Under international law, the Khmer Rouge interpretation notes that the Genocide Convention does not protect which groups?

• A. Political or social groups
• B. Ethnic groups
• C. National groups
• D. Religious groups

Answer: (A)

The key idea is how genocide is defined and who counts as a protected group. The Genocide Convention targets a group defined by nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion, and it specifies “as such” to limit protection to those categories. Because political or social groups aren’t among those listed categories, they aren’t protected under the Convention’s definition of genocide. That is why the Khmer Rouge interpretation notes argued that their victims—political opponents and social classes—could not be labeled genocide, even though the killings were atrocity crimes. In practice, such acts might still be crimes against humanity or other offenses, but not genocide. The other group types mentioned—ethnic, national, and religious—are the ones explicitly protected by the Convention.