ABSTRACT
Democide is meant to define the killing by government, just as the concept of murder defines individual killing in domestic society. If a government causes deaths through a reckless and depraved indifference to human life, the deaths are as though intended. War-related killing by military forces that international agreements and treaties directly or by implication prohibit is democide, whether the parties to the killing are signatories to the agreements and treaties or not. Killing that is explicitly permitted is not democide. Moreover, democide is not limited to the killing component of genocide, nor to politicide, mass murder, massacre, or terror. It includes them all and also what they exclude, as long as the killing is a purposive act, policy, process, or institution of government. In detail, democide is any action by government: designed to kill or cause the death of people; and that causes death by virtue of an intentionally or knowingly reckless and depraved disregard for life.
