Is Genocide Ever Justified Essay

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Mass genocide is one of the most immoral crimes any ruling authority such as the government or the president can try against its people. The general meaning of "Genocide" is the aim to destroy or kill individuals on account of their race, convictions, or even political and economic status. Legitimate expert, Raphael Lemkin made the expression "Genocide" in 1944. Lemkin a Polish Attorney, joined the antiquated Greek word "genos" which implies race and the Latin word "cide" which means executing (what-is-genocide, 2009). Many people who actually practice genocide would say genocide is acceptable. However, those individuals who think life is the most significant thing in universe, would say genocide can’t be justified forever, if we look at the …show more content…

In both the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the Rwanda Genocide this occurred. In the Pine Ridge Reservation, the United States had created a society in which alcoholism and violence was rampant. Common outcomes to the people are similar to a sixty two year old survivor Verlyn Long Wolf who says, “I’ll say about three-quarters of the people I’ve grown up with are dead… Very few are still alive. Alcohol. Drugs. Violence” (Hedges 3). The situation in the Pine Ridge Reservation with Wolf is similar to the outcome created when an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days during 1994. In Rwanda, the Tutsi were killed on the grounds of ethnicity. In the Pine Ridge, the Government made a situation in the reservation with alcohol and drugs and create an environment where up to eighty percent of the Pine Ridge population was affected by alcoholism. Alcoholism in Pine Ridge in turn leads to an abusive society where families becomes wrecked. In Rwanda, the government’s genocide caused two million refugees where thousands perished. In both Pine Ridge and Rwanda, the crimes committed against them were because of ethnicity, and in turn caused suffering and created broken environments for those who

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