World Genocides

How is genocide defined?

The United Nations will label an event “genocide” only when:

There is a mental element present, which means there is an intent to target a specific group of people and, A physical element of harming and killing members of the group.

Both must be present in order for the acts to be called genocide.

Armenians One of the most

ancient peoples on the planet

Christianized in early 4th century

Largest non-Muslim population in Ottoman Empire

Turks/Armenians had peaceful relations Ended when

nat’lism swept over the Turks AND Armenians

1908 Turkey was declining Young Turks overthrew

Sultan Abdul Hamid II Officers in the Turkish

Army > wanted modernization

• Soon taken over by fanatical nat’lists

• Led by Ismail Enver, Mehmed Talat, Ahmed Djemal

• Plotted the extermination of Armenian pop.

• Saw them as potential traitors

• Saw WWI as opportunity to implement their plan Sultan Abdul

Hamid II

Ahmed Djemal

Ismail Enver

Mehmed Talat

April 24, 1915• Slaughter

began• 600 Armenian

men rounded up in Istanbul and killed Genocide Memorial Day

Overwork hundreds of thousands of men in Turkish army > didn’t actually fight• Treated as “pack

animals”• Loaded supplies on

their backs• Driven by whips,

bayonets• Barely ate or slept• If they fell, were left

to die

Mass slaughter of remaining Armenian men Killed able-bodied men

prevent new Armenian generations leave behind weak as easy prey

In actuality, was exile• Same as the Armenian soldiers

Starved them Fallen left to die Starved or died of disease in camps in Syria and Iraq

Women given opportunity to convert to Islam• Only 1 K did so• Subsequently

turned into slaves in Turkish homes

• On the journey to Syria, Kurds and Turks were told to kill the Armenians

Estimates range from 1.1 to 1.8 M people.

Differences in culture•Armenians- best educated•Turks- mainly illiterate peasant farmers• Turkish gov’t used Turks’ illiteracy

to their advtg > labeled Armenians as strangers > NATIONALISM• Rise in Islamic fundamentalism• Turks wanted to expand- Problem? > Armenians in their way

w/ no help from the outside world, Armenians fought back at the Battle of Sardarabad (May 21-24, 1918)• Won > Democratic

Republic of Armenia

• Regime fled to Germany• Armenians wanted trial but there wasn’t one• took matters into their own hands

• assassination

• Democratic Republic of Armenia

• lasted 1918-1920• Ottomans meddled again, as did the Soviets (expectedly)• Presently an independent nation

• Present day population – 13 M• Khmer- predominant ethnic group

• Khmer Empire• French colony

• Independence – November 9, 1953

After granted independence, 5-year civil war in Cambodia – POWER STRUGGLE

Khmer Rouge won April 17, 1975• Communist party led by

Pol Pot• Captured Phnom Penh,

capital • Wanted to “purify” which

meant to restore the ag way of life before contact w/ West Demanded evacuation in all

cities “ag reeducation camps”

• Khmer Rouge > strict Maoists• everyone put to work in rice patties• thousands died of malnutrition, overwork• anti-Western• education, healthcare shut down

• Angkor > “Organization”• if you admitted to having a W. education, you would be forgiven by Angkor > DEATH

• Irony? > Pol Pot educated in France

These issues began during Vietnam War• Lon Nol took power in Cambodia

Supported by U.S.• U.S. air power frequent in Cambodia• 750 K dead

• Khmer Rouge• small guerrilla group led by Pol Pot• embraced by the people b/c they were fed up w/ American bombing

• May 19, 1928• born into relatively wealthy family• educated in France• learned about Communism whilst in France• real name Saloth Sar

• “Pol Pot” comes from the name Politique potentielle• “brother number one” > humility?• led Angkor

• April 15, 1998• died of heart failure

• speculation of suicide or poisoning

Doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, and their ext. families

People who wore glasses, spoke a foreign lang

Buddhist monks > religion was banned Minority groups

• Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai Citizens

• Laughing, crying

• Each camp was independent• Little to no communication b/w them• PARANOIA amongst Party members• “To spare you is no profit; to destroy you is no loss.”

• Former school• used as a prison for “traitors” and their families• tortured until confession• Life and Death in Shanghai

Executions, disease, starvation

Roughly 30% of population

Prisoner at S-21 Beaten, tortured,

almost starved to death

Painting skills saved his life

Painted portraits of Pol Pot

After fall of Khmer Rouge, painted prison life as he’d witnessed it

1978 – Vietnam invaded Cambodia

Khmer Rouge overthrown• Received aid,

training, funds, and weapons from U.S. and U.K. Hatred of Vietnam

Two K.R. leaders tried for genocide and found guilty

7 M people• 2 ethnic groups

Hutu > majority > 70% Tutsi > minority

Under Belgian colonial rule, Tutsi was the aristocracy

• Rwanda > independence in 1962• Hutu majority reversed roles

• systematic discrimination• acts of violence

• 200 K Tutsis fled the country• formed rebel guerrilla army > Rwandan Patriotic Front

• Hutus – shorter, broad face• Tutsis – taller, long, narrow face

1990 – RPF invaded Rwanda• Forced Hutu Pres.

Habyalimana to sign document that put into law > Hutu/Tutsis share power

October ’93• Ethnic tensions

increased when first elected Hutu president of Burundi Melchior Ndadaye was assassinated

• Supposedly Tutsis were responsible

April ‘94RW pres

Habyalimana and Burundi pres. Cyprian NtaryamiraHeld peace

meetings w/ Tutsi rebelsApril 6

Jet carrying the leaders shot down and killed by ground-fired missiles

• Hutu Reaction• Rwanda > deep political violence after assassinations

• Hutu extremists• targeted moderate Hutu politicians• Tutsi leaders

• Hutus• went into countryside• Tutsi civilians• machetes, clubs, guns, grenades• all Rwandans carried “tribal” cards > IDs

• Int’l Reaction• peacekeeping soldiers killed• American, French, Belgian, and Italian personnel evacuated Rwanda• U.S. and U.N. cautious to label genocide > to avoid emergency intervention• U.N. Security Council

• voted unanimously to abandon Rwanda

• only 200 soldiers in entire country

No more global opposition

Murders increased rapidly

Propaganda• State radio

encouraged• Print• Tutsi > “inyenzi” for

cockroach• Kangura

state newspaper

• Tutsis• refuge in churches, mission compounds• hospitals > prime targets

“Ten Hutu Commandments”• Tutsi women• Inferior, immoral,

dishonest• Less desirable than

Hutu women• Only useful as sex

objects > RAPE

Between 250 and 500 K raped, often in plain view

Many of the Hutu men had HIV/AIDS > mass rape is the main reason for the HIV/AIDS problem in present-day Rwanda

Over 1 M people in 100 days

10 K daily 400/hr 7/minute

300 K Tutsis survived Thousands of widows Rape victims > HIV

positive 400 K orphans

August 20, 1942 Schenectady, NY Ivy League education Human rights activist Historian 1999- published Leave

None to Tell The Story: Genocide in Rwanda

Described organization of the genocide

Received many awards Died February 12, 2009

Pressure from int’l news depicting genocide

U.N. sent 5 K soldiers• Too late• No time table

End of genocide• Tutsi rebels• Invaded from

neighboring nations• Defeated Hutus

Approx. 2 M Hutus > refugees > feared Tutsi uprising

Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire

Large prison pop. STDs > syphilis,

gonorrhea, HIV/AIDS Social isolation (rape

victims)

Lack of roads, bridges, telephone lines

Poor education system > intelligentsia

Women > responsible for food production > many are rape victims > psych/physical status > major issue in Rwanda

Rwanda > 3rd poorest country in the world

Spread of AIDS fueled by poverty

Mutual ethnic hate stems from extremists on both sides

Small group of Rwandan officials• Led by Theoneste

Bagosora Retired army colonel Genocide happened

not of weakness, but immense strength > TOTALITARIANISM = FEAR

Int’l Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda

British colony North/South were

administrated as 2 diff. entities• Arab North• Black African South –

Christianity Darfur’s issues

• Overpopulation• Drought• Desertification

People in Darfur > predominantly Black Africans of Muslim belief

Left out of the treaty that would prevent enforcement of Sharia law

Racism• Arabs refer to Black

Africans as “abeed” > translates roughly to “Slave”

Sudan’s gov’t > Arab dominated

Began in Feb. 2003• Gov’t neglect > people

poor, voiceless• 2 Darfurian rebel groups

> uprising against gov’t• Gov’t response

Scorched earth campaign Enlist help of Arab

nomadic tribes > JANJAWEED

Omar Hassan A. Al-Bashir• President of Sudan June

30, 1989-present• Completed high school,

entered military academy as pilot

• Successful military career

• 1989-overthrew gov’t with group of officers

• Islamization• Sharia law• Denies what is

happening in Darfur

Starvation• Destruction of

villages and farms Disease Civilians caught in

crossfire b/w rebel groups and gov’t militias

As in Rwanda, rape is a major problem

400 K dead 2.5 M displaced > refugees 100 daily 5 K monthly

OIL Chevron discovered

oil Sudan > 7th biggest

oil producer Bush admin lobbied

quietly against the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act in Congress

Oil revenues to Khartoum• About $1 M daily• Same amount gov’t

puts into arms Helicopters and

bombers from Russia Tanks from Poland &

China Missiles from Iran

Immense amounts Many celebs speak

out against the conflict in Darfur, i.e. George Clooney

Humanitarian aid

Previously a Belgian colony

Independence: June 30, 1960

62 M pop.

1994 – hundreds of thousands of Hutus fled to the eastern part of Zaire (now DRC)

Newly Tutsi-controlled Rwanda > paranoid about Hutus in eastern Zaire

Invaded in 1996 under orders of Rwandan President Paul Kagame• U.S. financed both

Kagame’s army & rebel forces

Killed Hutu refugees

Mobutu Sese Seko• Dictator in Zaire

supported by U.S. and Western powers > intent was to prevent spread of Soviet-backed states

• Economy was failing in the 90’s

• U.S. stopped supporting Mobutu Rebels and rival nations

now saw him as easier to overthrow

Fought Tutsi rebels in Zaire but also wanted to overthrow Mobutu

Support from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda

Successfully overthrew Mobutu - 1997

Once in power, expels advisors from R,B,U• They begin to support

Tutsi rebels

1998 Largest war in

modern Africa’s history

Eight African nations 25 armed groups 2008: 5.4 M dead

• Deadliest conflict since WWII

• Use of child soldiers• Reversal of ethnic

roles

Congo > extremely rich in gold, diamonds, coltan• U.S. > biggest consumer of coltan

Control of natural resources > primary objective Ethnic tensions are exploited and inflamed War fought by state armies, local militias & rebels No formal battlefields Militias, rebels paid for work by looting Rape 30 K child soldiers 5.5 M civilians killed

• Disease > malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, STDs• Malnutrition• Starvation

Rwandan, Ugandan armies grew very rich off of the resources

Although the war officially ended in 2003, Tutsi rebels remain in eastern Congo and conflict still rages on.

The Tutsi rebels are led by Laurent Nkunda.

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. The world in arms is not spending the money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, and the hopes of its children.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower