...The Rwanda Genocide Throughout history groups of people have tried to eliminate other groups for various reasons, but these attempts have been marked by the human race's refusal to allow such systematic extermination to occur. Unfortunately in 1994 the global community collectively turned a blind eye toward the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. The Rwandan Genocide revealed the governments of the world's ignorance and apathy, as well as their continuing selfishness and refusal to take blame. The killings were an attempt by a radical splinter, the Hutu Power, of the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, to eliminate a small minority, the Tutsis. The beginning of the genocide is usually traced to April 6, 1994 when a plane crashed with Rwanda's president, Juvenal Habyarimanya on board. However, roots the genocide were established much earlier; the Hutu Power militia was being armed and trained for months before. Their intention was known to all; the Hutus had announced, over the radio and through various other channels, that they were going to exterminate the Tutsis. Within hours of the crash barricades had been set up around the capital. Anyone passing through was required to show identification papers, and all Tutsis were killed on the spot. Soon killings were occurring all over the country and the Tutsis were not the only victims, lists of moderate Hutus had been drawn up, and the people on that list were killed as well. Other Hutus who would not participate...
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... China aimed Africa in 1970s as the first diplomatic target due to its rich natural resources. Up till today, the Chinese investment occupies 44% of all areas combined in Africa.1 In Angola, Chinese investors own 37% of the investments, and they benefit from these investments by earning millions of dollars. Seen from the outside, The Chinese seems is making a significant effort of making a win-win situation between China and Africa. In fact, China is often dealing its investment with the rouge governments and even, dictators. Example has been given in the book The Beijing Consensus. “Beijing has maintained strong economic relations with Khartoum since 2002, focusing on Sudan’s considerable natural resources.”1 A year later the genocide broke out between the Khartoum’s government and the Darfur region in Sudan. The conflict killed over two hundred thousand Darfurians and millions were displaced. The UN Security Council failed on intervene the violence because China’s diplomatic protection of Sudan. Interestingly, China did all these publically. China today is not afraid of public opinions any more, it shows more initiative in international affairs. From the Sudan incident, China has been labeled as a hot potato in terms of the foreign policy which China practices. A major issue with the Chinese influence is human rights problem. In chapter three of the book, figure 3.1 shows that reported human rights abuses relate to China is extremely...
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...subjects. Additionally, he offers information as a means to create discussion, rather than judgment. At the top of Mr. Goodman's list are the topics of genocide, famine, and germ warfare, and their intentional application on various peoples. Genocide seeks "to destroy a race, culture, a linguistic or ethnic identity, even a class," (Goodman, L., 2010, pg. 2) operating successfully through fear, intimidation, and violence. The Armenian Genocide, in which many of my ancestors perished, is a perfect example of attempting to destroy an ethnic identity. Through the employment of "deportation, expropriation, torture, massacre, and starvation," the Turkish government attempted genocide upon the entire Armenian population between the years of 1915 and 1923. This all occurred thirty-three years prior to the adoption of the UN Genocide Convention, but still received worldwide condemnation as a "crime against humanity" (http://www.armenian-genocide.org/genocidefaq.html), Leaders seeking to wipe out an entire population as a means of control is not new to the history of the world. Famine was wrought on the people of the Ukraine by Stalin in 1933. From halting the collection of the census at the Famine's inception, to the hoarding of large "state reserves" in spite of the starvation of the population, this horrific example of genocide took the lives of millions of Ukrainian people in the name of power...
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...Running head: War Crimes and the International Community War Crimes and the International Community Abhishek Gandhi Professor Farber Sociology 300 Summer 2012 Abstract What are war crimes? Inhuman acts have been committed in all wars throughout human history. It has only been in the last 2 centuries that certain acts that were committed during war were found to be so reprehensible that they were labeled war crimes. Even thought these acts were committed during the "fog of war", they still merited punishment in a court of law in the eyes of the international community. When military and political leaders began to systematically target large civilian groups because of their nationality, ethnicity, gender or religion, then the international community began to see the necessity of holding political leaders accountable for their political decisions in a court of law, (Hauss, 2003). After World War II, when the atrocities of the Holocaust became well known, the victorious Allied powers decided to hold war crimes tribunals to punish the political and military leaders of Germany and Japan. The Nuremberg and Tokyo trials were the first of their kind in establishing international precedent for the prosecution of war crimes. Later war crimes that were committed in Yugoslavia and Rwanda resulted in the creation of separate tribunals by the United Nations to punish the leaders who perpetrated these acts. Attempts are...
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...Genocide Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Introduction The term genocide refers to the mass murder of a specific race or tribe or group of people with the sole intention of eliminating the said group. As the world came to realize with the discrimination of Jews by the Nazi forces, genocide does not sit on the same bench as other crimes such as burglary. The spirited effort towards the elimination of a single race or tribe is the driving force of this heinous crime. It is said “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. At the centre of genocide, power and resources are usually the propagators of this vice. In a state in which the availability and distribution of resources is anything short of equal, negative ethnic traits such as tribalism, nepotism and even clanism, in other cases, can easily result in the onset of genocide. Greed is also a consistent feature of many genocide-stricken states. The more worrying issue, apart from the killing of millions of innocent civilians, is the prejudice with which many of the leaders of these factions plan and coordinate these atrocities. The notion that leaders are well above the law is characteristic of states that have felt the iron grip of genocide. The case of Darfur is one of the most disheartening. Darfur has been embroiled in the throes of genocide for the better part of the 21st Century. Having been the first genocide of the 21st Century, the mention of Darfur does not resonate well on the global landscape. Upon...
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...Does the Spanish Conquest constitute genocide? Do you agree or disagree? The late 1400’s brought about the period of colonial expansion, initiated under the crown of Castile and the Spanish Conquistadors. This expansion continued over the next 4 centuries, seeing the Spanish Empire expand over most of Central and South America. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and the Incas spanned over decades and was not a peaceful conquest without bloodshed. The Conquista unleashed violence, death and destruction on a scale unknown until then. Charny acknowledged that it was possible for genocide to occur during the process of colonisation, as seen in the colonising of North America and similarly in Australia. This essay will discuss the various elements of genocide as defined by the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, as well as other sources. Through this discussion, the essay will relate it to circumstances and events related to the Spanish Conquest of Latin America, discussing the possibility of a connection between the conquest and genocide. There are a number of elements that must be satisfied in order to find a case for genocide. When defining an act of genocide, the UN definition is the internationally recognised and the framework by which this essay will follow when referring to an act of genocide. As found in the UN definition of genocide; the act committed must have the intent to destroy the target, in whole or in part, a national, ethical,...
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...The instances of genocide in the late 20th century stand as a testament to how unreliable the nation state can be when inalienable and human rights are concerned. As is shown in the case of Rwanda, non-state actors have taken steps to trample on these rights even when the victim technically has citizenship in a country. Additionally, the nation-state can reinforce the actions of the non-state actors through either sponsorship, or even inaction in the face of genocide. Civil society actors have taken steps to act where the nation-state has failed to do so out of what Ayers identifies as labeling the conflict as internal or a civil war. Ultimately, both Ayers and Power agree that labeling genocide as what it is, and taking other steps outside of raw military force can go a long way in preventing the atrocities of the 20th century. More specifically, since the nation-state alone cannot be trusted to handle these situations, civil society must take steps to better the diplomacy of the nation-state, along with creating an international community that can work together to remedy the problems of human and inalienable rights violations. In her article “Raising the Cost of Genocide,” Samantha Power examines the historical response to genocide by discussing the ways in which western powers have avoided responsibility for 20th century atrocities. She begins her article by explaining the invention of the word genocide as a word meant to “send shudders down the spines of those who heard it...
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...Final Paper Genocide Wade Harris HIS306: Twentieth-Century Europe Instructor: Fara Driver November 2nd, 2015 If anything could be described as a scar on the face of the twentieth century genocide would be that scar. Genocide is not the invention of those in the twentieth century, but rather the epitome, the refinement of a horrific act that the twentieth century has perfected. An act that has popular support and the backing of governments, so how can people who live side by side peacefully with others for so long suddenly flip and be able to kill their neighbors? Genocide is a series of choices, choices made by leaders to begin the killings, choices made by people to participate, and the choice to see something wrong and having the power to stop it, but choose not to. Many have written that it is deep seeded hatred passed on from generation to generation that always sits in the back of the minds of those committing genocide, things that may or may not have happened. Other scholars write that it is cultural differences that are ignored until a leader or group uses them for their own gain. (Churchill, R. P. 2014) Whatever the reasons, it is always the minority on the losing end, the bully mentality of a few whirling up hatred for someone else until everyone is in a frenzy and the rhetoric seems real, the threat conjured up is real, and the only action to keep things safe and secure is to remove the problem by any means. This is how genocide starts. But...
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...Genocide in the World Today Genocide has been a very large problem for many countries for a while, and it is still going on today. For example, The War of Darfur in Sudan from 2003 to 2010 and Persecution of Yazidis by Deash in Iraq. The War in Darfur began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) created a war among the Government of Sudan. The true amount of people killed is unknown. However, the Government of Sudan claims roughly 10,000 people, but many others say up to roughly 400,000 people. The crisis in Darfur cannot be saved in solitude from other conflicts in the area. There is violence in the Central African Republic and in Chad. The diplomats must agree to make peace and...
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...Alannah Francis ABRG*3864 – David Perley “We Were Not the Savages; written by: Daniel N. Paul” Chapter Seven More bounties for Human Scalps and the Treaty of 1752 - At the beginning of 1749, in line with the statement contained in this letter, the life of a Mi’kmaq had no value. Thus, they were accorded no civil or human rights. In 1749, Nova Scotia’s colonial government undertook an attempt to exterminate the Mi’kmaq - The term “genocide” was first used to describe the extermination of most of Europe’s Jew by Nazi Germany. It was later used by the United Nations in 1948 in the Genocide Convention to mean crimes against humanity. Genocide means: ▪ Killing members of the Aboriginals groups. ▪ Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group. ▪ Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. ▪ Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group. ▪ Forcefully transferring children of the group to another group. - The Mi’kmaq Nation, to its everlasting credit, even in the face of such horrific provocations as the 1749 Proclamation, did not respond in kind or adopt a policy to attack Caucasian women and children. Although some apologists try to make a case to the contrary, no evidence exists whatsoever to support such a contention. - Instead of the monster depicted by English colonial authorities and many later chronicles of...
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...Essay Genocide Genocide was the term that came out after the Nazi’s Holocaust of World War Two, but it was not the first incident of Genocide, or the last. During the Genocide Convention that followed World War Two it was agreed amongst the world leaders that genocide would “never again” occur in the world. Time has shown that this might have been an empty promise however, and this essay will review the laws being implemented by the United Nations to help prevent genocide, arguments about why humans kill, incidents of genocide and how genocide is defined and, of course, the victims of the violent crime known as genocide. Genocide is now defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “[t]he deliberate and systematic extermination of an ethnic or national group”. The United Nations created a much broader and in depth definition in the Genocide Convention of 1948. They state that genocide is “…any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or part, a national, ethnical 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 conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or part; imposing measures to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”. Despite some flaws and loopholes in this definition, it covers the atrocities that occur during genocide quite well. Genocide has occurred...
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...near Darfur’s main towns. But still the Janjaweed still patrol outside the town waiting for any man or woman to wander to far and then will kill the man and rape the woman. Also some of the citizens have fled to the neighboring country of Chad. In total researchers believe that nearly 200,000 people have been killed, but UN officials believe that the number is about 300,000 now. The governments reaction to these claims has been mixed. The Sudan government has admitted to mobilizing self defence militias following the attacks. The government also denies any link to the ethnic cleansing of the Janjaweed. Recently a UN investigation team sent to the region found that war crimes were being committed, but there was no sign of genocide or the attempt of genocide....
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...WAR CRIME AND GENOCIDE A war crime refers to the serious violation of the laws and customs of war (also known as international humanitarian law) giving rise to individual criminal responsibility. It also includes grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict and in conflicts "not of an international character" listed in the Rome Statute, when they are committed as part of a plan or policy or on a large scale. These prohibited acts include: * murder; * mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; * taking of hostages; * intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population; * intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historical monuments or hospitals; * pillaging; * rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy or any other form of sexual violence; * conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities. The use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare are also prohibited by numerous chemical arms control agreements and the Biological Weapons Convention. Wearing enemy uniforms or civilian clothes to infiltrate enemy lines for espionage or sabotage missions is a legitimate ruse of war, though fighting in combat or assassinating individuals, even if they are military targets, behind enemy...
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...Likewise, on March 2004, the United Nations called "biggest humanitarian catastrophe in the modern era." In April, a senior official of the United Nations spoke of "ethnic cleansing" to describe the atrocities committed in the region. A text signed by the United States House of Representatives in July 2004 has even used the term "genocide". However, in Darfur, three factors seem to explain the situation: First, it is to keep in mind the underlying causes of the conflict, among which, the lack of meaningful participation of local and national authorities, and the feelings of social, political and economic marginalization of some ethnics, and regional development which, based on structural inequalities felt by many other communities across the country has deteriorated the tension in...
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...Genocide: The deliberate killing of a large group of people. In the mid 1830’s Stalin believed the Bolshevik party was a threat to him. He felt as if he needed to do something about them or he would get removed from power. Therefore, from the mid 1830’s to the late 1830’s he started the purge of the Soviet Union. By examining the casualty count, Stalin’s paranoia, and their ability to attack, it is clear that Stalin’s purges in the Soviet Union were one of the most lethal genocides in history. According to C N Trueman, for the purges to start, Stalin needed support from the politburo. However, the purge began from the assassination of Sergei Kirov. Stalin’s purges in the USSR were caused by his paranoia, and his need to have absolute power....
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