Ultranationalism and crimes against humanity Chapter 7 Ultranationalism and crimes against humanity

Chapter Issue To what extent can the pursuit of ultranationalism lead to crimes against humanity? What are crimes against humanity? How has ultranationalism lead to crimes against humanity? What are some contemporary consequences of ultranationalism?

Crimes against humanity? Crimes against humanity – refers to the widespread or systematic attacks against a civilian population – murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, rape or sexual slavery, enforced disappearance of persons, and the crime of apartheid.

Cont’d Genocide – refers to the killing of members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bringing about its physical destruction

Cont’d War Crimes – refers to the wilful killing, torture, or inhuman treatment; wilfully causing great suffering; and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population or against those who are involved in a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission.

ICC The ICC stands for the international criminal court and this is the organization that decided and wrote the previous 3 definitions. It was established by the UN and tries and judges people accused of the “most serious crimes of international concern”

Ultranationalism and crimes against humanity A serious concern associated with ultranationalism that can lead to crimes against humanity is bigotry and racism (which is a type of bigotry). A bigot is someone who treats a group, or its members, with disdain or contempt simply because they are members of that group  whether because of race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality.

Cont’d When a bigot or racist treats a group of people with contempt they have taken the first step towards inhumane treatment and segregation of that group. Often, they wish to deny the group their rights that should be associated with citizenry and humanity.

Turkey 1915 – Genocide Case study IN 1914 in Turkey an ultranationalist political party called the Young Turks controlled the Ottoman-Turkish government issued order to massacre Armenians  including: Exterminate all males under 50, priests, and teachers; leave girls to be Islamized Claim remaining family members of escapees and cut off any former connections Kill off anyone in the Armenian army.

Cont’d The actual orders were executed April 24, 1915 This was state –sponsored genocide Fewer than 100000 out of the 2 million former Armenians survived (1 in 20 survived  1, or maybe 2, out of this class!) An author, Robert Fisk, claims that this action, and the subsequent lack of consequences became a model for Hitler during WWII.

Famine in the Ukraine In order to stem Ukrainian nationalism Stalin (leader of Soviet Union) targeted the Breadbasket of Europe. Kulaks, prosperous Ukrainian farmers, were ordered to turn over their land to the state (communism) yet continue to work it. When they resisted, Stalin ordered their grain and seeds seized and their borders locked down (no one in or out and anyone hiding seed or grain or not cooperating was executed)

Cont’d By the time Stalin was done he had full granaries in Russia which he used to trade and finance his army and feed his supporters. Between 3-7 million Ukrainians' are estimated to have starved as a result of this (in just one year! 1932-33). Ukrainians call this the Holodomor.

Nazi Ultranationalism and the Holocaust Read the “Impact” section on pages 166 & 167 and discuss the exploration questions Jewish people, Slavic people, homosexual men, people with disabilities, freemasons, and Jehovah’s witnesses were exterminated in death camps as a result of Hitler’s dreams of a “pure” race. (Well over 6 million people)

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Even at the time there was debate about dropping the atomic bombs on Japan. Some felt that due to the Japan’s societal values as a warrior nation, they would have never surrendered and the bombs saved lives in the long run.

Cont’d Others disagreed and said that the war was coming to a close and these were no longer “mandatory” measures to save American lives. Or maybe they should have given warning or demonstrated the potential in an uninhabited region

Cont’d Read pages 168 and 169 Based on what we have discussed and what you have just read, what do you think about whether or not dropping the Atomic bombs should be labeled a war crime?

Contemporary consequences of Ultranationalism We have already discussed the ICC. It is a court of last resort and will not act if a national court fairly tries people accused of these heinous crimes. At least 105 countries have signed on (including Canada) but, however, not all nations are signatories (agree to attend/adhere to the ICC’s decisions) These nations include China, India, Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia. Oh yeah . . . And the US!

Serbian Ultranationalism and Sarajevo Read page 165 about Slobodan Milosevic’s ethnic cleansing of non-Serbians. Ethnic cleansing – the “friendlier” nickname used by Milosevic to commit genocide and expel non-Serbians.

Louise Arbour Read “making a difference” on page 172 to read about this Canadian who has made a large impact on the international community. Answer the explanation questions.

Rwanda Home of two ethnic groups – the Hutus and Tutsis. There have been decades of civil conflict here based on their history. In April 1994 a plane was shot down with president Juvenal Habyarimana.

Cont’d Although the assailants were never identified the Hutus blamed Tutsi extremists and this sparked a slaughter where 10% of Rwanda’s population ended up dead (800000 people) More than 90% of the dead were Tutsis. This sparked a debate about whether the UN, who had peacekeepers there, should have done more? Should the UN utilize peacemaking and interfere in international affairs or peacekeeping to hold things at bay as best they can until things are resolved?

Good in the Face of Evil Sometimes ordinary people do extraordinary things in the face of the atrocities going on around them. Oscar Schindler is such a man – Although he used Jewish slaves to his benefit, when they were to be taken to death camps he did all in his power to save those in his employ (1200). He lied, charmed, bribed and spent his fortune to save Jewish people. He even rescued a 1000 others that had already been sent to the camps.

Cont’d Feng Shan Ho is another – this man issued visas to anyone hoping to flee Austria, regardless of whether they were coming to China The important thing for him was that they could escape! In order to flee you needed visas and a boat ticket and few countries, including, Canada accepted Jews hoping to flee from German occupied countries.

Cont’d Paul Rusesabagina, whose life was dramatized in the movie Hotel Rwanda, was of mixed Hutu and Tutsi heritage and he stayed at his hotel to protect and harbor approximately 1200 people during the conflict.

Need three readers for page 177 and answer the “Your Turn” question in your daily log.

Chapter Review Do the think, participate, research and communicate questions on pages 178 & 179 of your textbook.