanda Genocide of 1994 and the Rohingya Genocide which is currently ongoing. The paper intends to make a comparative analysis of the responses of states and other bodies in prevention and punishment of genocide in the two instances. The paper aims at elucidating the necessary steps the world has made in prevention of acts of genocide, and what should be done during an ongoing genocide. It also analyses the punishments faced by the perpetrators and whether they were of deterrent nature or simply a slap on the wrist.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

The Rohingya in Ruin

Exploring Potential Twenty-First Century Genocide

By Bryan Hum

Bryan Hum is a third-year student at Albany Law School. He graduated from the North Carolina State University in 2013 with a double major in International Studies and Political Science. Bryan is currently a member of the Albany Law Review. He serves as this year's Executive Editor for Symposium.

During his time at Albany Law, Bryan has been an associate on the Moot Court Board, a member of the Student Bar Association, interned with the Office of the New York State Attorney General, and held a field placement with Judge Lawrence E. Kahn of the Northern District of New York. Upon graduation, Bryan hopes to pursue a career in public service in Washington, D.C.

This paper was prepared for Professor Bonventre’s International Law of War & Crime Seminar.

Genocide—a single, eight-letter, trisyllabic word—seems innocuous in relation to the current state of global affairs and off-the-cuff media reporting, both of which are dominated by terrorism, the Islamic State, and the hypocrisy that is presidential campaigning.  This small word, however, packs quite a punch; at least it did.  To those few international lawyers and organizations that champion the fight against genocide it is the “crime of crimes,”  but to everyone else, it is just another “evil” easily grouped in with the current wave of terrorism.   It is pushed aside as just another one of the world’s problems.  While the decline in awareness and recognition of genocide as a serious crime is not directly related to the rise in terrorism and other attention-grabbing stories, part of the blame can be placed on how global leaders and news agencies view the term, present the facts, and shape public perception.

This article will examine the potential genocide of the Rohingya, an ethnic group living in limbo across Southeast Asia, whose people currently have no home, no citizenship,  and who have been denied entry and settlement by countless countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Malaysia.   Part II will provide a brief background on the birth of the term genocide and its current definition.  Part III will offer background into the Rohingya people, and how they came to be in the situation they currently suffer.  Part IV will examine the application of genocide, as discussed in Part II, to the predicament of the Rohingya people to determine whether they are indeed victims of genocidal acts or suffering at the hands of tyranny.

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To read the entire paper, open HERE.

Genocide: The International Community’s Response

By Bryan Kotowski
Bryan Kotowski graduated from University at Albany SUNY in 2013 where he majored in Psychology. He was accepted into the “3 plus 3” SUNY Albany and Albany Law pipeline program and is now a third year law student at Albany Law.
During his time in law school he has participated in the Gabrielli Appellate Advocacy Competition where he was a Quarter-Finalist, worked with attorneys at the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration and Custom Enforcement and studied International Business Transactions in Rome, Italy. 
After law school, Bryan is hoping to pursue a position as a JAG Officer in the United States Army, which he hopes will later lead to a career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This essay was prepared for Prof. Bonventre's International Law of War and Crime Seminar.

I. Genocide; Generally

Genocide is defined as “any of the following acts committed with an 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.”

While genocide was originally thought of as a crime against humanity it became it’s own separate offense in 1948 with the adoption of the U.N. Genocide Convention. This Convention not only punishes acts of genocide but those acts associated with genocide, such as the “conspiracy to commit genocide”, as well as establishes individual criminal responsibility and international state responsibility for genocide. The Convention has been “widely acknowledged as representing customary international law.”

The Genocide Convention: Promise but Failure

By Kayla Molinaro
Kayla Molinaro is a third year student at Albany Law School. She is an Associate Editor for Albany Law Review and a teaching assistant for Professor Mary Lynch's Domestic Violence Seminar.
Kayla prepared this memorandum for Prof. Bonventre’s International Law of War & Crime Seminar, Fall 2013.

I.    Definition of Genocide 

Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) defines genocide 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.”^[1]

II. Genocide Convention and the International Community’s Duty 

Adopted in 1948, the Genocide Convention stated that states were obligated to prevent and punish those who commit genocide because it was a crime under international law.^[2]  The Convention further addresses the duty and responsibility of a state when it comes to the punishment of actors of genocide whether they are officials or private individuals.^[3]  Under the Genocide Convention, prosecution should take place in a “competent tribunal” and the UN can be called upon to take necessary action to prevent such genocide.^[4] 

Genocide: Cannot Be Just Another Crime Against Humanity

By Deirdre R. Barthel
Deirdre Barthel is a third-year law student at Albany Law School.  She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with dual-majors: Russian Language and Russian & East European Studies, as well as a minor in History, from University at Albany.
Ms. Barthel holds multiple leadership roles at the law school, including: Chief Justice of the Rockefeller Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta, Director of Competitions of the Anthony V. Cardona ’70 Moot Court Program, Senior Editor for the Center for Judicial Process, and Senior Editor for International Law Studies.  She is also a competitor on the law school’s travel team for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, as well as the coach of the Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Law Competition.
Ms. Barthel worked as a law clerk at the NYS Liquor Authority, for Judge Victor of the High Court of South Africa, at the NYS Inspector General’s Office, and at NYS’s Committee on Open Government.
This essay was prepared for Professor Bonventre’s International War & Crime seminar, Fall 2013.

Foremost, in an introduction to genocide, it is important to understand what is considered “genocide.”  The term was first used in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin because he “recognized the absence of any crime aimed to prevent and punish the murder and destruction of millions.”[1]

Relatively soon thereafter, the Genocide Convention of 1948 identified conduct that constitutes genocide in terms of actus reus and mens rea.[2]  The actus reus conduct is defined as to:

(a) include the killing of members of a racial, ethic, or religious group;

(b) cause serious mental or bodily harm to members of the group;

(c) bring about the group’s physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) prevent births within the groups; or

(e) forcibly transfer children of the group to another group.[3]

Along with this activity, “the mens rea, or specific intent, of genocide is that the perpetrator committed one of the aforementioned acts intending to destroy the group in whole or in part.”[4]  This mens rea is most likely the reason why the forced displacement of persons does not comprise genocide.[5]  The physical location of people does not categorize them in the same type of “group” that was intended for recognition by clause (a) of the Convention.

Humanitarian Intervention in the Twenty First Century

Would the Security Council Intervene to Stop the Genocide in Rwanda if it Happened Today?

By Anna Ovcharenko

Anna Ovcharenko is a third-year student at Hofstra Law School and President of the Hofstra International Law Society. She is a magna cum laude graduate from Tomsk State University, Russia, where she majored in International Relations. Before law school, Anna served as a diplomat at the Russian Mission to the United Nations where she specialized in international development, children’s rights and environmental issues. In March 2010, she visited Rwanda as part of the UN official delegation. Past summer, Anna worked at the Global Legal Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights. In Spring 2013, she will start her legal internship at the Immigration Clinical Practicum.

This paper was prepared for Professor James Hickey’s International Human Rights Seminar at Hofstra Law School.

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda claimed the lives of at least 800,000 people while the United Nations withdrew its peacekeepers and the rest of the world stood aside. Had the UN Security Council mandated humanitarian intervention, it would have saved the lives of many innocent people.

This paper examines the development of the humanitarian intervention doctrine and analyzes whether it could have been used by the U.N. Security Council in the case of Rwanda. Specifically, it provides the factual context for the genocide in Rwanda and summarizes the lack of effective action by the Security Council to prevent it. It analyzes the international law of humanitarian intervention as it stands today and examines several instances of the use of force by the Security Council in situations amounting to genocide.

The paper concludes with a recommendation that the international community needs to develop a clearer framework for the use of force by the Security Council in the future.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

Humanitarian Intervention [presentation]

An Introduction to Legal Force

By Andrea A. Long
Andrea Long, a third-year student at Albany Law School, is the Executive Editor of the Center for Judicial Process. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. Andrea is a Senior Editor on the Albany Law Review, she served as Project Director of the Education Pro Bono Project, and she works year-round as a law clerk in the Office of General Counsel of New York State United Teachers. She was both the winner and Best Oral Advocate of the 2011 Domenick L. Gabrielli Appellate Advocacy Moot Court Competition. For the Fall 2012 semester, Andrea is a legal intern in the law school's Domestic Violence Prosecution Hybrid Clinic.
Andrea prepared this presentation for Professor Bonventre's seminar on International Law of War & Crime, Fall 2012. She has previously been published on ILS. (See Just War: Augustine, Aquinas, & Today, Oct. 28, 2012.)

Humanitarian intervention has become a controversial subject in international law. This presentation begins with a brief overview of humanitarian intervention and situations that often require it. The presentation then describes several different international conflicts with an analysis of the humanitarian intervention that occurred. It ends by suggesting methods for future improvements in humanitarian intervention.

(click to enlarge slides)

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For the entire presentation, open HERE.
(It is then best to download the presentation and view it from there.)

McBean-Hammoumi on Developments in Darfur & Mumford on 'Genocide' in Cambodia

International Law Studies is pleased to present its first publications.

These two works, prepared respectively by this year's student Executive Editors, deal with a pair of international legal and humanitarian crises.

Darfur: Update on Developments, a presentation

By Tschika McBean

      LL.M. Student, Albany Law School

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Genocide in Cambodia? A Look at the ‘Protected Groups’ in the 1948 Genocide Convention

By Anna R. Mumford

     Albany Law School, Class of 2012

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Genocide In Cambodia?

A Look at the ‘Protected Groups’ in the 1948 Genocide Convention

By Anna R. Mumford

Anna Mumford, a third year student at Albany Law School with an interest in international criminal law, is a co-Executive Editor of International Law Studies. She has studied international law at the courts in the Hague, and she has worked as a legal associate with DC-Cam in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, an NGO which provides evidence to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). She is currently the Managing Editor for Business & Production for the Albany Government Law Review.
This paper was prepared for the International Law of War and Crime Seminar, Fall 2011.

The definition of genocide in the 1948 Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is narrow: it is a crime committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, an enumerated group of people. While there have been many cases of targeted mass killings over the past half century—e.g., Nuremberg, Srebrenica, Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur—some fail to satisfy the crime’s strict definitional elements.

Significantly, the mass atrocities in Cambodia from 1975–1979 have often been referred to as a genocide, yet most of the acts committed during that time do not legally constitute genocide under international law. While the perpetrators of these mass atrocities possessed the requisite intent to destroy, the vast majority of victims are not members of one of the protected groups.

This paper explores the legal definition of genocide, as outlined in the Genocide Convention, with an emphasis on the four specific protected groups. This paper seeks to show how the limitations of the definition of genocide have prevented prosecution of this crime in Cambodia.*

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* Citations to references in this introduction are available in the paper.
To read the entire paper, open HERE.

Darfur

Update on Developments, a presentation

By Tschika McBean

Tschika McBean, a co-Executive Editor of International Law Studies, is an LL.M candidate in International Law at Albany Law School. She is a graduate of the College of Law of Loyola University New Orleans. In addition to the United States, she has studied international law in Austria and Costa Rica. Her writings have appeared in publications such as the NYU Gallatin Literacy Project and Ithaca College’s academic journal. She was the president of the International Law Society at Loyola and she has interned or worked in several human rights organizations, including the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission, Citizens for Global Solutions, the Advancement Society and the New Orleans Family Justice Center. She has lived in five countries, spanning from Guyana to Morocco, and is currently working as a research assistant for Albany Law School's Distinguished Professor James Gathii.
This presentation was prepared for the International Law of War and Crime Seminar, Fall 2011.

(click to enlarge on all slides)

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For the entire presentation, open HERE.
(It is then best to download the presentation and view it from there.)