Aim: How Could Genocides Still Occur after the Holocaust? Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention defines a genocide as “acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

Khmer Rouge 1975 A) 1970 and 1973, during the Vietnam War the US bombed Cambodia. B) April 1975 the Khmer Rouge (Communists led by Pol Pot) seized control of Cambodia. They wanted to rid Cambodia of all western influence. Scholars, Christians, Buddhists and Muslims were persecuted. C) Cambodians forced to live in communes. D) 1.7+ million people killed through work, starvation and torture. E) January 1979 communist Vietnam invaded and removed the Khmer Rouge from power. Many survivors fled to refugee camps in Thailand; of these, many immigrated to the US. ​

Khmer Rouge Continued… Khmer Rouge Killing Field in Trapeang Sva Village, Kandal province, Cambodia “I did not join the resistance movement to kill people, to kill the nation. Look at me now. Am I a savage person? My conscience is clear.” – Pol Pot​

Bosnian Genocide A) April 1992, Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia. B) Bosnian Serbs declared an independent Serb state and claimed Sarajevo as its capital. Their forces were lead by Slobodan Milosevic. C) Bosnian Muslims were put into concentration camps, gunned down and females were raped D) On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces massacred 7-8,000 in Srebrenica, an area deemed a “safe haven” by the UN.​ E) 100,000 people (80% Bosnian Muslims) were killed by 1995.

Bosnian Genocide Continued… “NATO believes it can pick on a small nation and force us to surrender our independence. And that is where NATO miscalculated. You are not willing to sacrifice lives to achieve our surrender. But we are willing to die to defend our rights as an independent sovereign nation.” “We are not angels. Nor are we the devils you have made us out to be.” - Slobodan Milosevic “Milosevic, 64, a depressive with a history of high blood pressure and chronic heart disease, was found 'lifeless' in bed by one of his guards at a UN prison near the Hague, where he was being tried on 66 counts of crimes against humanity, including genocide.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/mar/12/warcrimes.milosevictrial

Bosnian genocide mass grave at Pilica farm near Srebrenica

Rwandan Genocide 19th century Belgium colonized Rwanda. They called light skinned Rwandans “Tutsis” and dark skinned Rwandans “Hutus”. They gave preferential treatment to the minority Tutsis. By 1918 Rwandans were given ID labeling them Hutu or Tutsi. Rwanda gained independence from Belgium 1962. ​ April 6, 1994, the Hutu president of Rwanda was assassinated  call on radio to exterminate “cockroach” Tutsis. April 7, 1 million Rwandans lost their lives in 100 days. 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped. A UN peacekeeping operation was sent in April but was ill equipped. E) 1994 the UN created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda  2008 3 former Hutu generals were convicted.

Rwandan Genocide Continued… “The diplomat who was president of the U.N. Security Council in April 1994 apologized Wednesday for the council’s refusal to recognize that genocide was taking place in Rwanda and for doing nothing to halt the slaughter of more than 1 million people...” ​ The Japan Times “U.N. official apologizes for failure to recognize Rwanda genocide”, April 2014​ May 30, 1994: Children hide in a house near their orphanage, which was hit by shelling.

Darfur A) Sudan gained independence from the UK 1956. B) North Sudan is mostly Muslim Arab. South Sudan is mostly Christian and animist. C) A genocide was carried out by government armed and funded Arab militias (Janjaweed). They targeted non-Arabs: burned villages, looted resources, polluted water sources, murdered, raped, and tortured. D) 500,000+ killed, and 3+ million people are displaced. E) July 9, 2011, South Sudan became the world’s newest country. BUT the conflict continues. “The International Criminal Court has outstanding arrest warrants against five individuals, including President al-Bashir, for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide allegedly committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2008.” https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/sudan

Burning of Um Zeifa village after Janjaweed looting and attack Darfur Continued… “The attack on my village happened early in the morning. The Janjaweed and the Government soldiers were divided into three groups and each group had a different task. The first group took every man between the age of 18 and 40. They put them on trucks. Another group looted our huts. And the last group took the cattle. The Janjaweed told us [the women] that they would bring our men to Deleig. When we arrived in Deleig two days later, we saw the dead bodies of our men laying on the ground in the streets.” - Female refugee, age 30 Deleig (West Darfur) Burning of Um Zeifa village after Janjaweed looting and attack

Summary Questions What were the causes and impacts of the following genocides? a) Khmer Rouge b) Bosnia c) Rwanda d) Darfur 2. How can we stop genocides from occurring again?

Key Vocabulary Bosnia-Herzegovina Cambodia Darfur Genocide Hutus Janjaweed Khmer Rouge Pol Pot Rwandan Genocide Slobodan Milosevic Srebrenica Sudan Tutsis Yugoslavia