Genocide was first brought up by Raphael Lemkin, a polish lawyer, in 1944. The word was originally meant to bring attention to the atrocities being perpetrated by the Nazis. The term refers to the killing of a race, tribe or population. Genocide happens for many reasons but there are a few motivations that have been identified. These rationales for genocide are developmental genocides, despotic genocides, and ideological genocides. Genocide is a very strong word and many will often misuse it. When trying to call attention on a situation that is wrong or evil, some will go to the term genocide. In past years the term has been used with bisexuality, dieting, and suburbanization. Often genocide is confused with human rights violations or war crimes. The United Nations has defined genocide as “ Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, such as: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” The first motivation for genocide is developmental. Targeted groups are seen as a barrier to the expansion of a given geographic area. This is mostly toward domestic peoples who are seen as just being in the way of progress. Trying to move natives from their lands that are found to be rich in oil and other minerals is an example of developmental genocide. The Colombia government was found guilty of this because of the massacres against the Amazon headwaters. The violence involved navy boats machine-gunning the banks of the rivers. Despotic genocides use violence for political power. This kind of genocide is most common in revolutionary situations where new groups gain more power and want to dispose of any resistance toward there totalitarian rule. China, Cambodia, and
