Kill The Cockroaches

Those were the famous words repeated over on Rwanda's radio stations, words which helped sparked the brutal genocide that took the lives of over 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. It was also the first thing that came to mind upon reading these comments by the deputy mayor of Treviso, Italy, Giancarlo Gentilini:

"I will immediately give orders to my forces so that they can carry out an ethnic cleansing of faggots," Gentilini told the station in an interview.

"The faggots must go to other [places] where they are welcome. Here in Treviso there is no chance for faggots or the like."

Thousands of people showed up outside his office to protest, and a local prosecutor is apparently investigating Gentilini to see if his comments violate Italy's law against promoting hatred. That's a good first step, but I'd go further: Is there anything that renders this outside the contours of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide? "Ethnic cleansing" is genocidal language, and Article III, section C of the convention states that "[d]irect and public incitement to commit genocide" is punishable under the convention. Italy ratified the convention in 1952, and thus under Article IV is punish anybody violating any of the terms of Article III, "whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals." The only question is whether gays qualify as "a national, ethnical, racial or religious group" under the terms of Article II of the convention.

In any event, regardless of whether it meets the technical requirements of the Genocide Convention, calls for the "ethnic cleansing" of any group is a crime against humanity, and must be condemned and punished in the strongest possible terms.

Via Pam's