...is the
intentional destruction of a people in whole or in part. In 1948, the United Nations Genocide Convention defined genocide as
any of five "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". These five acts were: killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm,
imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group.
Victims are targeted because of their real or perceived membership of a group, not randomly...
"Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups."
According to Esther Brito,
the way in which states commit genocide has evolved in the 21st century and genocidal campaigns have attempted to circumvent international systems designed to prevent, mitigate, and prosecute genocide by adjusting the duration, intensity, and
methodology of the genocide. Brito states that
modern genocides often happen on a much longer time scale than traditional ones - taking years or decades - and that instead of traditional methods of beatings and executions less directly fatal tactics are used but with the same effect.
