Editing Genocide (section)

{{Short description|Intentional destruction of a people}}{{See also|List of genocides|Genocide (disambiguation)}}

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[[File:Killing Fields 20170222-1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|During the [[Cambodian genocide]], many perceived dissidents were killed using axes, poles or other agricultural tools. The sites of their [[mass grave|mass burial]] are now collectively referred to as the [[Killing Fields]], and many memorials have been created to honor them.]]
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'''Genocide''' is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a [[people]].{{Efn|Usually defined as a "[[nation]]al, [[Ethnic group|ethnic]], [[race (classification of humans)|racial]], or [[Religion|religious]] group"}}{{sfn|Kiernan ''et al.''|2023|p=11}} [[Raphael Lemkin]], 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] [[cultural genocide|culture]], [[linguicide|language]], national feelings, [[religious persecution|religion]], and [its] economic existence".{{sfn|Bachman|2022|p=48}} During the struggle to ratify the [[Genocide Convention]], powerful countries restricted Lemkin's definition to exclude their own actions from being classified as genocide,{{sfn|Irvin-Erickson|2023|pp=20–21}}{{sfn|Bachman|2021b|p=1021}} ultimately limiting it to any of five "acts committed with [[intent to destroy]], in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".{{sfn|Kiernan|2023|p=6}} While there are many scholarly [[Genocide definitions|definitions of genocide]],{{sfn|Jones|2023|pp=24–29}} almost all international bodies of law officially adjudicate the crime of genocide pursuant to the Genocide Convention.{{sfn|Dunoff|Ratner|Wippman|2006|pp=615–621}}

Genocide has occurred throughout [[human history]], even during [[prehistoric times]], but it is particularly likely in situations of imperial expansion and power consolidation. It is associated with [[colonial empire]]s and [[settler colonialism|settler colonies]], as well as with both [[world war]]s and repressive governments in the twentieth century. The colloquial understanding of genocide is heavily influenced by [[the Holocaust]] 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 [[evil]] and is often referred to as the "crime of crimes"; consequently, events are often [[genocide recognition politics|denounced as ''genocide'']].
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