The deliberate and systematic destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group through killing, harm, or prevention of births. This crime involves intent to destroy a group 'as such,' making it distinct from other forms of mass violence.
Coined in 1944 by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, combining Greek 'genos' (race, tribe) with Latin 'caedere' (to kill). Lemkin created this term specifically to describe Nazi crimes and advocate for international legal frameworks to prevent such atrocities.
The word 'genocide' didn't exist until 1944, but the concept helped prosecutors at Nuremberg and led to the UN Genocide Convention, creating international law that theoretically makes genocide prevention a global responsibility. The challenge of proving 'intent to destroy' has made genocide prosecutions notoriously difficult, leading to debates over whether mass killings in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and elsewhere legally qualify as genocide or 'merely' crimes against humanity.
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