Historically, the commission of genocidal offenses has involved large numbers of perpetrators, whose contributions varied greatly with respect to both form and intensity. From a legal perspective, attributions of criminal responsibility to the involved parties does not mean that the overall responsibility for genocidal acts is somehow divided among them. Each individual involved in genocidal conduct bears responsibility for his or her conduct, and the attribution of individual guilt is organized pursuant to a set of recognized forms of participation. Those who participate in the commission of a genocidal act in accordance with one of those prescribed forms incur responsibility for their conduct.

One form of participation is "complicity" in genocide, pursuant to Article III(e) of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention). Due in part to the word's...