Adopted by Resolution 260 (III) A of the United Nations General Assembly
on
The Contracting
Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of
war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to
punish.
In the present
Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,
as such:
The following
acts shall be punishable:
Persons
committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be
punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public
officials or private individuals.
The Contracting
Parties undertake to enact, in accordance with their respective Constitutions,
the necessary legislation to give effect to the provisions of the present
Convention and, in particular, to provide effective penalties for persons
guilty of genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3.
Persons charged
with genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be tried
by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was
committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction
with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its
jurisdiction.
Genocide and the
other acts enumerated in Article 3 shall not be considered as political crimes
for the purpose of extradition.
The Contracting Parties pledge themselves in
such cases to grant extradition in accordance with their laws and treaties in
force.
Any Contracting
Party may call upon the competent organs of the United Nations to take such
action under the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for
the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide or any of the other acts
enumerated in Article 3.
Disputes between
the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation, application or
fulfilment of the present Convention, including those relating to the
responsibility of a State for genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in
Article 3, shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the
request of any of the parties to the dispute.
The present
Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts
are equally authentic, shall bear the date of
The present
Convention shall be open until
The present Convention shall be ratified,
and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the
Secretary-General of the United Nations.
After
Instruments of accession shall be deposited
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Any Contracting
Party may at any time, by notification addressed to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations, extend the application of the present Convention to all or
any of the territories for the conduct of whose foreign relations that
Contracting Party is responsible.
On the day when
the first twenty instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited,
the Secretary-General shall draw up a proces-verbal
and transmit a copy of it to each Member of the United Nations and to each of
the non-member States contemplated in Article 11.
The present Convention shall come into force
on the ninetieth day following the date of deposit of the twentieth instrument
of ratification or accession.
Any ratification or accession effected
subsequent to the latter date shall become effective on the ninetieth day
following the deposit of the instrument of ratification or accession.
The present
Convention shall remain in effect for a period of ten years as from the date of
its coming into force.
It shall thereafter remain in force for
successive periods of five years for such Contracting Parties as have not
denounced it at least six months before the expiration of the current period.
Denunciation shall be effected by a written
notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
If, as a result
of denunciations, the number of Parties to the present Convention should become
less than sixteen, the Convention shall cease to be in force as from the date
on which the last of these denunciations shall become effective.
A request for the
revision of the present Convention may be made at any time by any Contracting
Party by means of a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General.
The General Assembly shall decide upon the
steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such request.
The
Secretary-General of the United Nations shall notify all Members of the United
Nations and the non-member States contemplated in Article 11 of the following:
The original of
the present Convention shall be deposited in the archives of the United
Nations.
A certified copy of the Convention shall be
transmitted to all Members of the United Nations and to the non-member States
contemplated in Article 11.
The present
Convention shall be registered by the Secretary-General of the United Nations
on the date of its coming into force.