Murder and genocide

[JohnT]

According to the ICC, killing people of different "classes" is not genocide:

The limitation of genocide to only national, ethnical, racial or religious groups is to groups that one is born into. These may be called indelible groups. In the case of a religious group, while one may choose to leave a religious group as an adult, it is rarely done and one may nonetheless remain identified with the religious group by virtue of physical characteristics, as for Jews. The crime of genocide does not apply to the intent to destroy political, ideological, economic, military, professional, or other groups. Thus, the mass murder of perhaps a million or more "capitalist roaders," "rightists," and counterrevolutionaries during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-69) would not be genocide.

Italics mine, quoted from above quote in my earlier post.

[GePap]

I always though class was included- what happened in Cambodia is always classed as genocide as far as I know. But no, most of the crims of states would not be rules as genocide.

[Ben Kenobi]

I disagree with this concept of an indelible group being a prerequisite for genocide. I don't buy their exception for religion.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by GePap
the number is irrelevant- its intent that makes something genocide, If a dictator kills his citizens indescriminately , no matter how many millions, unless it was part of a campaing to get rid of a specific group of people, it is not genocide. "political opponents" and "enemies of the regime" don;t count as such a group..a political class, religious, ethnic grup all do count.

Why would political class or religious group count?