genocide in Syria and Iraq. Minority groups like Yazidis, Christians, and Shiites have

been targeted by ISIS and systematically executed. Reports estimate that as many as half a million

Yazidis have been displaced by ISIS, and thousands killed. This is only the second time in its

history that the US has designated acts of genocide during a conflict. The first was

the 2004 genocide in Darfur But many are asking why it has taken so long for the terrorist

group to be accused of genocide, and what actually qualifies under the title. So, what

exactly constitutes a genocide, and why is it so hard to define?

Well, genocide is officially defined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment

of the Crime of Genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part,

a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” The United Nations adopted the Convention

in 1948, following the Armenian Genocide during World War One and the Holocaust during World

War Two. The Convention originally also planned to include political groups, but at the time,

the Soviet Union refused to acknowledge the addition, and it was removed.

Despite a relatively clear definition, accusations of genocide are almost always denied. Many

make a distinction between genocide, and crimes against humanity. For example, in the Congo,

one Rwandan Tutsi leader was nicknamed the Terminator for his mass killings of civilians

and the recruitment of child soldiers. And yet, in the International Criminal Court,

he was charged with Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes, but not genocide. So what’s

the difference?

Well, both of them involve systematically killing huge numbers of people. However, the

distinction is in the focus and purpose of the massacres. When a large number of people

are killed in pursuit of a political goal, or something similar, it is considered a crime

against humanity. The label also applies in cases of mass slavery, deportation, torture,

rape, apartheid, and other crimes. But if the purpose of the killings is specifically

to eliminate a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, then it can be called a genocide.

This is why some, who disagree with the term "Armenian genocide", attribute the deaths

to wartime casualties and mass deportation, not a genocidal effort to eliminate the Armenian

race.

But getting to the heart of intent is often a problem in labeling genocide. With a tragedy

like the Holocaust it was easier, as there was significant evidence of Adolf Hitler’s

intent to eliminate whole populations. But until recently, it has been more difficult

to attribute the ISIS murders of minority groups as an effort to wipe them out. Evidence

that ISIS views the Yazidis as “devil worshippers”, and actively seeks to exterminate them through

murder, sexual slavery, and rape, solely based on their faith, leaves little doubt to the

designation of a “genocide”.

As ISIS continues ramping up its efforts in Iraq and Syria, many are calling for international

governments to take stronger action. The hope is that finally labeling what's happening

as a genocide, will help spur greater action, and put an end to the mass killing.

Besides struggling over the ISIS genocide, another heavily contested mass killing occurred

in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917, killing as many as 1.5 million Armenians. So, was

it a genocide or not? Find out about the controversy in this video! Thanks for watching Seeker

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