Raphael Lemkin Society’s Work on Recognizing the Cultural Dimension of Genocide Featured by the Cultural Freedom Project

The Cultural Freedom Project, an initiative of the Penn Cultural Heritage Center, has published a new article highlighting the Raphael Lemkin Society’s efforts to incorporate the cultural dimension of genocide into Ukrainian criminal law.

Written by Viktoriia Savchuk Kennet, the article examines the Society’s work to address a long-standing gap in international law left by the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention. It explores how Draft Law No. 15331 would amend Ukraine’s Criminal Code to recognize the deliberate destruction of a group’s cultural identity as a constituent act of genocide when committed with genocidal intent.

The publication also explains how this initiative builds on Raphael Lemkin’s original understanding of genocide as an attack not only on human life but also on the language, culture, institutions, and collective memory that enable a group to exist. It argues that Ukraine’s legislative efforts could contribute to the broader international discussion on strengthening legal mechanisms for preventing and prosecuting genocide.