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UNITED NATIONS Article 7 of the "United Nations draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples" (26 August 1994) defines "Cultural genocide" (emphasis added): :Indigenous peoples have the collective and individual right not to be subjected to ethnocide and cultural genocide, including prevention of and redress for: ::(a) Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities; ::(b) Any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources; ::(c) Any form of population transfer which has the aim or effect of violating or undermining any of their rights; ::(d) Any form of assimilation or integration by other cultures or ways of life imposed on them by legislative, administrative or other measures; ::(e) Any form of propaganda directed against them. EXAMPLES The Government Of Tibet In Exile and its supporters use the term to describe the activities of the People's Republic Of China in Tibet which it claims is destroying ancient Tibetan culture and religion. The activities which the Government in Exile accuses the Chinese government of performing include closing Tibetan Buddhist temples and encouraging outside immigration into Tibet. Supporters of the People's Republic of China argue that while wishing to stop secessionist activity in Tibet it does not actively desire to see Tibetan culture eradicated. They also claim that it is improper to use such a highly charged word as Genocide to describe any cultural change, especially since Chinese policies in Tibet have allegedly been far less Assimilationist than the policies of many nations which are making the criticism. Other examples of alleged cultural genocide also include: the destruction of many Buddhist monuments in Bamiyan , Afghanistan by the Taliban ; the flooding of the ancient city of Hasankeyf by the construction of the Ilısu Dam , destruction of Armenian churches and the destruction of Greek/Byzantine monuments in Turkey ; the burning of national archives in Sarajevo ; Indian Removal in the United States (and similar polices carried out by Australia , Canada and New Zealand aimed at relocating and assimilating indigenous peoples); the British government's active discouragement and repression of the Irish Gaelic language before 1922; and the destruction of Cambodia n monuments and records by the Khmer Rouge (some of which might be described as being closer to ''cultural suicide''). Critics of the Allied bombing of Dresden also describe the destruction of the militarily insignificant but architecturally priceless city by carpet bombing as cultural genocide. SEE ALSO
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