How does the 1948 Convention on Genocide define genocide?

How does the 1948 Convention on Genocide define genocide?

• A. Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group
• B. Economic sanctions against a group
• C. Deportation only
• D. Cultural erasure only

Answer: (A)

The key idea being tested is the exact wording of genocide in the 1948 Genocide Convention: genocide requires acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such. This description captures both the required target (a protected group) and the specific aim (to destroy that group, at least in part), and it also includes the range of acts the convention covers, not limited to killing alone but also harming members, destroying living conditions, preventing births, or forcibly transferring children. Because of the emphasis on intent to destroy the group and on the group being targeted as such, this option best matches the formal definition. The other ideas fall short because they describe actions (like sanctions, deportation, or cultural changes) without the necessary combination of destructive intent toward a protected group.

The key idea being tested is the exact wording of genocide in the 1948 Genocide Convention: genocide requires acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such. This description captures both the required target (a protected group) and the specific aim (to destroy that group, at least in part), and it also includes the range of acts the convention covers, not limited to killing alone but also harming members, destroying living conditions, preventing births, or forcibly transferring children. Because of the emphasis on intent to destroy the group and on the group being targeted as such, this option best matches the formal definition. The other ideas fall short because they describe actions (like sanctions, deportation, or cultural changes) without the necessary combination of destructive intent toward a protected group.