Where Does the Word Genocide Come From?

 “More than 50 million people were systematically murdered in the past 100 years- the century of mass murder.”  “In sheer numbers, these and other killings make the 20th century the bloodiest period in human history.” Where does the Word Genocide Come From? What is Genocide?? “Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: • Killing members of the group. • Causing serious bodily or mental harm. • Deliberately inflicting conditions of life for physical destruction in whole or in part. • Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group." WORLD WAR II 1939-1945  During the Holocaust the Nazis’ killed 6million Jews, 3 million POW’s, 2 million Poles and 400,000 other “undesirables”(slaves, homosexuals and communists) The holocaust was most predominant from previous genocides because of the cruelty, scale and efficiency of the mass murders. People were killed by: open-air shootings, by killing squads, extermination camps (gas chambers, mass shootings)

Genocides from 1951-Present  Cambodia (1975–1979)  Saddam Hussein's Baath Party  Rwanda 1994  Sudan

Cambodia 1975-1979  The communist party Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979. They were responsible for forced labour, starvation, and execution.  This was one of the most lethal regimes of the 20th century.  This communist party killed “suspect ethnic groups”- Chinese, Vietnamese,Buddhist monks, and refugees.

Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party  In 1987-1991 (approx) the Baath Party killed 100,000 Kurds. (The Kurds are people of Indo-European origin who live mainly in the mountains and uplands where Turkey, Iraq, and Iran meet, in an area known as "Kurdistan" for hundreds of years)  The Gulf War (1990) It is estimated that 300,000 people are buried in 260 mass graves.  1991-2003- Estimates of 500,000 to 1.2 million people were killed through bombings.  After the September 11, 2001 attacks- the US invaded Iraq-2003 Saddam was captured.

RWANDA 1994  The Rwandan Genocide was the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 to 1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, mostly carried out by two extremist Hutu militia groups (Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi) during a period of 100 days from April 6th through mid-July 1994.  The Western and First World Countries did nothing to help this situation.  Prior to the attacks the UN did not respond to reports of the Hutu plans.  This Genocide was ended when the Tutsi rebel movement (Rwandese Political Front) lead by Paul Kagame seized power of the Hutu Government. Rwanda 1994  “Hutu Mobs armed with machetes and other weapons killed roughly 8,000 Tutsis a day during a three-month campaign of terror. Powerful nations stood by as the slaughter surged on despite pleas from Rwandan and UN observers” National Geographic 2006. Sudan Civil War 1983-  Sudan signed a peace agreement in 2002- where they were accused of genocide.  Since the civil war began in 1983:  2,000,000 people have been killed  4, 000, 000 people have been displaced. Mukesh Kapila ( UN coordinator) has stated that "This is more than just a conflict. It is an organised attempt [by Khartoum] to do away with a group of people. The only difference between Rwanda [in 1994] and Darfur now is the numbers of dead, murdered, tortured and raped involved“.

Sudan Cont…  In 2004, it became widely known that a nomadic group Janjaweed was trying to get rid of 80 black African groups in the Darfur region.  This was is very similar to Rwanda. However professional/intellectuals are not being attacked- it is a fight between the nomads and farmers for land.  There is risk of famine and a threat to international security.

 All cultures have categories to distinguish people into "us and them" by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality: German and Jew, Hutu and Tutsi. Bipolar societies that lack mixed categories, such as Rwanda and Burundi, are the most likely to have genocide.

 We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people "Jews" or "Gypsies", or distinguish them by colors or dress; and apply them to members of groups. Classification and symbolization are universally human and do not necessarily result in genocide unless they lead to the next stage, dehumanization. When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups: the yellow star for Jews under Nazi rule, the blue scarf for people from the Eastern Zone in Khmer Rouge Cambodia.

 One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder.

 Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, though sometimes informally (Hindu mobs led by local RSS militants) or by terrorist groups. Special army units or militias are often trained and armed. Plans are made for genocidal killings.

 Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda. Laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction. Extremist terrorism targets moderates, intimidating and silencing the center.

 Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols. They are often segregated into ghettoes, forced into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region and starved.

 Extermination begins, and quickly becomes the mass killing legally called "genocide." It is "extermination" to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is sponsored by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the killing. Sometimes the genocide results in revenge killings by groups against each other, creating the downward whirlpool-like cycle of genocide.  It is among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile. There they remain with impunity, like Pol Pot.