Genocide Convention
The 1948 United Nations treaty that defines genocide as an international crime and obliges its parties to prevent and punish it.
Genocidal intent: The specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group as such. This intent distinguishes genocide from other mass atrocities under the Convention.
Raphael Lemkin: A Polish lawyer who coined the word genocide and campaigned for an international treaty against it. His advocacy drove the United Nations to draft and adopt the Convention.
Duty to prevent genocide: The obligation of states to use available means to prevent genocide when they know or should know of a serious risk. The treaty requires prevention before genocide is completed, within limits set by each state’s capacity.
Crimes against humanity: Certain widespread or systematic attacks against civilian populations, prohibited under international criminal law. Unlike genocide, this crime does not require intent to destroy a protected group.
Genocide Convention reservations: Declarations by states seeking to exclude or modify the legal effect of treaty provisions in their application. Reservations to the Convention prompted debate over whether they undermine its purpose and integrity.
Protected groups under the Genocide Convention: The national, ethnical, racial, and religious groups covered by the Convention’s definition of genocide. The treaty’s definition applies only to these four group categories.
Genocide: A set of acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. The Convention arose to name and prohibit this crime as a distinct international offense.
Duty to punish genocide: The obligation to provide effective penalties for genocide and prosecute accused persons before competent courts. The Convention requires punishment through national or international criminal jurisdiction.
Ethnic cleansing: The forced removal of an ethnic or religious population from a territory to make it homogeneous. The phrase describes a practice, not a separate crime defined in the Convention.
Genocide denial: The rejection or distortion of established evidence that a genocide occurred. The Convention criminalizes certain forms of direct and public incitement, but does not generally prohibit denial.