A massacre is a killing, typically of multiple victims, considered morally unacceptable, especially when perpetrated by a group of political actors against defenseless victims. The modern definition of massacre as “indiscriminate slaughter, carnage”, and the subsequent verb of this form, derive from late 16th century Middle French, evolved from Middle French “macacre, macecle” meaning “slaughterhouse, butchery.” There is no objective definition of what constitutes a “massacre”. Various international organizations have proposed a formal definition of the term “crimes against humanity”, which would however include incidents of persecution or abuse that do not result in deaths. Conversely, a “massacre” is not necessarily a “crime against humanity”. Other terms with overlapping scope include war crime, pogrom, and mass murder.
Massacres
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