Genocides: UN Recognition and Historical Consensus

Genocide and International Law: The Power of Semantics

BOX | Genocides: UN Recognition and Historical Consensus

Genocides officially recognised by the UN

The Holocaust (Shoah) (1941–1945), recognised via UN General Assembly Resolution 96 (I) in 1946, which led to the 1948 Genocide Convention
Genocide against the Tutsi (Rwanda, 1994), recognised by UN Security Council Resolutions 955 and 978 (1994); International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) established
Srebrenica Genocide (Bosnia, 1995), recognised by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (2007 ruling)

Genocides recognised by other international or national bodies

Herero and Nama Genocide (German Southwest Africa, 1904–1908), recognised by Germany (2021)
Assyrian and Pontic Greek Genocides (1914–1923), recognised by some national parliaments
Armenian Genocide (1915–1917), recognised by many national parliaments (France, Germany, Canada, etc.)
Holodomor (Ukraine famine) (1932–1933), recognised by Ukraine and several countries
Cambodian Genocide (1975–1979), recognised by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)
Anfal Campaign against Kurds (Iraq, 1988), recognised by several national courts
Darfur Genocide (Sudan, 2003–present), prosecuted by the International Criminal Court; UN uses “crimes against humanity”

Genocides not officially recognised but widely documented by historians

Destruction of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas (16th–20th centuries), considered genocidal by many historians
Cultural genocide of Indigenous Peoples (Canada, Australia, etc.), recognised as “cultural genocide” or “systemic assimilation”, not as genocide in the UN’s legal sense
Massacre of the Aché People (Paraguay, 1960s–1970s), documented by NGOs and historians

Currently under UN investigation (status pending)

Gaza / Occupied Palestinian Territories, UN experts describe acts as “genocidal”
Rohingya in Myanmar, UN Independent Investigative Mechanism; case before the International Court of Justice
Tigray (Ethiopia), joint UN–Ethiopian Human Rights Commission investigations
Ukraine, UN Commission of Inquiry examining possible incitement to genocide
Uyghurs in China (Xinjiang), ongoing UN human rights investigations

Sources: Marc Galvin, Wikipedia, ChapGPT, CoPilot, UN (United Nations General Assembly, Resolution 96 (I), “The Crime of Genocide”, 11 December 1946, https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/209873; Resolution A/RES/60/7, “Holocaust Remembrance”, 21 November 2005, https://docs.un.org/a/res/60/7; Resolution A/RES/78/282, “International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica”, 23 May 2024, https://docs.un.org/A/Res/78/282; “UN Resolutions Relevant to Genocide Prevention”, https://www.un.org/en/genocide-prevention/SA-prevention-genocide/UN-resolutions; “UN General Assembly Adopts Resolution on Srebrenica Genocide, Designating International Day of Reflection, Commemoration”, press release, 23 May 2024, https://press.un.org/en/2024/ga12601.doc.htm.

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Genocide and International Law: The Power of Semantics

BOX | Genocides: UN Recognition and Historical Consensus

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