Raphael Lemkin described genocide as "acts of barbarism that should be prohibited, even in times of war." Lemkin is right. Genocide is a cruel and vicious act that I would not wish on my greatest enemies. It is torture and death. Many people think that genocide is a thing of the past. After all, it's already 2014. We are so much more advanced and connected than we were at the time of the Holocaust. A genocide began just 22 years ago, during the Bosnian War. The Bosnian genocide was atrocious because it classified and dehumanized a religion, it allowed the extermination of a people on the basis of religion, and the murderers denied ever committing a crime and attempted to cover up the deaths . The Bosnian War took place in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This region was ethnically and religiously diverse. There were three main ethnic groups: Serbs, Croats and Muslims. “In 1991, the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina was 4.5 million” (Ching). Forty-four percent of the population of this country (which is slightly smaller than the US state of West Virginia) was Muslim, thirty-three percent was Serbian, and seventeen percent was Croatian. There were also small communities of Roma (often called Gypsies), Jews and ethnic Albanians. Because Bosnian towns were generally mixed communities, Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats, and Bosnian Muslims were all friends and neighbors. They even got married (Ching). This ethnic diversity has led to many conflicts. The Balkans have also experienced alternating periods of peace and conflict. For example, “The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by the Serbian nationalist group, the Black Hand, sparked World War I” (Bosnian genocide). A communist resistance army expelled... middle of paper ......classified cide and dehumanized a religion, permitted the extermination of a people on the basis of religion, and allowed the murderers to deny ever having committed their crimes. Genocide is a horrible act allowed to happen because humanity can't seem to get over the idea that others are different. Even in war, humans should not have the right to torture and kill other humans if the reason is as stupid and naive as being different. If we all accepted our differences and stopped associating bad and difference as the same thing, we would get along a lot better. After all, wouldn't life be boring if we were all the same. Works Cited in Bosnia, 1995. nd Web. May 20, 2014. Bosnian genocide. and Web. May 20, 2014. Ching, Jacqueline. Genocide and the Bosnian War. New York: Rosen Pub., 2009. PDF. The Combat Genocide Association. Bosnian genocide. and Web. May 20 2014.