1.2.21

Genocide

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Genocide

Genocide is defined as the mass extermination of a particular group of people.

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What is genocide?

  • The efforts of the Nazis to eradicate the Jewish population in the 1940s was an example of genocide.
  • Even though the definition is relatively simple, it is difficult to add genocide to law.
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Definition and debate

  • The term genocide was coined in 1943 by the Jewish-Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, who combined the Greek word "genos" (race or tribe) with the Latin word "cide" (to kill).
  • His efforts led to the adoption of the United Nations Genocide Convention in December 1948, which came into effect in January 1951.
  • The convention imposes a general duty on states that are signatories to "prevent and to punish" genocide.
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Article Two

  • Article Two of the convention defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy... a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such":
    • Killing members of the group
    • Causing bodily or mental harm
    • Inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the group
    • Imposing measures intended to prevent births
    • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Jump to other topics

1Year 7

1.1Origins of Abrahamic Faith

1.2Judaism

1.3Christianity

1.4Buddhism

2Year 8

3Year 9

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