Combating State-Sanctioned Incitement to Genocide: A Legal and Moral Imperative

Abstract

This article reviews Canadian jurisprudence on freedom of expression and hate speech, as well as case law on incitement to genocide from ICTR decisions Akayesu, Ruggiu, Kambanda and Bikindi and from the Supreme Court of Canada’s Mugesera decision. On the basis of international and domestic precedents for incitement to genocide, the article argues that the Iranian government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad engages in state-sanctioned incitement to genocide against Israel through means including delegitimization, dehumanization, and Holocaust denial. The article further argues that there is a moral and legal imperative to stop the Iranian government’s incitement to genocide through recourses including referrals to the appropriate UN agencies, to the International Criminal Court, to the International Court of Justice, and through the use of sanctions.