Genocide is legally defined by the 1948 UN Genocide Convention as acts committed with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.wikipedia+1

Key elements include:

• Intent: Must be deliberate; proving "dolus specialis" (special intent) separates it from other mass killings.wikipedia​

• Targeted group: Protected categories only (not political, cultural, or economic groups under strict law).nationalww2museum​

• Prohibited acts (any of these suffice with intent):

  • Killing group members.

  • Causing serious bodily/mental harm.

  • Inflicting conditions to physically destroy the group (e.g., starvation).

  • Preventing births (e.g., forced sterilization).

  • Forcibly transferring children.facinghistory+1

• Scale: "In whole or in part" allows partial destruction if substantial. Scholarly views emphasize organized, sustained violence.wikipedia​

Is planned destruction by a government genocide? Yes, if it meets the criteria above—government orchestration strengthens evidence of intent, as states enable systematic action (e.g., via bureaucracy). But mere high death tolls or policy failures don't qualify without group-destruction intent.encyclopedia.ushmm+1

Examples of genocides vs. war destruction:

Recognized genocides (intent-driven, often state-led):

• Holocaust (1941-45): Nazis systematically murdered 6M Jews via gas chambers, shootings; explicit goal to eradicate Jews as a people.nationalww2museum​

• Armenian Genocide (1915-23): Ottoman govt death marches/starvation killed 1.5M Armenians to eliminate "internal threat."wikipedia​

• Rwandan Genocide (1994): Hutu extremists killed 800K Tutsis in 100 days with machetes/radio incitement; aimed at Tutsi extinction.bbc​

• Cambodia (1975-79): Khmer Rouge targeted ethnic minorities, intellectuals (2M deaths) to "purify" society.wikipedia​

War destruction (collateral/high casualties, lacking group-destruction intent):

• WWII Bombings (e.g., Dresden 1945): 25K civilian deaths from Allied firebombing; military target, not ethnic erasure.wikipedia​

• Vietnam War (1955-75): Millions dead (e.g., My Lai massacre); ideological conflict, not intent to destroy Vietnamese as a group.facinghistory​

• Iraq War (2003-11): 100K+ civilian deaths; regime change/insurgency, not systematic ethnic annihilation.encyclopedia.ushmm​

• Syria Civil War (2011+): Millions displaced, high deaths; sectarian but multi-sided, without singular intent to erase a protected group.bbc​

Key contrasts:

• Genocide: Victimhood based on immutable identity; post-war reproduction blocked.wikipedia​

• War: Combatants/civilians killed proportionally; political aims, not biological erasure.facinghistory​

• Threshold: Genocide requires proving intent (hardest element); war crimes/crimes against humanity cover unintended mass death.encyclopedia.ushmm​

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