ABSTRACT
This chapter integrates legal observations and findings regarding the role of the term 'genocide' in international law with political and moral dimensions of its significance to real life situations. The ethical debates are ongoing, but in international politics the tendency has been to pay more attention to the legal aspects of genocide than to its moral distinctiveness. Legal minds tend to be better equipped than others to bear the long maturing period for international criminal law and its instruments. William Schabas has argued that the legal utility of genocide has declined in favour of crimes against humanity. Instead of labelling a crisis as genocide, David Scheffer recommended using a broader term, 'atrocity crimes', which would amalgamate four types of international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the emerging crime of ethnic cleansing. The significance of the 'genocide' label to political processes has been documented much more systematically in relation to Western nations.
