The 1948 Genocide Convention and the struggle against racism 1.
Genocide is the most extreme consequence of racial discrimination and hatred.
Genocide is the destruction, wholly or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such. Therefore, as preparations for the Third World Conference on Racism begin, attention should be given to the full use of the available instruments and mechanism. The Genocide Convention is a landmark in the efforts to develop a system of universally accepted standards which promote an equitable world order for all members of the human family to live in dignity. The Genocide Convention was adopted on 9 December 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly, the day before the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Despite factual evidence of these genocides and mass killings in the Sudan, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierre Leone and in other places, no Contracting Party to the Genocide Convention has called for any action under article VIII of the Convention.