Blum Rony, Stanton Gregory H, Sagi Shira, Richter Elihu D
Genocide Prevention program, Center for Injury Prevention School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
Eur J Public Health. 2008 Apr;18(2):204-9. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckm011. Epub 2007 May 18.
Genocide has been the leading cause of preventable violent death in the 20th-21st century, taking even more lives than war. The term 'ethnic cleansing' is used as a euphemism for genocide despite it having no legal status. Like 'Judenrein' and 'racial hygiene' in Nazi medicine, it expropriates pseudo-medical terminology to justify massacre. Use of the term reifies a dehumanized view of the victims as sources of filth and disease, and propagates the reversed social ethics of the perpetrators. Timelines for recent genocides (Bosnia, 1991-1996, 200,000; Kosovo 1998-2000, 10,000-20,000; Rwanda, 1994, 800,000; Darfur 2002-2006, >400,000) show that its use bears no relationship to death tolls or the scale of atrocity. Bystanders' use of the term 'ethnic cleansing' signals the lack of will to stop genocide, resulting in huge increases in deaths, and undermines international legal obligations to acknowledge genocide. The term 'ethnic cleansing' corrupts observation, interpretation, ethical judgment and decision-making, thereby undermining the aim of public health. Public health should lead the way in expunging the term 'ethnic cleansing' from official use. 'Ethnic cleansing' bleaches the atrocities of genocide, leading to inaction in preventing current and future genocides.
种族灭绝一直是20世纪至21世纪可预防的暴力死亡的主要原因，其夺走的生命甚至比战争还多。“种族清洗”一词被用作种族灭绝的委婉说法，尽管它没有法律地位。就像纳粹医学中的“清除犹太人”和“种族卫生”一样，它盗用伪医学术语来为大屠杀辩解。使用这个词使对受害者的非人化看法具体化，将他们视为污秽和疾病的源头，并宣扬了行凶者颠倒的社会道德观。近期种族灭绝事件的时间表（波斯尼亚，1991 - 1996年，20万；科索沃，1998 - 2000年，1万 - 2万；卢旺达，1994年，80万；达尔富尔，2002 - 2006年，超过40万）表明，这个词的使用与死亡人数或暴行规模并无关联。旁观者使用“种族清洗”一词表明缺乏阻止种族灭绝的意愿，导致死亡人数大幅增加，并破坏了承认种族灭绝的国际法律义务。“种族清洗”一词扭曲了观察、解释、道德判断和决策，从而损害了公共卫生的目标。公共卫生应率先将“种族清洗”一词从官方用语中剔除。“种族清洗”淡化了种族灭绝的暴行，导致在预防当前和未来的种族灭绝方面无所作为。
