World Genocides
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Transcript of 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