The Meaning of Concepts: Some Reflections on the Difficulties in Analysing State Crimes

Abstract

The article analyses the different concepts used to conceptualise State Crimes (politicide, massacre, State Terrorism, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity) in order to explore the theoretical advantages and disadvantages in comparison with the concept of genocide. The article highlights the conceptual problems of the different terms and the theoretical strength of the concept of genocide when compared with any of the other possibilities.