THE DENIAL OF ALTERITY AND ITS REFLECTION IN IDEOLOGIES OF GENOCIDE: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM RWANDA AND YUGOSLAVIA

Abstract

The journey undertaken towards the realization of human rights in the last century is closely related to a great number of treaties and conventions that protect human rights, but also to the ad hoc International Tribunals of Rwanda and Yugoslavia. With the aim to promote and guarantee those rights, the genocidal politics of those countries must be analysed in the context of the mass atrocities and the political construction of ideologies. Furthermore, the necessity of the societies to engage with extreme democratization is not only an achievement of this century, but a work in progress that must be daily fomented. Only in a strong democracy and in a rule of law victims can be recognized and alterity respected in order to emancipate citizens and promote standards of coexistence and respect, and this is why taking into account social and legal exclusion is crucial to understand social and political changes in transitional societies and create possibilities of emancipation and recognition of citizens integrally.