The 1948 genocide convention’s punish requirement deters signatories from naming genocide

Evidence

The careful use of the term “genocide” represents a fragile yet critical strand in the fabric of internationally shared and legally recognized values. Genocide is a term that can be manipulated and misused. It is also a name for something that seems to elude naming. It is embodied in the Geneva Convention of 1948 outlawing genocide. That convention also requires signatories not only to prevent genocide when it occurs but to punish it, a provision that can provide a disincentive to speak out and name genocide when it does occur. — Michael A. Sells, The Bridge Betrayed, 73

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: is there concrete evidence of states declining to name genocides specifically to avoid the punish obligation?
• XREF: Connects to the broader literature on how legal definitions shape international response — e.g. the Rwanda debate over whether to call events ‘genocide.‘

Related

• The genocide convention aimed to avoid equating all mass destruction with the Holocaust (similarity 0.82)