DID THE CONFINEMENT OF BOER CIVILIANS IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS BY THE BRITISH ARMY DURING THE ANGLO-BOER WAR (1899-1902) CONSTITUTE AN ACT OF GENOCIDE?

This article addresses the confinement of Boer civilians in concentration camps by the British Army during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), specifically whether this confinement and its ramifications might amount to an act of genocide. This possibility is often dismissed out of hand by historians, who usually claim that the tens of thousands of deaths in the camps can be attributed to incompetence and non-human factors. This article uses Vahakn Dadrian’s definition of genocide, which considers indirect coercion as a tool of genocide. This type of coercion allows for concealing the actual ways adopted for achieving “population reduction”. This article argues that though the tens of thousands of deaths that occurred in the camps were not the result of direct physical violence, they nevertheless satisfy Dadrian’s definition of an act of genocide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]