How does one decide whether or not genocide is occurring? The most obvious strategy is to see if there was an explicit plan, such as in the case of the Holocaust, to eliminate an entire group from the face of the earth. Short of that strategy, one looks to see whether or not there is intent to destroy a group by having a large number of the members of a group attacked or killed. Genocide can be occurring, and yet it may not be the case that the whole group is being destroyed all at once. But the problem then becomes to figure out how much of the group has to be destroyed for it to count as a genocide. In the next three chapters I will look at the elements of the crime of genocide, the factors that mark the fact of genocide occurring, namely, the element of collective intent as well as the elements of individual act and intent associated with the collective intent to destroy a group.

In the current chapter I will discuss the actus reus of genocide in light of the ontological debate about joint action. This debate will shed light on the seemingly arbitrary determination of how many members of a group have to be assaulted or killed for it to constitute “destroying a group in part.”