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UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

UN The Dag Hammarskjöld Library: “The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) is an international law instrument that codifies genocide as a crime under International Law. It was adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 1948. Currently, over 140 states are party to the convention. Article II of the convention defines the crime of genocide to mean any of the following acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

  1. Killing members of the group;
  2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
  3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
  4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
  5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.​”

The Convention states that genocide is a crime that could be committed in time of war as well as in time of peace. Punishable acts are listed in Article III. The negotiation process was initiated with General Assembly resolution 96 (I) of 11 December 1946, which requested the Economic and Social Council to prepare a draft convention to be submitted to the next regular session of the General Assembly.

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