December 9: The International Day Against Genocide Explained

Every year on 9 December the United Nations marks the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. It is a day to remember the victims of genocide, to honour their dignity and to draw attention to how such crimes can be prevented. The General Assembly created it in September 2015 through resolution 69/323, and the date was chosen because on 9 December 1948 the same Assembly adopted the Genocide Convention, the first human rights treaty of the United Nations era.

This page explains what the day stands for, why the Convention matters, how a lawyer named Raphael Lemkin gave the crime its name, and how Armenia and the Greek writer Nikos Lygeros worked to make the date known, with the videos Lygeros recorded in several languages.

What 9 December commemorates

The day has two aims set out by the UN: to raise awareness of the Genocide Convention and its role in preventing and punishing genocide, and to commemorate and honour the victims. It is a reminder that genocide is not only a historical subject but a legal obligation for states today, which have promised both to punish the crime and to act before it happens.

The first observance took place on 9 December 2015. Since then UN offices, governments, schools and community groups have marked it with readings, candle-lighting, lectures and statements. Because it covers all genocides rather than a single event, it complements national days of remembrance such as 24 April for the Armenian Genocide, 19 May for the genocide of the Pontic Greeks, 7 August for the Assyrian Genocide and 27 January for the Holocaust.

The Genocide Convention in brief

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted unanimously on 9 December 1948 and came into force on 12 January 1951. Article II defines genocide as certain acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The five acts are:

killing members of the group;
causing serious bodily or mental harm to its members;
deliberately imposing living conditions meant to destroy the group physically;
imposing measures to prevent births within the group;
forcibly transferring the group's children to another group.

The key element is intent. Mass killing in war is always a grave crime, but genocide is the deliberate attempt to wipe out a people as such. As of February 2025, 153 states were parties to the Convention, while more than forty had neither signed nor ratified it.

Raphael Lemkin and the word "genocide"

The word itself is younger than the Convention. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer born in 1900, combined the Greek genos (family, tribe, people) with the Latin -cide (killing) and introduced it in his 1944 book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, which documented Nazi occupation policies.

Lemkin's thinking began long before the Second World War. As a student he was shaken by the Ottoman destruction of the Armenians during the First World War, and by the 1921 Berlin trial of Soghomon Tehlirian, the Armenian survivor who killed Talaat Pasha, one of the main organisers of those massacres. Lemkin asked why there was no law to try a man like Talaat for killing a whole people. Scholars widely regard the Armenian case as one of the examples that shaped the concept. Lemkin then spent the rest of his life campaigning for an international treaty and saw the Convention adopted, dying in New York in 1959.

The annihilation of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in the late Ottoman Empire, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda and Srebrenica are among the cases that give the day its meaning. Denial of these crimes remains a live political issue, which is why many campaigners see recognition as the first step toward justice.

Armenia's initiative and Nikos Lygeros

The resolution creating the day was proposed by Armenia, and dozens of countries supported it; Lygeros puts the number at 84. One of the most persistent voices behind it was Nikos Lygeros, a Greek writer, strategist and teacher known for his work on the recognition of genocides and on Hellenic and Armenian questions.

In a short essay dated 23 October 2015, translated into English by Vicky Baklessi, Lygeros called the choice of 9 December a decision of Humanity. His argument was that the date belongs to everyone, not to one nation, because remembering genocide and opposing its denial are part of the rights of humanity and a duty toward future generations. He linked the day directly to Lemkin's legacy and urged readers to make it widely known in their own communities.

He also recorded a pamphlet and talks on the subject. The first explains why the day was needed; the second introduces the date itself.

A message in many languages

Because the day is meant for all of humanity, Lygeros and his collaborators released versions in other languages. The Greek video carries the title "9 Δεκεμβρίου - Ημέρα Κατά των Γενοκτονιών" and the Russian one "9 Декабря - День против геноцидов", both meaning "9 December, Day against Genocides".

Short slogans were a big part of the campaign: brief lines meant for posters, candle vigils and social media. One of them sums up the idea that memory outlasts the perpetrators: You killed the Past, but we are the Future. Others speak of candles lighting the darkness, of justice against genocide and of refusing to negotiate with those who commit it. The videos below collect them, along with a set of Lygeros's quotations on genocide.

How to mark the day

Learn one history in depth. Read survivor testimony or a reliable history of a genocide you know little about, from Smyrna and Pontus to Srebrenica.
Light a candle. The candle is the campaign's main symbol. Lighting one at home, at school or at a public gathering is a simple act of remembrance.
Talk to young people. Teachers can introduce the Convention's definition and discuss why intent matters and why denial harms survivors' descendants.
Support recognition and prevention. Find out whether your country recognises past genocides and how it responds to early warning signs today.

The day was created so that remembrance and prevention go together. Naming the crime, as Lemkin did, and refusing to forget its victims remain the first defences against its return.

Sources: United Nations: International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide; Wikipedia: Genocide Convention; Wikipedia: Raphael Lemkin; Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. Texts, slogans and videos: Nikos Lygeros (YouTube channel, lygeros.org, "Decision of Humanity").

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