Transcript Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction

Contemporary History
Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction
What is genocide?
Gen•o•cide
The systematic and planned extermination of an entire
national, racial, political, or ethnic group.
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Infamous Genocides
With the definition of genocide in mind, list as many 20th Century
genocides as you can…
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Infamous Genocides
The Herero Genocide, Namibia, 1904-05
Death toll: 60,000 (3/4 of the population)
The East Timor Genocide, E. Timor, 1975- 1999
Death toll: 120,000 (20% of the population)
The Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Emp., 1915-23
Death toll: Up to 1.5 million
The Mayan Genocide, Guatemala, 1981-83
Death toll: Tens of thousands
The Ukrainian Famine, 1932-1933
Death toll: 7 million
Iraq, 1988
Death toll: 50-100,000
The Nanking Massacre, 1937-1938
Death toll: 300,000 (50% of the pop)
The Bosnian Genocide, Bosnia, 1991-1995
Death toll: 8,000
The World War II Holocaust, Europe, 1942-45
Death toll: 6 million Jews, and millions of others
The Rwandan Genocide, Rwanda, 1994
Death toll: 800,000
The Cambodian Genocide, 1975-79
Death toll: 2 million
The Darfur Genocide, Sudan , 2003-present
Death toll: Debated. 500,000?
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The Herero Genocide, Namibia, 1904-05
Under German colonial rule, German Southwest Africa is modern
day Namibia;
German Lieutenant-General
Lothar von Trotha said, “I wipe out
rebellious tribes with streams of
blood and streams of money. Only
following this cleansing can
something new emerge”;
von Trotha issued his order to exterminate
the Herero from the region.
Any Herero found within German borders,
with or without a gun, will be shot. No
prisoners will be taken. This is my decision
for the Herero people'.
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The Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Empire, 1915-23
U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau Sr.,
concluded a “race murder” was occurring. He cabled Washington and
described the Turkish campaign:
“Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions. Reports
from widely scattered districts indicate systematic attempt to uproot
peaceful Armenian populations and through arbitrary arrests, terrible
tortures, expulsions and deportations from one end of the Empire to the
other accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage, and murder
turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution on them.
These measures are not in response to popular or fanatical demand but
are purely arbitrary and directed from Constantinople in the name of
military necessity, often in districts where no military operations are likely
to take place…there seems to be a systematic plan to crush the Armenian
race.”
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The Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Empire, 1915-23
To this day, the Turks deny that the Genocide occurred, and is a VERY
controversial issue to the Turks;
Turkey suspended its military ties with France in 2006 after the French
Parliament's lower house adopted a bill that that would have made it a
crime to deny that the Armenian killings constituted a genocide;
23 countries acknowledge the event was genocide;
In early October 2007, the U.S. Congress opened debate on whether
or not to declare the Armenian event a genocide…
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The Ukrainian Famine, 1932-33
Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, set in motion events designed to
cause a famine in the Ukraine to destroy the people there seeking
independence from his rule;
As a result, an estimated 7,000,000 persons perished in this farming
area, known as the breadbasket of Europe, with the people deprived
of the food they had grown with their own hands…
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
The Nanking Massacre, 1937-38
In December of 1937, the Japanese
Imperial Army marched into China's
capital city of Nanking and proceeded
to murder 300,000 out of 600,000
civilians and soldiers in the city;
The six weeks of carnage would
become known as the Rape of
Nanking and represented the single
worst atrocity during the World War II
era in either the European or Pacific
theaters of war…
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The Holocaust, Europe, 1939-45
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored
persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi
regime and its collaborators;
“Holocaust” is a word of Greek
origin meaning “sacrifice by fire”;
The Nazis, who came to power in
Germany in January 1933, believed
that Germans were “racially superior”
and that the Jews, deemed “inferior”,
were an alien threat to the so-called
German racial community…
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
The Cambodian Genocide, 1975-79
Under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, 2 million people were
executed in places known as the Killing Fields;
Reasons included crimes or opposition to the government;
Khmer Rouge Slogan:
“To spare you is no profit, to destroy
you is no loss.”
The massacres ended in 1979, when
Communist Vietnam invaded the
country and toppled the Khmer Rouge
regime…
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The East Timor Genocide, 1975-99
The Indonesian invasion of East Timor in December 1975 set the stage for
the long, bloody, and disastrous occupation of the territory that ended
only after an international peacekeeping force was introduced in 1999;
Only gained worldwide attention
after the Santa Cruz Massacre…
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The Mayan Genocide, Guatemala, 1975-99
In the words of the 1999 UN-sponsored report on the civil war:
“The Army's perception of Mayan communities as natural allies of the
guerrillas contributed to increasing and aggravating the human rights
violations perpetrated against them, demonstrating an aggressive racist
component of extreme cruelty that led to extermination en masse of
defenseless Mayan communities, including children, women and the
elderly, through methods whose cruelty has outraged the moral
conscience of the civilized world.”
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The Iraq Genocide, 1988
The Anfal Campaign against the Kurds was a systematic and deliberate
murder of at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 100,000 Kurds;
It was the culmination of a long term strategy to solve what the
government saw as its “Kurdish Problem”;
Halabja was one chapter of this
campaign in which chemical weapons
were used against this Kurdish Village…
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The Rwandan Genocide, Rwanda, 1994
The origin of the conflict was tribal, pitting Hutus against the
minority Tutsis;
The Belgian gov’t had given control to the tribal minority Tutsis
during periods of colonization;
When the Belgians acquired the land from the Treaty of
Versailles in 1918, they split the two;
Everyone who was not a Tutsi was labeled a Hutu;
Gov’t passcards gave preferential treatment to Tutsis…
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The Rwandan Genocide
People were often killed by their neighbors and fellow villagers;
Most killing was done by machete;
Ordinary citizens formed Hutu gangs and were encouraged by
state-sponsored radio to kill their neighbors;
Everyone killed so that they would not be killed…
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The Darfur Genocide
Gov’t sponsored killings via Janjaweed militias;
Extermination of black Africans to gain access to their land;
Systematic rape being used as a weapon;
Estimated that 300,000 to 600,000 people have been killed,
mostly men;
15,000 people a day at its peak;
3 million+ in refugee camps…
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
The Darfur Genocide
The countries that are currently supplying the Sudanese gov’t with
arms are:
China, Russia, France, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Poland, and
Lithuania;
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The United States Response
Rwanda
The United Nations peacekeepers consisted of United States,
France, Belgium, and Italy;
Ten Belgian soldiers were captured, tortured, and killed by the
Hutus;
The UN removed all peacekeepers…
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The Sociology of Genocide
Research Questions
[Answer the following questions with 150-200 word responses.
Being sure to make your point clear.]
What societal factors lead to neighbors becoming genocidal killers
of neighbors?
Should the United States respond to acts of genocide? If so, when?
If not, why?
At what point does an act of violence become genocide?
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The Eight Stages of Genocide
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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The Eight Stages of Genocide
Understanding the genocidal process is one of the most important
steps in preventing future genocides;
The Eight Stages were first outlined by Dr. Gregory Stanton, US
Dept. of State, 1996;
The first six stages are Early Warnings:
Classification;
Symbolization;
Dehumanization;
Organization;
Polarization;
Preparation…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 01: Classification
“Us vs. Them” Mentality;
Distinguish by nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion;
Bipolar societies (Rwanda) most likely to have genocide
because no way for classifications to fade away through intermarriage;
Classification is a primary method of dividing society and
creating a power struggle between groups…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 01: Classification
Belgian colonialists believed Tutsis were a naturally superior nobility, descended
from the Israelite tribe of Ham. The Rwandan royalty was Tutsi.
Belgians distinguished between Hutus and Tutsis by nose size, height & eye type.
Another indicator to distinguish Hutu farmers from Tutsi pastoralists was the
number of cattle owned.
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 02: Symbolization
Names: “Jew”, “German”, “Hutu”, “Tutsi”;
Languages;
Types of dress;
Group uniforms: Nazi Swastika armbands
Colors and religious symbols:
Yellow star for Jews
Blue checked scarf Eastern Zone in Cambodia
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 02: Symbolization
“Ethnicity” was first noted on cards by Belgian Colonial Authorities in 1933. Tutsis were
given access to limited education programs. Hutus were given less assistance by colonial
authorities. At independence, these preferences were reversed. Hutus were favored.
These ID cards were later used to distinguish Tutsis from Hutus in the 1994 massacres of
Tutsis and moderate Hutus that resulted in 800,000+ deaths.
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 02: Symbolization
The Nazis required the yellow Star of David emblem to be worn by nearly all Jews in
Nazi-occupied Europe by 1941.
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 02: Symbolization
Jewish Passport: “Reisepäss”
Required to be carried by all Jews by 1938. This preceded the yellow star.
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 02: Symbolization
Under the Nazis, homosexuals were identified by pink triangles. The symbols identified
homosexuals to SS guards in the camps. They also caused discrimination by fellow
inmates who shunned homosexuals .
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 02: Symbolization
People in the Eastern Zone of Cambodia,
near Vietnam, were accused of having
“Khmer bodies, but Vietnamese heads.”
They were deported to other areas to be
worked to death. They were marked with
a blue and white checked scarf, known as
a Kroma.
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 03: Dehumanization
One group denies the humanity of another group, and makes the
victim group seem subhuman;
Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion
against murder…
Der Stürmer Nazi Newspaper:
“The Blood Flows; The Jew Grins”
Kangura Newspaper, Rwanda: “The
Solution for Tutsi Cockroaches”
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 02: Dehumanization
From a Nazi propaganda pamphlet.
Caption: Does the same soul dwell in these bodies?
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 03: Dehumanization
Hate propaganda in speeches, print and on hate radio vilify the
victim group;
Members of the victim group are described as animals, vermin,
and diseases. Hate radio, Radio Libre des Mille Collines, during
the Rwandan genocide in 1994, broadcast anti-Tutsi messages
like “kill the cockroaches” and “If this disease is not treated
immediately, it will destroy all the Hutu.”
Dehumanization justifies murder by calling it “ethnic cleansing,” or
“purification”, such euphemisms hide the horror of mass murder…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 04: Organization
Genocide is a group crime, so must be organized;
The state usually organizes, arms and financially supports the
groups that conduct the genocidal massacres;
Plans are made by elites for a “final solution” of genocidal killings…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 04: Organization
“Hutu Power” elites armed youth
militias called Interahamwe
[Those who stand together];
The government and “Hutu
Power” businessmen provided
the militias with over 500,000
machetes and other arms and
set up camps to train them to
“protect their villages” by
exterminating every Tutsi…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 05: Polarization
Extremists drive the groups apart;
Hate groups broadcast and print polarizing propaganda;
Laws are passed that forbid intermarriage or social interaction;
Political moderates are silenced, threatened and intimidated, and
killed…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 05: Polarization
Attacks are staged and blamed
on targeted groups.
In Germany, the Reichstag fire was
blamed on Jewish Communists in 1933.
Cultural centers of targeted
groups are attacked.
On Kristalnacht in 1938, hundreds of
synagogues were burned.
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 06: Preparation
Members of victim groups are
forced to wear identifying
symbols;
Death lists are made;
Victims are separated because of
their ethnic or religious identity…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 06: Preparation
Weapons for killing are stockpiled;
Extermination camps are built;
This build- up of killing
capacity is a major step
towards actual genocide…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 07: Extermination [Genocide]
Extermination begins, and
becomes the mass killing legally
called “genocide”;
Most genocide is committed
by governments…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 07: Extermination [Genocide]
Government organized extermination of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 07: Extermination [Genocide]
The killing is “extermination” to the killers because they do not believe the victims are
fully human. They are cleansing the society of impurities, disease, animals, vermin, or
enemies.
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 08: Denial
Denial is always found in genocide, both during it and after it;
Continuing denial is among the surest indicators of further
genocidal massacres;
Denial extends the crime of genocide to future generations of
the victims and is a continuation of the intent to destroy the
group;
The tactics of denial are predictable…
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
[Topic 03: Genocide & Global Inaction]
Stage 08: Denial
Deny the Evidence
Deny that there was any mass killing at all.
Question and minimize the statistics.
Block access to archives and witnesses.
Intimidate or kill eye-witnesses.
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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Stage 08: Denial
Destroy the evidence. [Burn the bodies and the archives, dig up and burn the mass
graves, throw bodies in rivers or seas.]
Source: Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch
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