How does one define "genocide?"
The term originated with Raphael Lemkin (Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, 1944) who defined genocide as:
Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups. (Lemkin, Axis rule in occupied Europe)
Check out these three reference sources for more information.
- Britannica
- Wikipedia
- United Nations, Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect
In 1946, the UN General Assembly adopted a definition of "The Crime of Genocide".
Genocide is a denial of the right of existence of entire human groups, as homicide is the denial of the right to live of individual human beings; such denial of the right of existence shocks the conscience of mankind, results in great losses to humanity in the form of cultural and other contributions represented by these human groups, and is contrary to moral law and the spirit and aims of the United Nations. Many instances of such crimes of genocide have occurred when racial, religious, political and other groups have been destroyed, entirely or in part. UN Resolution 96(1), 11 December 1946
On 9 December 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) which further defined the crime of genocide. The Convention entered into effect on 12 January 1951 (Resolution 260 (III)). Article 2 of the Convention states that
genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such
- (a) Killing members of the group;
- (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
- (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
- (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The International Criminal Court Statute, aka, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, is a treaty signed in Rome on 17 July 1998 that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). Located in The Hague, Netherlands, the ICC has the authority to prosecute individuals for international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.