However criminal that may be, it is not automatically genocidal. The intent is key in Darfur, for example, some have argued that it is impossible to prove that the Sudanese Janjaweed militias are trying to eradicate entire groups they may, in fact, just want to displace them from disputed land. The definition also stipulates that genocidal crimes are committed against specific kinds of groups with the deliberate purpose of eradicating them. Genocide denotes crimes committed 'with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.' Forced sterilization or other measures designed to prevent births, the removal of children from a group, or conditions of life inflicted on a group to bring about its demise could also be considered genocidal acts. Despite its murderous implications, the word, as defined by the CPPCG, does not necessarily always involve the killing of individuals. It was coined in 1944 by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, who combined the Greek genos (race) with the Latin cide (to kill).

The term genocide is young in the context of human conflict. 9 against the backdrop of a monumental human rights crisis in Darfur and an enduring debate over the effectiveness of the CPPCG and other measures aimed at stopping genocide. The Convention marks its 60th anniversary on Dec. Follow 1948, three years after the fall of Nazi Germany and the end of some of the worst human atrocities in history, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), which was eventually ratified by 140 nations, including the U.S.

Dinocide background