Human Rights Violations

Meso-Americans When: 1500s, Post-Encounter of Latin America Where: “New World” / Latin America Who’s Responsible: Western Europeans What Happened?: W. Europeans killed many Native Latin Americans with warfare & disease, millions died, leaving only small % Attempt to End it: Bartolomé de las Casas baptized the Mesoamericans to save them from Spanish injustices

Russian Pogroms When: 1800s, Tsarist/Czarist Russia Where: Russia & Eastern Europe Who’s Responsible: Russian gov’t What Happened?: violent attacks by local non- Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire & in other countries, death count unknown, ANTISEMITIC EVENT Attempt to End it: nothing specifically done to address this (not until after the Holocaust)

Armenian Massacre When: during WWI (1914-1918) Where: Ottoman Empire / Turkey (Middle East) Who’s Responsible: Young Turks / Ottomans What Happened?: up to 1.5 million Christian Armenians were violently killed and/or died during a forced deportation (movement) Attempt to End it: foreign diplomats exposed the genocide and trials were held but most of those responsible were set free (called first modern genocide)

Holocaust When: during WWII (1939-1945) Where: Poland & Germany Who’s Responsible: Hitler & Nazis What Happened?: Hitler’s “Final Solution,” Jews & other undesirables were used as scapegoats for Germany’s problems after WWI, leading to a mass extermination of 11 million people, ANTISEMETIC EVENT Attempt to End it: Allied forces ended the genocide with they defeated Germany at the end of WWII, Nuremberg Trials prosecuted Nazis for crimes against humanity

Bosnian Genocide When: 1995 Where: former Yugoslavia / Bosnia Who’s Responsible: Slobodan Milosevic & Serbians What Happened?: “ethnic cleansing,” after breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbians began execution of Bosnian Muslims & Croatians, 100,000 killed Attempt to End it: NATO led by the U.S. defeated the Serbian Army & stopped the genocide

Rape of Nanjing When: 1937, pre-WWII Where: City of Nanjing, China Who’s Responsible: Japanese Army What Happened?: Japanese expanded into China, the army took the city hostage and raped 20,000 + women & children and executed 200,000-300,000 people Attempt to End it: foreigners created an International Safety Zone in part of the city, the Japanese were defeated in WWII

Cultural Revolution When: 1960s Where: China Who’s Responsible: Mao Zedong & Red Guard What Happened?: Mao wanted to get rid of anyone who opposed him & revitalize the commitment to communism, intellectuals were targeted Attempt to End it: some CCP members tried to end it because of the harm is was doing to China (ex. Deng Xiaoping)

One-Child Policy When: late 1970s - 2015 Where: China Who’s Responsible: Deng Xiaoping, CCP What Happened?: gov’t program to reduce the # of births, forced abortions, denial of services to 2nd child Attempt to End it: minority populations and those who have female children

Tiananmen Square Massacre When: 1989 Where: China Who’s Responsible: Deng Xiaoping & CCP What Happened?: Chinese students & workers protested for more political rights, the gov’t responded by killing thousands of protestors Attempt to End it: western media televised the protest

Rwandan Genocide When: 1994 Where: Rwanda, Africa Who’s Responsible: Hutu majority What Happened?: Hutu’s executed approx. 1 million Tutsis after a Hutu leader died in a plane crash, Hutus’ felt superior to Tutsis & didn’t want to share power Attempt to End it: the United Nations sent a military task force & the international community condemned the act, but it was already too late

Darfur Genocide When: 2003-2010 Where: Sudan, Africa Who’s Responsible: Sudanese gov’t What Happened?: majority Muslim population sought to take land of the minority population in Darfur region, killing over 100,000 & displacing over 500,000 people Attempt to End it: United Nations, Western Nations, & other African Nations with the Rwandan Army helped to end the genocide

Apartheid When: 1950-1994 Where: South Africa Who’s Responsible: Afrikaners (white gov’t) What Happened?: a legal separation of races in which black South Africans were relocated to homelands, stripped of rights, & had to carry ID passes Attempt to End it: African National Congress led by Nelson Mandela & Afrikaner FW de Klerk worked to end Apartheid, international community used economic sanctions

Women under the Taliban When: 1996 – 2001 Where: Afghanistan Who’s Responsible: Taliban What Happened?: Taliban (Islamic Fundamentalist group) denied women political, social & economic rights (no school, voting, jobs, must be fully covered), used public executions Attempt to End it: U.S. & NATO invade Afghanistan & remove the Taliban from power, however they are always trying to reemerge in the new gov’t

Killing Fields of Cambodia When: 1975 Where: Cambodia (Southeast Asia) Who’s Responsible: Pol Pot & Khmer Rouge What Happened?: Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot wanted to create a farming utopia & executed over 2 million people (¼ of the population), intellectuals were targeted Attempt to End it: in 1978 the North Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and ended the genocide

Kurdish Genocide When: 1986 - 1989 Where: Northern Iraq Who’s Responsible: Saddam Hussein & Baathist Party What Happened?: Hussein killed approx. 180,000 Kurds & other minorities in attempt to make a pure Arab population in Iraq Attempt to End it: international pressure on Iraq as reports of the genocide were made public