Genocide

Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a <a href="/facts/People/AsSDLHfU">people</a>. <a href="/facts/Raphael_Lemkin/trf24Fyd">Raphael Lemkin</a>, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by means such as "the disintegration of [its] political and social institutions, of [its] <a href="/facts/Cultural_genocide/3eKj3lQD">culture</a>, <a href="/facts/Linguicide/8hVFJTRf">language</a>, national feelings, <a href="/facts/Religious_persecution/2dLY7zVX">religion</a>, and [its] economic existence". During the struggle to ratify the <a href="/facts/Genocide_Convention/MNjAX4Dp">Genocide Convention</a>, powerful countries restricted Lemkin's definition to exclude their own actions from being classified as genocide, ultimately limiting it to any of five "acts committed with <a href="/facts/Intent_to_destroy/kPxRGHtt">intent to destroy</a>, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". While there are many scholarly <a href="/facts/Genocide_definitions/kz2eY4ft">definitions of genocide</a>, almost all international bodies of law officially adjudicate the crime of genocide pursuant to the Genocide Convention.
Genocide has occurred throughout <a href="/facts/Human_history/uB3yXt4H">human history</a>, even during <a href="/facts/Prehistoric_times/52D6oKM4">prehistoric times</a>, but it is particularly likely in situations of imperial expansion and power consolidation. It is associated with <a href="/facts/Colonial_empire/Ekq3f5mr">colonial empires</a> and <a href="/facts/Settler_colonialism/9rEpsQuL">settler colonies</a>, as well as with both <a href="/facts/World_war/pEzjDFFs">world wars</a> and repressive governments in the twentieth century. The colloquial understanding of genocide is heavily influenced by <a href="/facts/The_Holocaust/vGQsAb2y">the Holocaust</a> as its archetype and is conceived as innocent victims being targeted for their ethnic identity rather than for any political reason. Genocide is widely considered to be the epitome of human <a href="/facts/Evil/dWbPnzRF">evil</a> and is often referred to as the "crime of crimes"; consequently, events are often <a href="/facts/Genocide_recognition_politics/gdh243eI">denounced as genocide</a>.

Genocide open-in-new

Genocide