<Tr> <Th> Parties </Th> <Td> 143 (Complete List) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Depositary </Th> <Td> Secretary - General of the United Nations </Td> </Tr> <P> The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948 as General Assembly Resolution 260 . The Convention entered into force on 12 January 1951 . It defines genocide in legal terms, and is the culmination of years of campaigning by lawyer Raphael Lemkin . All participating countries are advised to prevent and punish actions of genocide in war and in peacetime . The number of states that have ratified the convention is currently 147 . </P> <P> Article 2 of the Convention defines genocide as </P>

International convention on prevention and punishment of genocide 1948