Genocide and the human right to freedom of religion

Many groups are targeted for genocide because of their religion. Genocidal regimes focus on destruction of religion even if the victim group is targeted for their nationality, ethnicity, or race. This conduct is often seen as merely peripheral to the physical destruction in genocide. This chapter examines the specific targeting of religion itself, and how genocidal regimes breach the human right of freedom of religion, including the right to hold a belief and the freedom to manifest that belief. The Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the Cambodian Genocide are presented as case studies to demonstrate how this particular human right is violated during (and therefore contributes to) genocide, regardless of whether the group targeted for destruction is a “religious group,” and thus is an important genocide risk factor to monitor.