Citation

Komar D. Sci. Justice 2008; 48(3): 146-152.

Affiliation

Office of the Medical Investigator, MSC11 6030, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. dkomar@salud.unm.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Forensic Science Society, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

18953803

Abstract

In genocide, victims must represent an ethnic, racial, religious or national group. But is victim identity a question of science or law? Must victims be a socially recognized group or can group identity exist solely in the mind of the perpetrator? This question is relevant to the on-going crisis in Darfur. The "Arab-on-African" violence depicted in the media encompasses identities not shared by Darfurians. This study details an evaluation of victim identity in Darfur, based on field research and literature review. Darfurians are defined by subsistence strategy and economic groups are not protected under genocide law. Whether Darfur is genocide depends on whether victims must conform to scientific group classifications or need only be defined by their relationship to the perpetrators.

Language: en