Today is the 70th anniversary of the United Nation's passage of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Today is the [70th anniversary](http://www.un.org/en/events/genocidepreventionday/) of the United Nation's passage of the [Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide](http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/text.htm). (Tomorrow will be the 70th anniversary of the proclamation of the [Universal Declaration of Human Rights](http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/).) 45 nations have [yet to ratify it](http://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/appeal). "Genocide" is a relatively new word, having been [coined in 1943](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/genocide#Etymology) to describe the Jewish Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, but the practise is depressingly [ancient and common](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history). Biblical scholars argue about whether the [Canaanites and Amalekites](https://www.bethinking.org/bible/old-testament-mass-killings) suffered genocide; Rome and Athens both [committed genocides](https://www.ancient.eu/article/485/genocide-in-the-ancient-world/). A two-volume [Encyclopedia of Genocide](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0874369282/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/) is available. The definition of genocide in the Convention is broader than the conventional usage, and Canadians might be dismayed to realize that forcing First Nations children into residential schools [probably counts as genocide](https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/06/10/cultural-genocide-no-canada-committed-regular-genocide.html) under the Convention.