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Learn
What is genocide?
The term "genocide" originated during WWII by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin and was adopted officially in 1948 by the United Nations in the Genocide Convention (UN).
Article I of the Genocide Convention states the following:
The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Article II of the Genocide Convention states the following:
In the present Convention, 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:
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- Killing members of the group;
- Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
- Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
- Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
To learn more about the legal definition of genocide and how it is prosecuted, visit this site with scholar James Waller's videos.
What are war crimes?
It is important to distinguish between the specific crime of genocide outlined above and the series of crimes known more broadly as war crimes. Consult the resource below:
War Crimes: A Primer from the Congressional Research Service
How can genocide and war crimes be stopped and prevented?
The International Criminal Court (ICC) may be the place to bring accusations of genocide, but the accused must be a member of the ICC (some nations, like the US and Myanmar/Burma, are not), or the UN Security Council can refer the case to the ICC. The UN's World Court (also known as the International Court of Justice or ICJ), can hear cases relating to violations of the Genocide Convention. The US has other means to bring scrutiny and prosecution of genocide:
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the US Criminal Code defines genocide and provides the means to prosecute and punish perpetrators
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the Office of Global Criminal Justice coordinates US cooperation with international agencies
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the War Crimes Rewards Program offers a reward to anyone who provides information that leads to legal action for perpetrators of genocide or other crimes
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NPR recently reviewed the history of bringing war criminals to justice, including those charged with genocide: "From Nuremberg to Darfur, history has seen some war criminals brought to trial"
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