Before 1944, the word "genocide" did not even exist. It is a very specific term that refers to mass violence committed against groups of civilians with the intention to destroy their very existence. The word was invented by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer who tried to describe the vicious crimes the Nazis had done to the Jews during the Holocaust of World War 2. “Geno” comes from the Greek word for race or tribe, while “-cide” is part of the Latin word for killing. Therefore, putting the two together is “genocide”.
Since Lemkin coined the term, genocide has been defined as a crime under international law in the United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1951):
“Genocide means any of the... (more)
Before 1944, the word "genocide" did not even exist. It is a very specific term that refers to mass violence committed against groups of civilians with the intention to destroy their very existence. The word was invented by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer who tried to describe the vicious crimes the Nazis had done to the Jews during the Holocaust of World War 2. “Geno” comes from the Greek word for race or tribe, while “-cide” is part of the Latin word for killing. Therefore, putting the two together is “genocide”.
Since Lemkin coined the term, genocide has been defined as a crime under international law in the United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1951):
“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."
This definition has been criticized by some because it hard for prosecutors to prove “intent”, the phrase “in whole or in part” is unclear, and political groups are excluded. Despite some criticism and confusion, the Genocide Convention has been adopted into national law by most states in the world.It was not until the mid-1990s, when the United Nations created international tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, that individuals were prosecuted and convicted for genocide.
Genocides have occurred throughout history, including the Roman destruction of Carthage in 146 BCE and the destruction aboriginal communities in North America and Australia during colonization. The twentieth century has also witnessed a number of notorious genocide around the world:
Armenia (1915-1918): 1-1.5 million
Germany (1933-1944): 6 million
Cambodia (1975-1979): 1.7 million
Bosnia (1992-1995): 200,000
Rwanda (1994): 800,000-1 million
Darfur (2003-Present): 200,000-400,000
The crime of genocide is so shocking because it kills hundreds of thousands of civilians displaces many from their homes, who then must become refugees. When genocide occurs there is also a great deal of sexual violence against women, and children can become separated from their families or forced to join military groups. Even the physical resources of a country are affected, as property, buildings, and land are stolen or destroyed during the violence. When genocide ends, the government and victims of violence often rely on the international community for support and to rebuild.
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