Expert assessment of incitement to genocide and instigation of hatred: analysis of international practice

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of contemporary practices of holding individuals criminally liable for public incitement to genocide and the incitement of national, racial, or religious hatred, which is critically important in the context of hybrid threats, information warfare, and global conflicts. It is argued that the dissemination of destructive content aimed at fostering hatred and hostility among racial, national, ethnic, and religious groups poses a significant threat to democratic values and human rights. The researchproblem lies in the complex challenges faced by law enforcement and judicial systems in distinguishing between freedom of expression and criminally punishable acts, particularly where such acts involve the spread of manipulative or implicit content intended to influence a wide audience and incite it to pursue the destruction of an entire race, nation, ethnic group, or religious community (or any part thereof). The aim of the study is to compare legal and linguistic criteria for the classification of incitement to genocide and the incitement of hatred. The methodological framework is based on general scientific and specialized methods, including systemic-structural analysis in examining the elements of the corpus delicti, the comparative legal method for correlating domestic legislation with international standards, and the contextual-interpretative method for analyzing judicial precedents. Particular attention is devoted to the potential of forensic linguistic expertise as a tool for determining the meaning, intent, and communicative direction of statements. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development of an approach to differentiating between incitement to hatred and direct public incitement to genocide, grounded in a communicative-pragmatic analysis of speech that takes into account the speaker’s intent, context, and potential impact on the audience. The conclusions specify the distinguishing features between direct public incitement to genocide and the incitement of hostility and hatred, formulated on the basis of a retrospective analysis of decisions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, as well as judicial consideration of cases concerning Myanmar and Bosnia (during the period of the former Yugoslavia), which have formed the foundation of the modern understanding of such offenses. The study emphasizes the necessity of incorporating international experience in expert textual analysis into national legal practice in order to ensure objectivity and the inevitability of punishment for the dissemination of misanthropic ideologies. Additionally, it highlights the importance of interdisciplinary interaction between law and linguistics for enhancing the effectiveness of the qualification of the relevant criminal offenses.