9781422281369

• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. • Imposing measures intended to prevent births with- in the group. • Forcibly transferring children of the group to anoth- er group. According to this definition, the attempt to destroy a polit- ical movement or economic class would not be classed as geno- cide. Cases like these may, however, be treated as “crimes against humanity.” The UN also limited its definition to phys- ical or psychological attacks, and did not include acts that attack a group’s cultural or religious identity. What Are the Six Stages of Genocide? Genocide occurs for many different historical and political rea- sons, but different occurrences tend to have certain features in common. Researchers have attempted to identify these com- mon features in the hope that this might increase the chances of predicting and preventing them in the future. Genocide expert Dr. Gregory Stanton has suggested that there are six stages in the build-up to genocide: 1. Classification . A government or group wishing to carry out genocide will first classify who is included in the group they wish to destroy. Classification can be done on the basis of physical appearance, for

14

Genocide