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Suppose the state of Nowhereistan has subjects of different ethnic groups, including, say, a Million Somebodyites. One day, the government decides ceremoniously to randomly choose one Somebodyite and execute them, as a symbolic punishment for the ethnic group's supposed collective conduct. The decision is announced publicly, along with the reason, and everything is minuted and even recorded on video. And - the decision is carried out.

There is definitely an intent to destroy in a very small part of the group, as such: 0.0001% of the group. So - would this action constitute genocide according to the international convention? If you want to make the question a little more concrete, assume an international adjudicative panel of the kind which has typically adjudicated such claims in the past.

Now, if you've answered "No" (and explained that part of your answer), here's a second part of the question for you: If the decision is to execute all 1,000,000, not just 1 - that would surely be considered genocide, right? Ok, so, how would the line be drawn between 1 in a Million and the whole Million? (Obviously, it would not be a specific number, hence the question is how, not where.)

einpoklum
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Genocide is a concept from international law. It is defined in the Genocide Convention as:

any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transfering children of the group to another group.

There is no minimum number or fraction of kills required to constitute genocide. The definition encompasses actions broader than killing.

The ICTY and ICTR have recognized actions short of killing as constitutive of genocide: torture, imhumane or degrading treatment, harm that results in grave and long-term disadvantage to a person's ability to lead a normal and constructive life, sexual violence, subjecting a group to a subsistence diet, failing to provide adequate medical care, systematically expelling members of the group from their homes, and more.

Jen
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The definition contained in Article II of the Convention describes genocide as a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part.

You don’t have to kill anyone to do that.

Australia’s stolen generations, the USA’s trail of tears, and China’s Uyghur are all arguably examples of genocide where murder was/is not the primary means of effecting the genocide, although deaths did occur as a result.

Dale M
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