In the last 100 years genocide has decimated populations around the world.
- The Holodomer (1932-1933): a human-induced famine by the Soviet Regime under Joseph Stalin in Soviet Ukraine. Millions died.
- The Holocaust (1941-1945): a systematic state sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews. Roma, people with disabilities and LGBT individuals were also targeted.
- The Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979): a radical communist movement of the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot that resulted in the death of between 1.7 and 2 million people through forced labor, execution, and starvation.
- The Rwandan Genocide (1994): the slaughter of 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus by extremist Hutus.
- The Srebrenica/Bosnian Genocide (1995): the targeted killing of more than 8000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces.
- The Yazdi Genocide (2014): an organized time of massacres, sexual violence and enslavement perpetrated against Yazdi religious minority in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State (ISIS).
- The Gaza Genocide (ongoing): continuous extermination of Palestinians by Israelis. Genocide also includes destroying civilian infrastructure, killing healthcare workers, using mass forced displacement, committing sexual violence, and restraining birth.
Since 1945, according to Genocide Watch 156 Fourth World nations have suffered genocide. To be considered genocide, it must contain violence against a specific group of people.
Genocide Watch defines ten stages of genocide. The process is not linear, and several stages can occur simultaneously:
- Classification: All cultures assign categories of “us” and “them” by ethnicity, nationality, or religion. A technique in the first stage strips citizens of their citizenship which effectively denies civil and human rights of the targeted population.
- Symbolization: Symbols are used to marginalize a population (Jews wore yellow stars). This can lead to dehumanization and if it does, it is another step toward genocide.
- Discrimination: A dominant group uses law, custom, and political power to deny the rights of other groups. The powerless group may not be accorded full civil rights. This legitimizes the victimization of weaker groups.
- Dehumanization: One group denies the humanity of another group. The persecuted group is called animals, vermin, and the like. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion to murder. This stage includes hate propaganda and hate-radio. The sentiment that the dominant group is better off without them adds to the process.
- Organization: Genocide is always organized. Usually, it is organized by the state which engages a special army and militia. They are trained, armed, and turned loose on the streets of the country in search of their targeted population. States may organize secret police to spy on, arrest, torture, and murder people suspected of opposition to political leaders.
- Polarization: Targeted populations are increasingly set against one another in this stage. Moderates and others who are in the best position to stop the genocide, are the next to be targeted, arrested and killed. This cements the control of the dominant group.
- Preparation: A plan is made for the “final solution.” Propaganda uses euphemisms like “counterterrorism.” Genocide is often called self-defense.
- Persecution: Victims are identified and separated. The victim group’s basic human rights are systematically violated through extrajudicial killings and forced displacement. The victim group is often deported, disappeared and sent to concentration camps. They are routinely denied clean water, edible food and medical care in order to slowly destroy the group.
- Extermination: It begins quickly and becomes what is legally known as genocide. The goal is to kill all members of the targeted group.
- Denial: This is the final state that lasts throughout and always follows genocide. Perpetrators of genocide will often dig up mass graves and burn the bodies to suppress evidence and intimidate witnesses. The dominant group denies they have done anything wrong and often blame the victims. Denial is cemented by lawyers, diplomats and others who deny that these crimes meet the definition of genocide. They question whether the intent was to destroy a group and insist that must be proven. They claim only the courts can determine whether there has been a genocide and demand proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Splitting hairs allows thousands of murders to be ignored.
Genocide is always intentional. Progression is predictable. Next week we will explore where we are on the road to genocide with our sisters and brothers who have black and brown skin. Be sure to come back next week.
Sources:
GenocideWatch.com
The Irreverent Reverend 