The Ten Stages of Genocide

Genocide Watch exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder. We seek to raise awareness and influence public policy concerning potential and actual genocide. Our purpose is to build an international movement to prevent and stop genocide.

Genocide continues due to:

Lack of political will to peacefully prevent it

and to forcefully intervene to stop it

UN Security Council votes to withdraw

UNAMIR troops from Rwanda, April 1994

The result has been genocide again and again.

Memorial to 800,000 Rwandans murdered, April - July, 1994

10 Stages of Genocide

1. Classification

2. Symbolization

Prevention:

Eliminate race, religion, and ethnicity on ID cards.

Refuse to use hate symbols (Bulgaria, Denmark).

Outlaw public display of hate symbols (swastikas)

A dominant group uses law, custom and political power to deny the rights of other groups.

4. Dehumanization

•One group denies the humanity of the other group.

•Use of hate propaganda in printed and mass media (TV, radio, internet)

Rwanda

Tutsis were referred to as "cockroaches"

Prevention:

Condemn use of hate speech and make it culturally unacceptable

5. Organization

Every genocide is organized. Usually by the state, using trained and armed militias to hide state responsibility.

Rwanda witnessed the organization of extremist Hutu militias: Interahamwe

• Outlaw membership in hate groups
• Freeze finances and deny visas of group members
• Impose arms embargoes
• Investigate violations
• Prosecute arms suppliers in national courts

6. Polarization

7. Preparation

8. Persecution

9. Extermination

• Organized genocidal massacres
• Cooperation between state army and militias
• Not seen by killers as murder
• Victims are filthy "enemies."
• Society needs "cleansing"

Genocide is always accompanied by war crimes and crimes against humanity: mass rape, torture and destruction of cultural sites

10. Denial

Perpetrators deny:

• that genocide took place
• refuse to allow accountability
• minimize deaths
• blame victims
• blame "natural causes"
• call it mutual civil war
• claim self-defense
• lie to create doubt until it's over
• appeal to national interests of potential interveners

2008: UN estimated 300,000 people dead

2016: Sudan expert Reeves estimates 500 000 dead

3,800 black African villages were burnt to the ground. Arab villages were left alone.

2002: Darfur population: six million, 80% black African. 2016: three million displaced. 500,000 people dead.

Three current genocides:

• Darfur, Sudan
• Syria by Assad
• ISIS in Syria and Iraq

Prevention of Denial: Trials of perpetrators

by international, hybrid, national or local courts

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in Arusha, Tanzania

In 2003, two rebel groups attacked the Al-Fashir airport in Darfur and damaged military planes.

Prevention:

Rapid armed international intervention

• UN Security Council authorized, or
• UN General Assembly authorized, or
• Regional organization sponsored, or
• Support for local resistance.

Sudan government bombers and armed Arab militia, Janjaweed, attacked civilian population, including:

Leaders plan the "final solution."

Propaganda prepares the people to kill.

• Victims identified and rounded up
• Death lists
• Symbols mark houses and individuals
• Victims sent to ghettos, concentration camps, deserts, gulags

• forced displacement
• starvation
• mass murder
• torture
• mass rape

The Ten Stages of Genocide

Prevention:

Use journalistic, NGO and government intelligence networks.

Publicly expose genocidal plans.

Support political opponents of plans.

Freeze finances and deny visas to planners.

Genocide Watch

Mission Statement:

Darfur displaced persons camp

Prevention Requires

Prevention:

• diplomacy using regional allies
• targeted sanctions on genocide leaders
• political asylum for victims
• prepare relief for refugees
• arms assistance for victims' self defense
• regional military intervention

1. Early Warning

Genocide continues due to:

• Lack of authoritative international

institutions to predict it

• Lack of ready rapid response forces to stop it

UNAMIR peacekeeper in Rwanda, April 1994

2. Rapid Response

3. Courts of Accountability

Objectives:

Prevention: Political Will

• The world needs an international mass movement to end genocide.
• The Alliance Against Genocide was founded in 1999.
• Organize civil society and human rights groups.
• Mobilize religious leaders of churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples.
• Put genocide education in curricula of every secondary school and university.
• Hold political leaders accountable. If they fail to act to stop genocide, vote them out of office.

http://genocidewatch.net/

• Education

• Prediction
• Rapid response
• Institution building
• Justice

Despite indictment, Bashir travels in Africa with impunity. The UN Security Council won't demand his arrest.

In 2009, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, for genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

ISIS

Syria

Syria under Assad since 2011:

300,000 killed by bombing, starvation, torture.

3 million people displaced - causing the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Much of Syria destroyed.

Prevention:

Outlaw discrimination by race,

religion, ethnicity, or nationality, etc.

How to stop Genocide:

Jordanian pilot burned to death by ISIS, 2015

• Military defeat
• Discredit ideology
• Justice for perpetrators
• Stable, honest governments
• Democracy
• Protection of minorities

Rwanda

Nazi Germany

"us" vs. "them"

• Rwanda: Hutus vs. Tutsis
• Nazi Germany: Germans vs. Jews
• Darfur: Arabs vs. Blacks (slaves)
• ISIS: true Muslims vs. Infidels

Extremists call moderates

in their own group traitors

and arrest, imprison,

or kill them.

Social groups are classified as "us" and "them"

The Darfur, Syrian and ISIS genocides continue today.

Coptic Christians executed by ISIS in Libya, 2015

Omar al-Bashir and South African President Jacob Zuma, June, 2015

Prevention:

Support anti-genocidal groups

Physically protect moderate leaders.

Protest arrests of moderates and demand release.

Prosecute hate groups for hate speech or incitement.

Take down their websites, facebook, twitter accounts.

Prevention:

Prevention:

Search for common ground (church, sports, music, schools)

Promote transcendent identities: nationality, humanity

Classifications are symbolized.

Groups are given names

and other symbols.

Prevention Measures: prohibiting such symbols by law

Prevention:

Outlaw discrimination by race, religion, ethnicity, or nationality, etc.

Nazi 1935 Nuremberg Laws

U.S. Jim Crow Segregation Laws

South Africa Apartheid Laws

Myanmar Laws denying Rohingya

citizenship

Prevention:

Outlaw discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, etc.

3. Discrimination