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Essay / Genocide Essay - 2179
Genocide is the intentional killing of groups with the goal of eliminating the group's existence. The term "genocide" was coined in 1944 to describe the systematic elimination of Jews under the Nazi regime. The word combines the Greek suffix "geno-", meaning race, and "-cide", meaning "to kill". According to Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, genocide refers to the following acts which aim to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group by causing serious bodily harm or mentally to members of the group (directly or through actions causing death), deliberately subjecting the group to living conditions likely to result in its total or partial physical destruction; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group (e.g. forced sterilization), or forcibly transferring children (people under the age of 14) from the group to another group. Article III of the convention defines “genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempt to commit genocide and complicity in genocide” as punishable acts. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Genocide Convention on December 9, 1948, and the Convention entered into force on January 12, 1951. The Genocide Convention has been ratified by more than 130 countries and more than 70 countries have taken steps to punish genocide in domestic criminal proceedings. law. Article 6 of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court includes the content of Article II of the Genocide Convention as a crime. (http://www.genocidewatch.org/genocide/whatisit.html)Ten stages of genocideClassification is the first stage of genocide. While ...... middle of paper ......r had been tried. Effects of the Khmer Rouge in contemporary times Many people were orphaned, widowed, or severely traumatized by the actions of the Reds, and thousands left Cambodia as refugees. Today, much of Cambodia's poverty can be attributed to the Khmer Rouge, and much of the potential was lost in Cambodia after the deaths of intellectuals, scientists, and other educated people who could have helped to rebuild the country during the genocide. Mines laid by the Khmer Rouge caused many injuries and deaths. Although a Khmer Rouge tribunal had been convened as early as 1994, trials did not begin until the summer of 2007. In 2010, Kaing Guek Eav (known as Brother Duch), the leader of the infamous prison camp S-21, was convicted. to 35 years in prison for crimes against humanity. In 2013, Nuon Chea (“Brother Number Two”) was tried.