Genocide: A Crime Against Humanity

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Genocide is the most severe crimes against humanity. Genocide is the deliberate attempt to destroy an ethnic, racial, national or religious group. Genocide means act committed with the objective of destroying, in part or in whole, a group and such acts include killing, causing serious harm, forcible transfer of children to another group, imposing measures to prevent birth and inflicting conditions aimed at destroying life. Victims of a genocide are selected simply and exclusively due to being members of the target group. Some notable examples of genocide include the holocaust, Rwandan genocide and Armenian genocide. Countries often have rational reasons why they commit genocide. This paper offers a theory on why states commit genocide. I doing …show more content…
Social order is based on a balance of powers where the societal structure is defined by laws and regulations founded on distribution of relative power. A shift in power, especially in favor of the governing elite, changes the social contract and can led to a genocide where eliminating the inferior group becomes part of the new social order. Other factors such as race differences, competition for resources, overpopulation, ideological differences, frustration, internal conflicts and misperception can result in genocide. However, absolute power is the main reason why countries commit genocide. The other factors trigger and accelerate the occurrence of genocide, but absolute power or near absolute power must be present. Genocides do not occur because states break down and lawlessness prevails but it occurs where the states have total control over the lives of citizens. Genocides, for example those which occurred during the Nazi Germany rule and the Stalinist Soviet Union, where characterized by terror and violence which are the key elements in a totalitarian regime. Radical transformation of the all aspects of society occurs in two stages. The first stage involves gaining absolute power of the government. Political rivals are eliminated and control over the legislative and legal system I established to prevent opposition. After control is established, the …show more content…
A totalitarian regime is likely to kill its citizens and carry out carry out genocide. Genocide can be viewed as a means of achieving victory in war and rebellion and can enable a regime to implement genocide in order to further its ideologies. It also provides an excuse for the regime to carry out genocide. A totalitarian regime is the embodiment of absolute power. It gives more power to the ruling group, which increase the risk of genocide. The power principle provides that the more power a government possess, the more arbitrarily the government can act. Totalitarianism is not a condition for genocide, but the domination methods employed by totalitarians are uniquely suited for the commission of genocide. Totalitarianism does not only intend to eliminate life but is preceded by exclusion from public life, abolition of rights, confiscation of property, and ends with the expulsion and murder of the target

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