The Zoryan Institute is pleased to share that Dr. William Schabas recently made a guest appearance on an hour-long episode of the CBC podcast, IDEAS. In this podcast, the host of IDEAS, Nahlah Ayed, interviews Dr. William Schabas about the history of the UN Genocide Convention and what change is needed to effectively intervene and prevent genocide.

The episode explores how the international community and lawyers define genocide, how its definition has evolved, and what consequences its definition holds for human rights. Throughout the podcast, Dr. Schabas points to contentious aspects of genocide’s definition that can dictate whether a crime is recognized as genocide. By identifying the contextual differences of various cases of genocide, such as those presented by the Balkan states, the episode emphasizes the mystifying challenge of proving a state’s intent to destroy a group when seeking accountability.

The Institute highly recommends those who seek to better understand and learn about the changing perceptions of international justice and law, state responsibility, the elasticity of legal rhetoric, the efficacy of criminal prosecution, institutional trust, and political influence to listen to the episode by clicking here.