Genocide, from the Greek genos (family, tribe, race) and the Latin –cide (massacre), was originally coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish legal scholar, in 1943. There exists, however, a large debate on how to properly define the word “genocide” and moreover, what events constitute genocide or are otherwise crimes against humanity or war crimes.

In 1948, the United Nation’s Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defined genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:”

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The Convention was ratified in 1951, becoming a part of the international body of law. However, the USSR did not join until 1954, China until 1983, and the US until 1988. 133 countries have now ratified the Convention and are subject to its responsibilities. The countries that have signed the Convention are required to prevent and punish acts of genocide, in peace and wartime.

There are 8 stages of genocide, as identified by Genocide Watch. They are: Classification, Symbolization, Dehumanization, Organization, Polarization, Identification, Extermination, and Denial.

Classification includes the creation of the “other”, dividing society into defined groups. Symbolization is when a group is forced to wear or adopt a certain symbol, such as the yellow stars Jews were made to wear in Germany . Dehumanization is when the hatred against one group becomes so strong that murder, rape, and destruction does not become as deplorable. Organization, phase 4, is when special militias or army units are trained, recruited, and armed to stage the genocide; genocide is not a series of random acts, but rather is well-orchestrated and highly sophisticated. Polarization includes the usage of hate propaganda, intending to greater separate and fuel hatred between or among groups. Identification leads the victims to be identified and separated according to their race, ethnicity, or tribe. Extermination is when the physical violence and murders takes place. Denial, after the extermination, is when the perpetrators refuse to take responsibility for their actions.

There have been numerous noted genocides in the 20th and 21st century. The Armenian genocide of 1915 is regarded as the first of the 20th century, followed by the Holocaust of WWII, and followed by the Cambodian, Bosnian, and Rwandan genocides. The most recent genocide, as identified as such by the US , is that occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan , having begun in early 2003 and continuing through to today.