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Genocide Explored Educational issues & challenges R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page IFC1
This project was designed and delivered by: Daniel Carey, Eoghan Dodd, David Young, Eoin Hanney, Kris O’Neill, Anthony McDermott, Stephen McNeice, Luke Benson, Graeme Horner, Sammy Evitt, Ciaran Hurley, Frank Newman, Dylan Haskins, Dean Thompson, Philip Pinkerton, Johnny Roy, John Morton, David Coleman, Niall Fox, Thomas Larry, Leon Browne, Michael Walsh, Neil O’Rourke, David Finn, Conor Casey and Chris McClelland with support from: Friday Sean Bonner, Mark Tansey, Gerry Duffy, Toda y we neared the en d of the Mura l or John Johnston, Eileen Ferguson, Jennifer so we thought! But we foun d out that we Mussen, Valerie Duffy, Jeanne Gallagher, rea lly ha d no idea what we were trying to Sean Daly, Hilda Regan, Mary Byrne, Lizzy pa int! We ha d words as the ba ckgroun d, skulls bang, sma ck in the middle, women in Noone, Hugh McDonald and Colm Regan shrouds near the foregroun d “protecting” a sma ll child, which would be the centra l part Special thanks to Anne Cleary of Aidlink and an d most poignant piece of the mura l. The Michael Doorly of Concern and, as ever, Ken only rea l problem is that man y of us did Brennan and the staff of Genprint. not rea lise what these images meant. In the en d we decided to go ba ck to the dra wing board an d think aga in about what we were trying to a ccomplish. In the en d the entire bottom ha lf of the mura l was Saturday scra pped in cluding man y of the ba dly Now with little less than ha lf the mura l pa inted dra wn skulls. over with white pa int, we were forced to come to a decision as to what we wanted to do with the Later on that da y the Resource Tea m got rema ining spa ce. A meeting was ca lled in the together to discuss the la yout of the 80:20 offices. Here a few of us that weren’t maga zine. This took the best part of two pa inting gathered to argue out ideas. hours to workout an d la yout. What were we going to in clude? Where were we going Some issues debated: to pla ce certa in articles? How would we A maths equation - comparing killings in Northern entice rea ders into the maga zine? How to * Irelan d to Rwan da.? a llow rea ders to get more knowledge an d Ma chetes an d Bullets - Ma chete = killing tool in give them an in cite into the truth, eviden ce * Rwan dan Genocide, Bullet = killing tool in an d horror of genocide in a ll it’s forms. Northern Irelan d There were a ll questions that ha d to be Skulls: moved to the sides? Scra pped a ltogether? answered. * Ma ps pla ced over them? Fa de them out as they tra vel down the mura l? Words: too man y? * Mirror: A mirror pla ced on the mura l in * pla ce of one of the skulls? Bring it home for the person looking at it. Let them see they could very easily be next.
The vast ma jority of these ideas were aban doned there an d then for various reasons, most because they weren’t getting the message a cross. The skulls were kept, nobody wanted them gone but they wanted less of them. They took preceden ce over the rea l message. People felt that it looked like an a lbum cover an d it was too cliched.
An d so now with some idea as to what was going MEMBERS OF THE to ha ppen next, a select a mount of pa inters began EURO MEDITERRANEAN work on new skulls to fill in some of the ga p left HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK EDUCATION by the old an d fa irly ba d ones. MEET WITH MEMBERS OF THE PROJECT TEAMGROUP . E Printed on recycled paper R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 1
Good matters, right matters. They have the last word. We learn about the Holocaust and other genocides so that we can be more human, more gentle, more caring, more compassionate, valuing every person as being of infinite worth, so precious that we know that such atrocities will never happen again, and that the world will be a more humane place that is hostile to such horrendous occurrences. Archbishop Desmond Tutu
2004 marks the 10th anniversary of the This resource, as well as the wall mural and genocide in Rwanda a genocide that resulted the set of posters that accompany it, explores in the bloody slaughter of more than 800,000 the topic of genocide in a number of Rwandan citizens. For most, it was an horrific contexts: reminder that the crime of genocide still a group of students and teachers, from occurs in the world today. It’s realities are not two schools – one in East Belfast, the something that is relegated to the past, as other in Bray – exploring the nature and exemplified by the horrors of the Holocaust or context of what happened in Rwanda, the Turkish slayings of hundreds of thousands and Northern Ireland, and elsewhere of Armenians in the early twentieth century. Genocide still occurs and, it seems likely, will an attempt to understand the nature and re-occur in the future. causes of genocide as well as its geography and history in recent decades For many of us in the Western world, genocide reminds us that killing, on a large an attempt to answer the basic question scale, is not confined to distant lands and - what can I do to prevent genocide? people but is, as the reality of the Balkans This resource has been written for a number clearly demonstrates, part of our world just as of reasons – to record what we did, to share much as it is part of ‘theirs’. For those of us our work and experiences with others, to living in Ireland, studying the phenomenon of highlight the educational dimension of the genocide is deeply disturbing for a variety of 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide reasons. While the character and scale of and to mark its consequences for those who killing in Northern Ireland (and throughout died as well as for those who survived. the island) has remained limited, many dimensions of our own history remain deeply Finally, we have published this resource to challenging. challenge the often asserted view that young people today don’t care – they do! The reality is that many of the worst genocides have occurred in Europe and at the hands of Europeans. 1 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 2
Genocide Explored
This project has involved a wide variety of groups working together over a period of months in the lead up to April, 2004, the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. At an obvious level, we wanted to mark the anniversary and, in some small way, remember those who died in such horrific circumstances. We knew that the anniversary would be reported on TV and throughout the media and we were concerned to ensure that the educational dimension of the anniversary was not forgotten. We were also centrally concerned to ensure that genocide did not remain ‘out there’ – something that happens to unfortunate people elsewhere but couldn’t happen here. We wanted to challenge the idea that Rwandans, Jews and ‘others’ experience genocide (and its various elements) and that, as such, it remains distant and remote from our own lives. We wanted to bring the challenges offered by genocide ‘home’. This challenge was represented by the response of one student who, initially, opted out of the project because he felt that studying the issue would do nothing (he was less polite than this in his description!) to prevent genocide – how could we do anything meaningful or effective? Reflecting on the realities of Rwanda, the Holocaust, Cambodia etc. and their underlying causes, patterns and human consequences in the light of events on this island in recent decades offered a potential answer to this fundamental question. The ‘we’ of this project are the students and teachers of two schools – Orangefield High School in East Belfast and Presentation College, Bray who agreed to come together to paint a wall mural on the theme of genocide (and to produce a supporting education resource and a set of posters). The 2 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 3
Educational issues and challenges
schools were supported by 4 non- governmental organisations – Aidlink, Concern, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World. We chose to produce a wall mural because of the long tradition of such mural painting in Northern Ireland (and because we have been involved in challenging much of their content in recent years). But, most important of all, the ‘we’ of the project are people from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland who come from very different traditions, backgrounds and perspectives – differences that have regularly expressed themselves in significant violence – against each other! The pictures on these pages capture some of our work – the workshops, the debates, the arguments, the painting, the football and the fun! The project is part of a bigger agenda that we have only begun to explore. Jennifer Mussen, Principal, Orangefield High School, East Belfast Gerry Duffy, Principal, Presentation College, Bray
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Genocide Explored
I didn't observe anything...for the longest time I did not believe in God. So for me it was really not a problem until I became older and I realised that...you see, I think a lot of survivors feel very guilty about surviving. For the longest time I kept asking myself, "Why am I alive? Why is my father dead? Why did 6,000,000 die and I am alive?" And when I got older, I began to realise that maybe God chose me because whatever little I have to contribute to telling of this, I am able to do that now. Jeannine Burk whose father was murdered in Auschwitz
In undertaking this project, we held many and is capable of shaping new lives workshops and discussions – in Belfast and in positively, and negatively. Bray – about the nature and causes of We need to know about the specific historical genocide, how it happened in Rwanda (and settings in which genocide took place, to elsewhere) and whether it could happen here whom it happened and by whose hand and in in Ireland. One question to which we what circumstances. We need to know this if constantly returned is, in many ways, the most we are to attempt to answer the question – fundamental question – why study genocide? what can we do? What follows is our attempt to answer that As has been pointed out – ‘those who forget question (with due acknowledgement to the past are doomed to repeat it’ Archbishop Desmond Tutu in The Encyclopaedia of Genocide, ABC-CLIO, Oxford, England, 1999). So that we learn There are many crucial lessons to be learned So that we try – how genocide occurs? What factors and not to forget circumstances allow it? What can be done to prevent its recurrence? What the role of The human consequences of genocide have government and the broader society were been horrendous – not just for those who (and could be)? What the role of armies and have been killed but for their families and of ordinary people was (and could be)? etc. their communities. Whole societies have But there are other, equally vital, lessons: been profoundly shaped and influenced by historical experiences – whilst they might that we can experience revulsion and yet appear to be in the past, for many, these be inspired experiences are very much of the present. so that we realise that ordinary people The guilt of those who were involved as well are capable of horrific violence (and as the guilt of those who survived lives on heroism) 4 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 5
Educational issues and challenges
that the issue cannot be left to you and me as well as to their families, governments and international bodies communities and countries. It is not confined alone to deal with to any one group of countries in Africa or the that the promotion and protection of Middle East or to poorer countries – it has human rights is vital happened here in Europe and in the so-called ‘civilised world’. that specific interventions such as the International Criminal Court are Ensuring protection for those at risk of fundamental to the rule of law – and of violence ensures all our safety and begins to morality build an international understanding of the idea of human security. that education against genocide is a fundamental, if insufficient, instrument of prevention etc. To support international As has been pointed out – ‘what we protection and justice learn from history is that we do not learn from history’ When a particular group or community comes under attack, international support becomes crucial. Such support can take So that we work to avoid many forms – political pressure, publicity, sanctions, UN condemnation, intervention, it happening again protection, asylum etc. Support for the UN As we progress further into the 21st century, and for its measures of protection is crucial to our technological capacity increases those under attack. exponentially, at least here in the so-called Bringing to justice those guilty of war crimes ‘developed world’, yet our moral, legal and is a fundamental part of ensuring that political capacities remain stunted by genocide does not happen again. It is also an comparison. For example, contrary to what important part of ensuring that revenge does we might believe, genocide is not simply not become the ‘order of the day’ – it is also carried out by educationally ‘ignorant’ part of the healing process. Institutions such people but by some of the most sophisticated as the International Criminal Court are a vital and learned individuals and groups. part of responding to the realities of We need to work to learn what instruments, genocide. structures and procedures are needed at national and international levels to attempt to prevent re-occurrences. But, most of all, we To realise our capacity for need to work to develop a public climate in evil and for good which the tell-tale signs are not only noted but also loudly challenged. Learning about, and from, the history of genocide tells us much about human nature Each and everyone of us has a role to play. and about our societies and ourselves. In a word, we should study genocide to learn To appreciate that it about what Africans call UBUNTU – the essence of being human – that our humanity could happen to me is bound up with that of others. Genocide always seems to happen to other people – Jews, Rwandans, Muslims etc. And yet, any brief study of genocide makes it clear that it happens to ordinary people, like 5 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 6
Genocide Explored
In developing the project as well as designing the wall mural, we researched a large number of instances of genocide or mass murder, we also looked at situations which involved large scale killing but which did not qualify as genocide. Many of these situations (and the methods of killing used) are shown on the mural itself. Below, we give some examples and a flavour of some of the arguments, ideas and opinions we found about them. Together, they tell us quite a bit about genocide.
Cambodia 1975-1979 In the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979 the Khmer Rouge regime (headed by Pol Pot) combined extremist ideology with ethnic animosity and a savage disregard for human life to produce repression, misery, and murder on a massive scale. According to Ben Kiernan, Director of the Genocide Studies, Program at Yale University: ‘We may safely conclude, from known pre- and post-genocide population figures and from professional demographic calculations, that the 1975-79 death toll was between 1.671 and 1.871 million people, 21 to 24 percent of Cambodia’s 1975 population.’ “Down one side of the paper, hand-written in graceful Cambodian characters, are the names of eight boys and girls, ages 9 to 14. At the bottom is the signature of Kang Kech Iev, director of an extermination centre run by the Cambodian Communists - the Khmer Rouge - near the village of Tuol Sleng in the 1970s. Of the 14,000 people confined there, just seven are known to have survived… Next to the names of the eight boys and girls is a scrawled notation dated May 30, 1978. It reads: “Kill them all.”
PATRICK DILGER IN BACK TO THE KILLING FIELDS
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THE HORRIFIC REALITY OF GENOCIDE, RWANDA 1994 – THE SCHOOL AT MURAMBI, THE CLOTHES OF THE VICTIMS AND THE VICTIMS OF ONE OF THE WORST ATROCITIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
Rwanda 1994 Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days. Most of the dead were Tutsis - and most of those who perpetrated the violence were Hutus. Even for a country with such a turbulent history as Rwanda, the scale and speed of the slaughter left its people reeling. The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6 April 1994. Within hours of the attack, a campaign of violence spread from the capital throughout the country and did not subside until three months later. But the death of the president was by no means the only cause of Africa’s largest genocide in modern times. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/africa/2004/rwanda ‘We talk about Rwanda as a failure of US policy – a failure to intervene, a failure to recognise what was going on, and a failure to take action to stop genocide. But if you look at the Clinton administration’s approach to it throughout the entire period, what you really see is that it was actually a success of a policy not to intervene. It wasn’t a failure to act. The decision was not to act. And at that we succeeded greatly. I think that anybody who still believes that the world will not let it happen again, who believes the words “Never again,” is deluding themselves dangerously.’
PHILIP GOUREVITCH (2000), AUTHOR OF WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT TOMORROW WE WILL BE KILLED WITH OUR FAMILIES, LONDON, PICADOR. 7 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 8
Genocide Explored
Iraq and the Kurds 1961–2003 Saddam Hussein and his followers killed more than 190,000 Kurdish people in Northern Iraq - they were murdered by nerve gas, poison gas and chemical weapons. The Kurds were also denied their right to speak and write in their own language, Kurdish folk songs were required to be sung in Turkish and children with Kurdish names were renamed. “One of our few remaining hopes is that democrats and those who cherish values of justice, peace and freedom will voice their concern for the plight of the Kurds”
KURDISH LEADERS IN A LETTER TO MARGARET THATCHER FOLLOWING THE GASSING OF KURDS AT HALABJA, 16TH AUGUST 1988. A British £340 million export credit deal with Iraq went through on September 5th 1988.
Bosnia – Herzegovina1992–1995 ‘A former Bosnian Serb army commander was jailed for 17 years by the Hague war crimes tribunal yesterday after confessing to his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 7,000 Muslims. Dragan Obrenovic, one of two former commanders to admit his role in the massacre, pleaded guilty to one count of crimes against humanity in May. “The trial chamber hereby sentences you to a period of 17 years’ imprisonment,” Judge Liu Daqun told Obrenovic as he stood to hear his sentence for admitting persecution on political, racial and religious grounds. Five other charges - including extermination and murder - had already been dismissed. Obrenovic was chief of staff in the Bosnian Serb army’s Zvornik brigade. His fellow accused, Momir Nikolic, was jailed for 27 years this month for his role in the slaughter of Muslims after Bosnian Serb forces overran Srebrenica towards the end of the 1992-95 Bosnian war’.
THE GUARDIAN, DECEMBER 11TH, 2003
‘I do not know that you could give me a complete answer, but perhaps you can help me to understand since I am not from that area. How could you explain some of the atrocities that we have heard have been committed? …Given your background, your experiences, knowing that Serbs and Muslims lived together, went to school together, how did that happen?’ asked Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald of the witness before her in the first international war crimes trial since World War II. Hando paused. ‘It is difficult to answer, this question,’ he replied. ‘I am also at a loss. I had the key to my next-door neighbour’s (house) who was a Serb, and he had my key. That is how we looked after each other…’
TESTIMONY OF HAMDO KAHRIMANOVIC BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA QUOTED IN ELIZABETH NEUFFER (2001) THE KEY TO MY NEIGHBOUR’S HOUSE: SEEKING JUSTICE IN BOSNIA AND RWANDA, LONDON, PICADOR. 8 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 9
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Armenians in Turkey 1915–1917 The Armenian Genocide was carried out by what was known as the Young Turk Government of the Ottoman Empire. Approximately 1.5 million Armenians were killed, from a total of 2.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. The German Vice Consul Count Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, summarised the Armenian Genocide in a report to his superiors as follows: ‘I have conducted a series of conversations with competent and influential Turkish personages, and these are my impressions: A large segment of the Ittahadist [Young Turk] party maintains the viewpoint that the Turkish empire should be based only on the principle of Islam and Pan-Turkism. Its non-Muslim and non-Turkish inhabitants should either be forcibly Islamised, or otherwise they ought to be destroyed. These gentlemen believe that the time is propitious for the realisation of this plan. The first item on this agenda concerns the liquidation of the Armenians’
The Nazi Holocaust 1938–1945 The genocide of European Jews and others: included the systematic extermination of 6 million European Jews, Romany people, Slavs, intellectuals, homosexuals and political dissidents by the Nazis and their allies during World War II. “Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality… I have issued the command – and I’ll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad – that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly I have placed my death-head formations in readiness – for the present only in the East – with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space, which we need”
ADOLF HITLER AUGUST 22, 1939 (QUOTED FROM A SPEECH DELIVERED BY HITLER TO THE SUPREME COMMANDERS AND COMMANDING GENERALS, AS THE NAZIS MARCHED INTO POLAND IN 1939)
But one ugly, deadly and recurrent reality check persists: genocide. Genocide has occurred so often and so uncontested in the last fifty years that an epithet more apt in describing recent events than the oft-chanted “Never Again” is in fact “Again and Again.” The gap between the promise and the practice of the last fifty years is dispiriting indeed. How can this be?
SAMANTHA POWER (2003), AUTHOR OF APROBLEM FROM HELL: AMERICA AND THE AGE OF GENOCIDE, LONDON, FLAMINGO 9 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 10
Genocide Explored
Genocide does not just happen. It is organised, planned and executed precisely. Genocide usually follows eight stages in it’s development and execution.
Classification in Rwanda … Classification is the categorising of people Rwandan society was classified into three into groups. They are classified by race, groups, the Hutu (majority), the Tutsi and religion and/or nationality. An us versus the Twa. The Tutsi were seen as the “Elite” them attitude is introduced and promoted. by the French and Belgian colonists because Classification will always take place, it has of their “white” features. The Tutsi were happened in Ireland. There are divisions given preference in education, religion and drawn between Protestants and Catholics, governmental services. and between Nationals and Non-Nationals. Because of this the Hutu Power movement There are ways of insuring that these saw the Tutsi as foreigners who had taken classifications don’t escalate. If both sides the rightful control of Rwanda from the find a common ground and institutions that Hutu. transcend these divisions, inter-relationships and1 tolerance can grow.
Symbolisation in Rwanda … Groups are given names and other symbols In Rwanda symbolisation came in the form that can be used to classify them. of identification cards. They were introduced Classification and symbolisation are in 1926 by the Belgians and were required universally human and do not necessarily by law. The card recorded each individual’s result in genocide unless they lead to the group identity – Hutu, Tutsi or Twa. next stage, dehumanisation. When combined New ID cards (that did not show which with hatred, symbols may be forced upon group people belonged to) were printed after unwilling members of groups. the Arusha peace agreement in 1993. They were never issued because the Hutu regime wanted to use these new cards to identify the 2 Tutsi during the genocide. 10 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 11
Educational issues and challenges
in Rwanda … Dehumanisation (Dictionary extract) Dehumanise: to deprive Newspapers and radio were used to of human qualities dehumanise the Tutsi in Rwanda. The “Kangura” newspaper as well as 20 other This process implies that members of one extremist newspapers wrote articles and group are dehumanised. They are likened to cartoons portraying the Tutsi as cockroaches animals, vermin or disease. and snakes, they accused the Tutsi of eating Why is dehumanisation important? By vital organs and they embellished the myth dehumanising a group, those planning that the Tutsi invaded from Ethiopia. Radio genocide feel justified and the killing of the Télévision Libres des Milles Collines other group is not seen as murder. (RTLMC) was set up in 1993. It was a “hate Dehumanisation overcomes the human radio” which broadcasted anti-Tutsi revulsion3 against murder. propaganda throughout Rwanda.
Organisation in Rwanda … The genocide is organised. Hate groups are In 1990 the Forces ArmÈes Rwandaises (the organised and militias are formed, trained all-Hutu army) expanded from 5,000 to and armed. 28,000. Plans are made for the genocide. At this Between 1990 and April 1994 Rwanda spent time propaganda institutions like $12 million on arms. newspapers and radios are strengthened and In the early 90’s two militias were set up. propaganda increases. The “Interahamwe” (Those Who Stand/Attack Together) and the “Impuzamugambi” were secretly trained by 4 Rwandan army officers.
Polarisation in Rwanda … … form or cause to form into groups with “Kangura” and RTLMC called anyone who directly opposite views; opposed Hutu Power an accomplice of the Tutsis and an ally of the enemy. An example Polarisation is used to describe the way that of a moderate killed in the genocide is extremists drive the two groups involved in Agathe Uwilingiyimana . When she became genocide apart. The us versus them attitude Prime Minister of the Government in 1993, is emphasised. At this time a new view is RTLMC openly called for her assassination. formed, if you are not with us, you are She was one of the first officials to be against us. Moderates are denounced as murdered in the genocide. traitors and are persecuted. Some are even killed. It now becomes a kill or be killed situation5. 11 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:48 PM Page 12
Genocide Explored
Preparation in Rwanda … Plans are made for the fast approaching When the Rwandan Patriotic Army invaded, genocide. Lists are drawn up of those who the trial massacres began. are to be killed. Trial massacres are 300 in Kabirira Oct. ‘90. conducted to give the murderers practice. If 500-1000 in Kinigi Jan. ‘91 these massacres go ignored by the 300 in Bugesera Mar. ’92 international community, genocide is ready The US Embassy reported a massacre of 70 to proceed. Tutsis by the Interahamwe in Kigali Feb. At this time an international force should be ’94. sent to intervene and humanitarian assistance should be organised for the inevitable6 tide of refugees. Extermination in Rwanda … This is when the killing begins. It is termed The genocide began on April 7, 1994, the “extermination” as the killers believe their day after the Rwandan President’s plane was victims to be less than human and that they shot down, killing him. The genocidaires are purifying society. were well prepared and began slaying at At this stage, only rapid and overwhelming once. The killing was low-tech. The armed intervention can stop genocide. murderers used machetes, hoes and anything that could be used to kill. The Hutu believed that it was kill or be killed. In the second week of the genocide the militias brought the Tutsis to government offices, churches schools and began massacring them on a 7 larger scale. Denial in Rwanda … During and after every genocide the crime is denied by the perpetrators. There were many forms of denial in How can you deny genocide? Rwanda: You lie, block investigations and dispose of the murderers believed that they were the evidence. taking legitimate action by part-taking in The killers hide the bodies in mass graves the genocide; and intimidate any witnesses brave enough the militias disposed of the bodies (by to speak out. using lime) to minimise the amount of Most say that the genocide was justified by victims; claiming that the killings were part of a war or a repression of terrorism. the government blamed the actions of The best response to denial is punishment victims for their deaths and claimed that by an international tribunal or national the murders were spontaneous outbreaks courts.8 There the evidence can be heard, and or the actions of rogue commanders. the perpetrators punished.
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Educational issues and challenges
There are, literally, hundreds of genocide sites on the Internet – and not all of them against it (watch out for white power sites that promote racist viewpoints and actions!). We have chosen to highlight the following sites because they are useful starting points and will give you more than enough links to take the search onwards.
www.holocaust-education.dk www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/ An excellent site – home of the Danish Institute frontline for Holocaust and Genocide Studies – provides Check out this site – Frontline: the triumph of sections for teachers and students also sections on evil – look for section entitled ‘for educators’ and the basics, test yourself, timelines, statistics, a follow it – especially good on Rwanda but has dictionary etc. The links section is particularly lots of excellent resources. good – check out the world’s largest, English language, site www.ushmm.org (US Holocaust Some Reading Memorial Museum). Parts of the site are not in On Rwanda English. Philip Gourevitch (2000) We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ stories from Rwanda, London, Picador – a in_depth/africa/2004/rwanda brilliant, and very readable book exploring the The BBC’s accessible and very usable site realities of Rwanda, his reasons for writing the covering events in Rwanda 10 years on – the book and your reasons for reading it. history of the genocide, the human dimensions On genocide (and on how governments respond and its consequences, stories and testimonies, the – in this case the US) legal aspects etc. The very best place to start on Samantha Power (2003) A Problem from Hell: Rwanda – also has audio and video clips. America and the Age of Genocide, London, Flamingo – not by any means an easy read but www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide her book is a must for those trying to understand Home of the Web Genocide Documentation official responses to genocide – her conclusions Centre – it provides access to all the basic are crucial. documentation you will ever need on the subject On Northern Ireland – all the conventions, information on specific John Darby (1997) Scorpions in a Bottle: cases (Timor, the Third Reich, Yugoslavia etc.), Conflicting Cultures in Northern Ireland, London, information on different Tribunals investigating Minority Rights Publications – an excellent atrocities etc. overview covering all the key dimensions Not always easily accessible but packed full of including minority rights, broader lessons etc. information and analysis. Very readable.
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Genocide Explored
The art in this work is important – it is important because it provides a visual testimony to a period of time. A time for discussion and debate, for perceptions to be challenged and most importantly, for the most destructive elements of our human capacity to be reclaimed in the name of creativity.
Wall murals have and to continue to have a – the traditional image of genocide is that of major influence on how we see others and a mass of skulls, which we decided to use as ourselves in the context of Northern Ireland. a second ‘layer’. Nothing was more debated However, it would be wrong to assume that in the entire project than the number and the situation in Ulster is the only context in presentation of the skulls. which public space such as walls have been The 3rd ‘layer’ in the mural is represented by used to mark territory or ‘advertise’ the ideas the survivors’ testimonies hand-written on the and values of a specific group. mural – everyone associated with the project From El Salvador to Argentina, Mexico to was invited to find and include a testimony. Nazi Germany, such values and ideologies This ‘layer’ represents our attempt to have been illustrated through the use of ‘humanise’ the issue of genocide and killing. public art works such as murals. Finally, we chose to include the 8 stages of Our mural is an attempt to use this existing genocide as identified by Gregory Stanton – political ‘aesthetic’ as an educational this represents the ‘analytical layer’ of the methodology to engage the viewer in an mural (see www.genocidewatch.org). internal and external debate. The mural has a number of ‘layers’ around which it is thematically organised. Initially, we decided to list 3 sets of important information – places in which genocide and mass killing occurred, the dates of such events and the methods used in killing. Some of the dates and places are clearly highly controversial and are hotly contested. For example, the treatment of Aboriginal Australians in the history of that country is a matter of current political debate and potential legal action; the question of the Armenians in 1915 – 1917 and, of course, the inclusion of Northern Ireland. We then approached the question of imagery 14 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:49 PM Page 15
Educational issues and challenges
See developmenteducation.ie/genocide
Classify Symbolise Dehumanise Organise Polarise Prepare Exterminate Deny See developmenteducation.ie/genocide As part of the support package for the project, we decided to produce a set of 3 posters. Poster 1 places the genocide in Rwanda in the historical context of other genocides and killings and presents a summary of the definition of genocide from the Genocide Convention. Poster 2 illustrates the 8 stages of genocide with images from different times and
locations. The 1948 UN Convention on Genocide defines Genocide as any of the following acts committed to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such. Ð Killing members of a group; Poster 3 places events in Rwanda and Ð Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a group; Ð Deliberately inflicting on a group the conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; Northern Ireland side by side – we recognise Ð Imposing measures intended to prevent births within a group; Ð Forcibly transferring children of one group to another. The Convention also imposes a general duty on states that are signatories to that this is controversial and contestable. The 'prevent and to punish’ genocide. figures presented – 3,000 and 1 – represent REMEMBER REFLECT LEARN the ratio of deaths in the two places. How you interpret this equation is up to you! Readers might be interested to know that Gregory Stanton places Northern Ireland at stage 5 in the 8 stages! NORTHERN 3000: 1 RWANDA:IRELANDSee developmenteducation.ie/genocide 15 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:49 PM Page 16
Genocide Explored
About the process Writing, editing and designing – these were skills developed during the writing of articles The importance of researching and for the resource, the editing and choosing of understanding the issue. The work undertaken photos and working with a printer to design by the group included researching websites, the resource. readings and photos. How to write a press release to tell others People had to use their critical and negotiation about the project. skills to analyse what they were doing, why The importance of working together as a team they were doing it and to make decisions and keeping each other informed of what each about what images and understanding they group was working on especially when not wanted to portray in the mural especially. everyone took part in every bit. There were a number of times when we just seemed to get lost – it forced us to think all By working on this project, we, the the time about what we were doing. It was participants, learned a lot but so too did many much more difficult than we thought at first. others in our school – both students and teachers – it also encouraged other classes to In order to share the information with others, look at the same issue via sculpture and essay the process needed to be documented at all writing. stages – again, consciously looking at the process was not something we were familiar That we can make a difference if we bother. with – deciding on photos, interviews, video This was hard work but it was worth it! etc. The effect of documenting an event or story using art as a tool. We learned the importance of images – the selection and portrayal of them – how to put together a wall mural – from researching the issue through to putting the finishing touches to the final product. We learned not just about the issues but also about art and the use of art.
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Educational issues and challenges
The Issue – Genocide – Rwanda and Northern Ireland From the numerous workshops that took place, we learned about Rwanda, genocide, the relative ease with which genocide and violence can happen, the fear and terror that is involved and the need to do something about it. Genocide is an organised crime against humanity, it is not only wrong, it also threatens all of us. In one sense, everyone is implicated, especially if we choose to do nothing or to assume that its someone else’s job or that it only happens to others. Everyone has a role in challenging and preventing violence and crime against the person wherever it occurs. Genocide has happened here in Europe is recent decades – it is not something that only affects other people, elsewhere throughout the world – genocide is a European reality. Some of the worlds greatest horrors are perpetrated on other human beings, not by ignorant and uneducated people but often by highly ‘educated’ individuals and groups. Learning from history is not a theoretical idea – learning about genocide and especially about its various stages has direct implications for us here in Ireland – we understand that genocide did not happen here, so far! Linking genocide and Rwanda with Northern Ireland annoyed some people. They felt insulted by the comparison but there are lessons to be learned here! Certainly some of the 8 stages of genocide have taken place here – this should frighten us!
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Genocide Explored
‘Justice is not a court verdict, it is also a personal journey’ Author Elizabeth Neuffer
As with all projects such as this, a central occur. This is especially true when working question raised at almost every turn is the with young people. They need the space and difficult question of ‘What can I/we do?’ the support to explore, question, challenge This question is all the more difficult to and re-question without being handed easy answer when faced with challenges as and simplistic packaged solutions delivered immense as those posed by genocide and the to them by others. role of young people in countries such as Being a teacher in such a context is also a Ireland and the UK. profound challenge – deciding where to And yet, in and of itself, the project described begin, what to teach, what to avoid etc. here is an initial important answer to the In workshops addressing the question posed question – bringing together young people at the outset, we identified a brief list of from different and differing traditions (and actions that all of us need to apply to our own politics) within this island to explore the personal and professional situations. issue of genocide, not only in terms of its implications for Rwanda (and elsewhere) but also for the island of Ireland. Challenge ourselves The learning involved in a project such as and others this is visible and palpable. Supporting students (and teachers) in exploring the issue Do not accept the argument that there is little and in peeling the layers surrounding we can do – there is always something we genocide is ultimately a process of opening can do and usually far more than we give both eyes and hearts. The information ourselves credit for! explored, the discussions and debates Challenge the idea that genocide is involved in processing that information; the impossible to understand, that it defies human arguments about images and messages as experience or that it is conducted by uniquely well as the methodologies of negotiation and evil individuals and groups. As Archbishop compromise (and team working) are Desmond Tutu has pointed out, genocide fundamental. graphically illustrates the capacity of each What is clear is that the most basic response and every one of us for both good and evil. required is a personal one – the recognition Challenge the idea that issues such as this are that an issue such as genocide has inappropriate for enquiry in a schools/youth implications for me. Without this realisation, context – that they are too political or too and the challenges it poses, little effective complex or too disturbing. and meaningful personal development can 18 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:49 PM Page 19
Educational issues and challenges
Explore the issues from the realities of what is currently being done (and what more can be done) by activist In this project one of the most effective groups and by voluntary organisations. This means for exploring the theme of genocide is also true of the (mutual) misunderstandings were the personal testimonies of survivors between our politicians and our schools. and those affected. These testimonies highlighted the human face of an issue that is usually illustrated by numbers – numbers that Challenge racial and appear incomprehensible to most of us. other stereotyping We need to try to avoid creating a hierarchy of suffering and recognise the reality that Today Ireland, North and South, is in a genocide is literally the killing of large significant and highly visible process of numbers of single individuals. Such an change – we are now becoming increasingly approach has profound implications for multicultural, if not yet intercultural. This learning. reality offers us a challenging context for learning and teaching. Throughout this Another powerful tool used in this project project, the issue of how we see each other – was the 8 stages of genocide proposed by as Nationalists, Loyalists, Catholics, Gregory Stanton (of Genocidewatch). This Protestants, Muslims, Black, White etc. was a enabled all of us to breakdown the issue of constant theme. Dublin and Belfast have genocide into its component parts and in this both witnessed an upsurge of deliberately way to make it more understandable and targeted and focused racist attacks to add to accessible. our own traditional sectarianism. The 8 stage analysis of genocide allowed us Identify opportunities to focus clearly on the question of how societies allow whole groups of people (who to share learning share common characteristics or traditions or Sharing the process and outcomes of a beliefs) to be stereotyped and categorised. project such as this is important – the Classification, symbolisation, dehumanisation demonstration dimension of our work was etc., as components of genocide, were much clear – other students and teachers regularly discussed. So too were their implications for dropped by to explore what was going on! Ireland. Other classes began to work on the issue of Perhaps the most fundamental answer to the genocide also – via sculpture and essays. question what can I/we do? is to be found in Sharing the outcomes with parents, NGO the context of the histories of conflict on this staff, local community groups and local island and how each one of us involved in media has also been important. this project respond to that reality in the Students and teachers from other schools future. Another fundamental answer is to be were invited to the launch of the project and found in how we respond to the growing workshops on genocide are now planned for multiculturalism (and its unfortunate these schools – to be conducted by the attendant racism) on the island. students involved. Valerie Duffy, The model of joint work involving students, John Johnston teachers, schools and NGOs has considerable and Colm Regan value that has yet to be fully realised. Many 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World NGOs do not engage directly with schools or with learning realities and processes and so, many of the materials and actions offered are inappropriate to learning contexts and situations. Equally, schools are often isolated 19 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:49 PM Page 20
Genocide Explored
Greek derivative geno, meaning ‘race’ or ‘tribe’ together with the Latin derivative cide, from caedere, meaning ‘killing Raphael Lemkin
The UN Convention on Genocide This was adopted in December 1948 and came into effect in January 1951. Article Two of the Convention defines Genocide as ‘…any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group;
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
Deliberately inflicting on the group the conditions of life calculated to bring about its 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
The Convention also imposes a general duty on states that are signatories to ‘prevent and to punish’ genocide.
Genocide is distinguishable from all other crimes by the motivation behind it. Genocide is a crime on a different scale to all other crimes against humanity and implies an intention to completely exterminate the chosen group. Genocide is therefore both the gravest and greatest of the crimes against humanity
Alain Destexhe (Former Secretary General of Doctors Without Borders) 20 R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:49 PM Page IBC1
Planning to learn – Activities we some lessons from undertook that our work you might try! Develop an overall rationale and a Organise a debate on the question programme of activities for exploring Genocide: could it happen here? an issue such as genocide – use this Record and debate the arguments put rationale to monitor progress and forward outcomes – we had to review our Explore the 8 stages listed in this activities often resource in the context of Northern Don’t just talk numbers, focus on the Ireland – how many can you individuals and communities involved realistically and defensibly, identify? and affected – translate statistics into In groups, explore particular histories people and contexts of genocide and try to Assemble clear definitions of the issues identify some common characteristics – – genocide, pogrom, convention etc. use the 8 stages to explore this issue Defining key terms becomes important further from the very start Identify an overall rationale for Try to contextualise the history you are exploring this issue – we used the ideas studying – for example, much of the put forward by Archbishop Tutu and material we found in the media on others (see pages 1 and 13) Rwanda had very little context Gather together the testimony of Try to avoid stereotypical descriptions survivors and of those affected – what – we all have a tendency to overly do these stories tell us? caricature those with whom we Keep diaries of the process – what disagree surprised us, what did we learn, what Openly discuss difficult questions – did we have to change? don’t hide the fact that they are Collect images of an event such as difficult and that much of what we are genocide (and of related events), what exploring is contested images best illustrate the reality you Try to organise a spread of learning are trying to get across? What images activities that involve the emotions as don’t, and why? well as the intellect Compare and contrast Internet sites Above all, above the tendency to exploring the issue of genocide – there (unconsciously) create ‘hierarchies of has been an explosion of such sites suffering’ e.g. how can we compare the (especially in the US) in the past 10 suffering of one group who lost X or Y years. Can you identify patterns and million people against another who common trends in the sites? only lost A or B thousands Pick a controversial issue such as the Make sure you explore the implications treatment of Aboriginal Australians and of the issue under enquiry for those explore it from the perspective of studying it i.e. bring the issue ‘home’ genocide. What do you conclude? Paint your own wall mural – we did! R7133 Stages of Genocide 19/04/2004 3:49 PM Page OBC1
Presentation College, Bray When evil-doing comes like falling rain Like one who brings an important letter to the counter after office hours: the counter is already closed. Like one who seeks to warn the city of an impending flood, but speaks another language. They do not understand him. Orangefield High School, Like a beggar who knocks for the Belfast fifth time at the door where he has four times been given something: the fifth time he is hungry. Like one whose blood flows from Educating and Acting for a Better World a wound and who awaits the doctor: his blood goes on flowing. So do we come forward and report that evil has been done us. The first time it was reported that our friends were being butchered there was a cry of horror. Then a hundred
WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER were butchered. But when a thousand were butchered and there was no end to the butchery, a blanket of silence spread. When evil-doing comes like falling rain, no body calls out ‘stop!’ When crimes begin to pile up they become invisible. When Development Cooperation sufferings become unendurable the cries are no longer Ireland heard. The cries, too, fall like rain in summer. Bertolt Brecht (READ BY SEAMUS HEANEY IN BELFAST 2004)