The term 'Genocide' was coined by a jurist named Raphael Lemkin in 1944 by
combining the Greek word 'genos' (race) with the Latin word 'cide'
(killing). Genocide as defined by the United Nations in 1948 means any of
the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnic, racial or religious group, including: (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
transferring children of the group to another group.
Mass killings and genocides have occurred in numerous places in the world in
the last century. Each time, humanity cries out, "Never Again!" Yet you
can see evidence that it continues to occur. What is it in our
consciousness that allows us to treat other human beings so inhumanely? And
what can be done to prevent this type of inhumanity that continues to occur?
