The Volhynian mass murders of 1943 in Polish-Ukrainian historical discussions in the 1990s

The article analyzes the first public discussions of the last decade of the 20th century about mass murders of Polish population in Volhynia in 1943. The author explores the emergence of the topic of “Volhynia” in the public space and Polish-Ukrainian historical debates about these mass murders in the 1990s. The research is based on the published sources and interviews with the participants in the Polish-Ukrainian dialog. The article focuses on the first mentions of the Volhynian events in the post-communist period, on the way this issue was discussed at seminars of Polish and Ukrainian historians, and in the leading Polish newspapers “Gazeta Wyborcza” and “Rzeczpospolita”. Particular attention is paid to the discussion about the mass murders in the “Gazeta Wyborcza” in 1995. The Volhynian issue appeared in the public space after almost fifty years of silence initiated from the Polish “kres” and veteran circles which represented the victims of the mass murders. This topic was arousing interest gradually. It did not immediately take a lead- ing place in Polish-Ukrainian historical debates. In the 1990s, the discussion about “Volhynia” took place primarily between historians and within the groups to which this topic was important. There was only one discussion about the Volhynian events in the press, namely in the “Gazeta Wyborcza”. This newspaper, which appeared as an organ of Solidarity, pays attention especially to the relationship between Poland and its neighbours, particularly Ukraine. In the Ukrainian central media, the Volhynian issue remained completely without attention. Although the debates about “Volhynia” were not actively conducted in the 1990s, certain tendencies were established during this period, which remained characteristic in the following years. In Poland, these events were perceived as one of the most traumatic episodes of the national history, so it was the Polish side who initiated the discussions about this topic. The Ukrainian side was forced to respond to these initiatives.

Prokuratura Sądu Okręgowego w Zamościu w latach 1944–1950. Zagadnienia wybrane

The Prosecutor’s Office at the District Court in Zamość in the years 1944–1950: Selected issues The study is an attempt to present in general terms the institution of the Prosecutor’s Office in the years 1944–1950 in the reality of the Polish state revived after the Second World War. On account of the fact that Zamość was located in the border strip within newly established borders, special attention is paid to the activity of the Prosecutor’s Office at the District Court in Zamość. The Prosecutor’s Office, just like other state authorities, was created after the Second World War along with the formation of a Polish statehood. The system and the competencies of the post-war Prosecutor’s Office were based on the legal regulations enforced in the interwar period, i.e. the Decree Law of the President of the Republic of Poland on organisation of common law courts dated 6th February, 1928. A capitalist type of prosecutor’s office was established, based on the German model in particular. Although the new authorities did not make any amendments to these regulations in the years 1944–1945, they introduced some legal acts that had an impact on the functioning of the Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecutors’ obligation of loyalty to the political system and the people’s authorities instead of the existing obligation of impartiality was a clear symptom of that. Consequently, the authorities demanded absolute obedience from prosecutors. The Prosecutor’s Office at the District Court in Zamość began its activity on the initiative of the local authorities after the German occupiers left the region on 1 August 1944. In terms of territory, the Prosecutor’s Office included four districts: Zamość, Tomaszów Lubelski, Biłgoraj and Hrubieszów. The post-war social and political situation, as well as the immediate proximity of the border had a significant influence on the scope of the cases handled by the Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation into the mass murders of Polish people by the Germans in the area of the Zamość “Rotunda” was the greatest challenge for the Prosecutor’s Office at the District Court in Zamość. The Prosecutor’s Office functioned until the middle of 1950, when, as a result of system changes, it was replaced by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Zamość. Die Staatsanwaltschaft beim Bezirksgericht Zamość in den Jahren 1944–1950. Gewählte Fragen Die Ausarbeitung ist ein Versuch, die Institution der Staatsanwaltschaft in den Jahren 1944–1950 in den Realien des nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wieder entstehenden polnischen Staates zu skizzieren. Da Zamość nach Festlegung der neuen Grenzen in den grenzanliegenden Streifen gelang, wurde die Aufmerksamkeit der Tätigkeit der Staatsanwaltschaft beim Bezirksgericht Zamość geschenkt. Die Staatsanwaltschaft und andere Staatsorgane entstanden nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg zusammen mit der Entwicklung des polnischen Staatswesens. Die Vorschriften, die in der Zwischenkriegszeit mit der Verordnung des Präsidenten der Republik Polen kraft Gesetzes — Gesetz über die Struktur der ordentlichen Gerichte vom 6. Februar 1928 eingeführt wurden, bestimmten die Ordnung und die Kompetenzen der Nachkriegsstaatsanwaltschaft. Sie beschlossen einen kapitalistischen Typ der Staatsanwaltschaft mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des deutschen Modells. Obwohl die „neue Gewalt” diese Regelungen nicht novelliert hat, führte sie bereits in den Jahren 1944–1945 neue Rechtsakte ein, die für die Tätigkeit der Staatsanwaltschaft nicht unerheblich blieben. Seinen Ausdruck fand das in der Verpflichtung der Staatsanwälte, der Staatssystemordnung und der Volksherrschaft treu zu bleiben, die die bisher bestehende Unparteilichkeitspflicht ersetzte. Folglich erwartete die Staatsgewalt ein absolutes Gehorsam der Staatsanwälte. Die Staatsanwaltschaft beim Bezirksgericht Zamość begann ihre Tätigkeit aus Initiative der örtlichen Obrigkeit nachdem der deutsche Besatzer am 1. August 1944 das Gebiet um Zamość verlassen hat. Die territoriale Zuständigkeit der Staatsanwaltschaft erstreckte sich über vier Kreise: Zamość, Tomaszów, Biłgoraj und Hrubieszów. Die sozialpolitische Situation der Nachkriegszeit und die unmittelbare Nähe der Grenze hatten wesentlichen Einfluss auf den Umfang der von der Staatsanwaltschaft bearbeiteten Fälle. Die größte Herausforderung, der sich die Staatsanwaltschaft beim Bezirksgericht Zamość zu stellen hatte, war die Ermittlung in Sachen der deutschen Massenmorde an der polnischen Bevölkerung auf dem Gebiet der „Rotunda“ in Zamość. Die besprochene Staatsanwaltschaft arbeitete bis Mitte des Jahres 1950, als sie infolge von strukturellen Wandlungen von der Kreisstaatsanwaltschaft Zamość ersetzt wurde.

The Criminological Description and Prevention of School Shootings and Cyberbullying in Russia and Abroad

The authors analyze modern manifestations of violence in educational establishments, such as school shootings and cyberbullying. Cyberbullying and, to a greater degree, school shootings remain practically unresearched by Russian legal scholars, while foreign authors stress the necessity of their research with the purpose of identifying the determinants of deviant behavior and optimizing its prevention. The authors used the materials of criminal cases to study the criminological characteristics of cyberbullying and school shootings, and identified their close interconnection. They analyzed and specified the conceptual framework, offered a classification of school shootings, and described their main types. It is stated that mass murders in educational establishments are an independent criminal phenomenon not connected with the concept of a terrorist attack, involvement of young people into extremist activities or driving an adolescent to a suicide. A general criminological description of school shootings is presented: the authors show its dynamics in Russia and abroad and single out its key determinants. The criminological features of the personality of the criminal are described using the following indices: gender, age, education, specifics of upbringing, moral and psychological traits, specifics of goals and ambitions, etc. It is stated that in the overwhelming majority of cases attacks in educational establishments were carried out by males of 14–18 years old. Most perpetrators had skills in the use of firearms. The authors examined foreign publications on the topic and conducted a comparative analysis of the spread of school shootings and cyberbullying in Russia, the USA and the EU countries from the standpoint of situational approach. It was determined that the overwhelming number of cases of school shootings registered in the world history happened in the USA, while in the EU the cases were evidently sporadic. In Russia in the last seven years there has been a trend for annual mass murders in educational institutions. Using the analysis of foreign experience and the results of a large-scale interviewing of schoolchildren and teachers in different regions of Russia, the authors suggest measures of preventing school shootings and cyberbullying while taking into account specific national features.

Célibes involuntarios: ¿Terroristas?. Análisis cualitativo del fenómeno “InCel” y discusión conceptual sobre el “terrorismo”

Los Célibes Involuntarios (InCels) son un grupo de varones, reunidos en foros en Internet, que odian fuertemente a las mujeres por rechazar sus acercamientos afectivo-sexuales, a los que ellos creen tener derecho por naturaleza, y a los hombres atractivos y sexualmente activos, que restringen sus posibilidades con las mujeres y los condenan a la soledad. Y desean utilizar la violencia contra todos ellos; siendo que seis InCels ya han asesinado en masa a un total de 27 personas y herido a 43 en Estados Unidos y Canadá entre 2014 y 2019. En este trabajo, se debate la inclusión de este grupo en la categoría de terrorista. Para ello, primero se exponen las controversias y las características definitorias del terrorismo. Después, se realiza un análisis exhaustivo con metodología cualitativa de los asesinatos InCels mediante un revisión de 54 artículos en prensa y de los manifiestos ideológicos publicados por tres perpetradores. Se debate entonces la inclusión de los InCels en la categoría de terroristas, siguiendo los criterios definitorios del terrorismo expuestos en la introducción. Se concluye que los InCels no pueden considerarse hoy día un fenómeno terrorista, pero sí muy parecido, al cumplir cuatro de los seis criterios pero carecer de dos: una intención real de imponer su voluntad a los poderes estatales y un intento de subvertir los principios democráticos fundamentales. Finalmente, se critican los problemas de ética, rigurosidad y utilidad del concepto de terrorismo, proponiendo su abandono, explicitando la esterilidad del debate planteado y privilegiando el estudio de las causas macroestructurales e histórico-individuales específicas a las conductas concretas de los InCels.The Involuntary Celibates (InCels) are a group of men, gathered in forums on the Internet, who strongly hate women since they reject their affective-sexual approaches, to which they believe they are entitled by nature, and attractive and sexually active men, who restrict their possibilities with women and condemn them to loneliness. Inaddition, some of its members wish to use violence against all of them. Six InCels have already carried out mass murders in the United States and Canada, out of which a total of 27 people were killed and 43 injured between 2014 and 2019. In this paper, the inclusion of this group in the category of terrorist is discussed. To do this, the controversias and defining characteristics of terrorism are first exposed. Then, an exhaustive analysis with qualitative methodology of the InCels murders is carried out through a review of 54 press articles and of the ideological manifestos published by three perpetrators. The inclusion of InCels in the category of terrorists is then discussed, following the defining criteria of terrorism set out in the introduction. It is concluded that the InCels cannot be considered today a terrorist phenomenon, but a very similar one, fulfilling four of the six criteria but lacking other two: a real intention to impose their will on the state powers, and an attempt to subvert fundamental democratic principles. Finally, the problems of ethics, rigor and usefulness of the concept of terrorism are criticized, proposing its abandonment, making explicit the sterility of the proposed debate and favoring the study of macrostructural and historicalindividual causes specific to the concrete behaviors of the InCels.

Vajāšana skolās: potenciālās sekas hroniskiem konfliktiem vienaudžu vidū

One of the most serious and visible crimes done by children are mass murders in schools. They draw society’s attention in whole world. The interpretation of the causes differ but one cannot deny their link with peer bullying. It exemplifies the cycle of violence – a child who suffered or observed regular and open violence, suffers from severe and negative effects. He or she often becomes an aggressor, and victimizes other persons. Thus, the violence continues and spreads becoming a prolonged social problem. Often it is also a cause of serious violent crimes. Therefore, the risk of mass murders exists everywhere where adults are tolerating the peer bullying. The peer bullying in Latvia is a widespread phenomenon. If in Latvia the teachers and society will not address this issue more effectively, bullying will result in the new victims and perpetrators among children.

Moral Justification of Humanitarian Intervention in Modern Just War Theory

The article deals with the problem of moral justification of humanitarian intervention by modern just war theorists. At the beginning of the article, we discuss the evolution of the dominant paradigms of the moral justification of war and explain why the theory and practice of humanitarian intervention appears only at the present stage of the development of ethics and the law of war. It is noted that theorization of humanitarian intervention began in the last decades of the 20th century. This is due to a significant transformation, a retreat in the legal and ethical studies of war from the position of radical condemnation of aggressive actions and the recognition of the political subjectivity of non-state groups. Thus, there is a rethinking of the long tradition, the Westphalian system of international relations, according to which the state was recognized as the main participant of big politics, and its sovereign right to conduct domestic policy was considered indisputable. Further, we take the works of Michael Walzer as the main source of modern conceptualization of the ethics of humanitarian interventionism, since Walzer repeatedly addressed this topic and formulated a position on this issue that is representative of the entire modern Just War Theory. The arguments of Walzer and his supporters in favor of the moral justification of humanitarian intervention are considered. Among them are the following. First, the argument about the state as an organization which goal is to protect the rights of its own citizens. If this goal is not not achieved, the state shall loose its power over these people and in this territory. Second, Walzer calls for identifying governments and armed forces involved in mass murders as criminal and, therefore, deserving of punishment. Finally, there is, perhaps the most important, demonstrative argument: an appeal to the self-evident impossibility to stand aside in cases of mass violence in any state. This is followed by a critique of these arguments, as well as a demonstration of how the modern Just War Theory can respond to these criticisms.

Psychotic symptoms in mass shootings v. mass murders not involving firearms: findings from the Columbia mass murder database

Background Mass shootings account for a small fraction of annual worldwide murders, yet disproportionately affect society and influence policy. Evidence suggesting a link between mass shootings and severe mental illness (i.e. involving psychosis) is often misrepresented, generating stigma. Thus, the actual prevalence constitutes a key public health concern. Methods We examined global personal-cause mass murders from 1900 to 2019, amassed by review of 14 785 murders publicly described in English in print or online, and collected information regarding perpetrator, demographics, legal history, drug use and alcohol misuse, and history of symptoms of psychiatric or neurologic illness using standardized methods. We distinguished whether firearms were or were not used, and, if so, the type (non-automatic v. semi- or fully-automatic). Results We identified 1315 mass murders, 65% of which involved firearms. Lifetime psychotic symptoms were noted among 11% of perpetrators, consistent with previous reports, including 18% of mass murderers who did not use firearms and 8% of those who did (χ2 = 28.0, p < 0.01). US-based mass shooters were more likely to have legal histories, use recreational drugs or misuse alcohol, or have histories of non-psychotic psychiatric or neurologic symptoms. US-based mass shooters with symptoms of any psychiatric or neurologic illness more frequently used semi-or fully-automatic firearms. Conclusions These results suggest that policies aimed at preventing mass shootings by focusing on serious mental illness, characterized by psychotic symptoms, may have limited impact. Policies such as those targeting firearm access, recreational drug use and alcohol misuse, legal history, and non-psychotic psychopathology might yield more substantial results.

Z badań nad białostockim epizodem w biografii Rafała Lemkina

Rafał Lemkin became famous in historiography as the creator of the concept of genocide (genocide). This Polish lawyer of Jewish origin, graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Jan Kazimierz in Lviv and was a pupil of the outstanding Polish criminal lawyer Juliusz Makarewicz. From his student days, he became interested in the lack of legal regulations in the field of criminal liability for committing mass murders on a specific national or ethnic group. An important impulse for the development of this thought for the young Lemkin were the famous trials of the assassins Talaat Pasha, responsible for the slaughter of Armenians during the Great War, and Symon Petlura, charged with the responsibility for pogroms against Jews in Ukraine. Before the outbreak of World War II, Rafał Lemkin, as part of his activity in the Polish section of the International Criminal Law Association, presented at a conference in Madrid in 1933 the first visions of the concept of international criminal jurisdiction of genocide offenses. After the outbreak of World War II and his escape to the United States, he started working in the War Department and as a university lecturer. In 1944, he published his opus magnum – “The Axis Rule in Occupied Europe”, where he formulated and accurately described the concept of genocide as a crime of international law. Lemkin’s idea was quickly appreciated. As early as December 1946, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing genocide as a crime of international law, and two years later it adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. He described his extremely interesting life in the autobiography entitled “Totally Unofficial”, which was translated and published in Poland in 2018. Rafał Lemkin describes many details of his life, but omits the period of his residence in Białystok, where he allegedly passed his matriculation exams in 1919, and his student days at the Jagiellonian University, when he gained the necessary experience and knowledge in legal fields to help him develop the concept of criminalisation of genocide.

DECRIMINALISATION OF MASS MURDERS, RAPE AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE — A CRITIQUE OF PRESIDENT MBEKI AND PROF MAMDANI

In an opinion article titled "Courts can't end civil wars" by South African President Thabo Mbeki (1999-2008) and Prof Mahmood Mamdani of Makerere and Columbia Universities published in the New York Times (5 February 2014), the two argued that civil wars can only be ended by peace talks where former foes sit together at the negotiating table and hammer out political settlements. They suggested that threat of criminal prosecution can stifle peace efforts, presumably as leaders and warlords facing possible life sentences before International Criminal Court (ICC) calculate that they have nothing to lose by continuing to fight. Mbeki and Mamdani forcefully argued that the mass crimes committed in armed conflicts are political rather than criminal. They suggest it is preferable to suspend questions of criminal accountability until the underlying political problems are resolved. The argument fails to address the rights of victims and fair trial issues. It is a blueprint for impunity.