There simply were no precedents concerning either the nature or the degree of the crime. According to Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-born adviser to the United States War Ministry, genocide signifies 'the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group' and it implies the existence of a coordinated plan, to be put into effect against individuals chosen as victims purely, simply and exclusively because they are members of the target group, to exterminate them completely. Genocide is not only a crime against the rules of war, but also a crime against humanity itself affecting not just the individual or nation in question, but humanity as a whole.
Genocide is therefore both the gravest and the greatest of the crimes against humanity.
Genocide is a conspiracy aimed at the total destruction of a group and thus requires a concerted plan of action. The instigators and initiators of a genocide are cool-minded theorists first and barbarians only second. Since April this year, the government forces have intensified the attacks against the civilians by using multi-barrel artillery shelling and carpet bombings. The government forces are directing their attacks against the noncombatant civilian population. Civilians are used as human shields by the armed forces.