The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment for the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations on December 9, 1948.

Article 2 of the Convention defines Genocide:

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:

(A) Killing members of the group:
(B) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group:
(C) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part:
(D) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group:
(E) Forcefully transferring children of the group to another group:

The cruel mistreatment of the First Nations Peoples of the Americas by the invaders from Europe was related to the evolutionary history of their continent, which made the accumulation of personal power and wealth by any means top priority for individuals. Thus, from time immemorial, terror was used liberally by the ruling class and the wealthy of the Continent to impose harsh forms of government and religion upon their own citizens. Human and civil rights were not a consideration.