Holocaust Genocide

Holocaust (1934-1945)

When Adolf Hitler was elected chancellor of Germany in 1933; he almost immediately began enforcing anti-Semitic laws to eliminate Jewish rights. Along with this, he began "Lebensraum" which was intended to gain more territory and living space for Germany. Post WWI Germany was an economic disaster. When the Treaty Of Versailles left Germany to blame for WWI  and held Germany responsible for all loss and damage that occurred in the war, Germany had produced so much money in order to pay off the treaty, the money left in circulation was worth less than the paper it was printed on. 

 Adolf came to power by using his charismatic personality to appeal to the people. Hitler promised the people what they wanted, which caused the people of Germany to believe in him, thus giving him more power. At the time, the way Germany was laid out was very culture based. This resulted in boycotting in certain communities due to racism or cultural indifferences. Obviously this resulted in more financial instability across the nation. Hitler’s promise of financial stability was delivered. By creating the work camps he created jobs, housing, and a steady food supply for the nation, Hitler brought Germany out of the rut it had been living in for so long. This is what the people wanted. In reality Hitler was taking what he gave to the people from the people by redistributing the wealth, which shows the communist personality of Hitler. Nonetheless at the time this did not matter as Hitler was gaining the power he desired, and the citizens of Germany were no longer starving and economically broken.

 Not only did Adolf deliver on his promise to end the hyper-inflation of the German market, Hitler further delivered his promise by giving citizens the differentiation that the individuals wanted. Using the Star of David, Hitler identified the Jewish people of Germany as an individual nation within a nation. Once again this is what the people wanted. The Jewish people, now marked by a Star of David worn on their body, portrayed ultra-nationalistic values; not knowing it would later result in mass murder. Later; Hitler’s anti-Semitism laws blamed Jews for Germany’s conflicts, and in an attempt to expand German Territory; Jews were eliminated

The Holocaust was the mass murder of over six million Jews during World War II, as well as over five million other prisoners in a state-sponsored genocide. Lead by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi party came to power in 1933 Germany. Out of the 9 million Jews that had lived in Europe before the Holocaust, approximately two thirds were killed. During this time, over 40,000 German facilities were turned into concentration camps or holding camps where citizens were killed in mass murders. In these camps Jews and prisoners were subjected to slavery until extreme exhaustion or disease killed them.

Extermination camps (Or death camps) were built to systematically kill millions of people via execution, mainly by the use of gas chambers where prisoners were lead to large rooms, bodies from the chambers were then burned in large ovens. Along with that, victims were taken to “killing centres” disguised as hospitals and were euthanized. In the last months of the war, Guards forced prisoners on “death marches” to hide all living proof of the camps. During this thousands of pages of documents were destroyed.

Prisoners prepared to enter the gas chambers

 Gas Chambers at Auschwitz

The Nazi Soldiers kept the people fated to die unaware of what was ahead of them. They were told that they were being sent to the camp, but that they first had to undergo disinfection and bathe. After the victims undressed, they were taken into the gas chamber, locked in, and killed with Zyklon B gas. Once dead, the corpses were taken out of the chambers, the women we're removed of their hair and all victims were burned in large pits, on pyres, or in the crematorium furnaces. (Until September 1942, some of the corpses were buried in mass graves; these corpses were burned from September to November 1942.)

A Holocaust survivor displays the identification number tattooed on his arm. 
All prisoners were required to show the numbers before execution as the Nazi 
party recorded them and were later found in record, backing the proof that over
5 million people were killed. 

Initially these identification numbers were sewn onto clothes, but with the rapidly rising death rate, it became difficult to identify corpses since clothing was removed prior to murder. In May 1944, the Jewish men received the letters "A" or "B" to indicate particular series of numbers. For some unknown reason, this number series for women never began again with the "B" series after they had reached the number limit of 20,000 for the "A" series.

Germany Surrendered to Allies on May 8th, 1945, but once the Allies liberated the concentration camps; many prisoners did not have a home to return to. The holocaust devastated many communities and the land across Europe, and Jews eventually immigrated to to Israel, Australia, and other countries after World War II. Hitler was confident that if Armenian genocide perpetrators were not punished and got away with what they did, he too, could use the world’s indifference and silence as a permit to proceed with mass destruction of Jewish people.Trials were held for the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, the Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949.  The first trial, and best known of these trials, described as "the greatest trial in history", Held between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, Twenty-four individuals were indicted, along with six Nazi organizations determined to be criminals. Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and  Joseph Goebbels, all of whom had been the driving force behind the Holocaust, committed suicide several months before therefore were absent from the trial. The Nuremberg trials are now regarded as a milestone toward the establishment of a permanent international court, and an important precedent for dealing with later instances of genocide and other crimes against humanity.

Current Life Expectancy of German Citizens 





 

Bibliography

Bibliography

http://www.historywiz.com/cambod-mm.htm
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/demons-of-the-past-the-armenian-genocide-and-the-turks-a-687449.html
https://www.hmh.org/la_Genocide_Guatemala.shtml
http://www.holodomorct.org/
http://www.armenian-genocide.org/genocide.html
http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm
http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/cambodian-genocide
http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/darfur-genocide
https://www.youtube.com/?gl=CA

Hereror Genocide

Hereror Genocide ( 1904-1905)

The Nama or Namaqua are today the largest group of Khoisan people. Khoisan - 'KhoiKhoi or KhoeKhoe', have resided in Southern Africa for 1000's of years. When colonial settlers arrived in the Cape in 1652, they found the Khoi raising huge herds of Nguni cattle. At that time they referred to the people as Hottentots. By the 19th century, Dutch settlers had already been mixing with the Nama for 200 years, and so many Nama had names of European origin. The Nama had access to guns and as a result, confronted the Herero for the most part of the 19th century through warfare.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Herero people, one the many Bantu tribes living in southwest Africa, watched as their territory was slowly swallowed up, shrinking the borders of their homeland. The loss of land was one of many objections they had to the German colonial rulers who had entered their territory and threatened their pastoral way of life. In an attempt to salvage the situation, they staged a secret uprising, attacking military posts and farms. They focused their attacks only on those with whom they had just grievances in the conflict -- avoiding women, children, German missionaries, colonists of different nationalities and rival tribes -- hoping to garner allies among others in the region.

The uprising began on Jan. 12, 1904. Farms were destroyed, forts were harried and some civilians were killed. What little the Hereros accomplished for themselves, however, would be extremely short lived. A new commanding officer charged with leading the colony's military forces; Gen. Lothar von Trotha -- soon set foot in the territory. His presence spelled doom for Hereroland.



With the use of 1625 modern rifles, 14 machine guns and 30 artillery pieces, The Battle of Waterberg took place in 1904, lasting two days. However, the outcome of the actual combat was less important than von Trotha's strategy of troop deployment, because the Hereros were boxed in.  Hendrik Witbooi, the Nama leader, proved an exceptionally able guerrilla captain, and he inflicted a series of humiliating reverses on German troops. But his fighters had no answer to artillery, particularly as it was used against their women and children. So, like the Herero, the Nama were forced to sign a treaty placing themselves under German "protection". Three enemy sides were strongly defended, the fourth less so. As it became obvious the battle was lost, the surviving Hereros were forced to break free by way of the weaker path, the path which led into the brutal Omaheke Desert. Von Trotha pursued, ordering his troops to kill any who tried to flee the forced march or fell behind the main body in exhaustion. Once his quarry was trapped in the desert, von Trotha had his troops deny the Hereros access to water holes; later, he had those water holes poisoned. Hand-dug holes dozens of feet deep were later found in the desert wastes; desperate attempts to find water in the bleak landscape.



Von Trotha's stated goal was complete expulsion or annihilation. He had the edge of the desert fortified to keep the Hereros cordoned in the barren land. Throughout the ordeal, no prisoners were taken; young or old, healthy or infirm, weak or wounded, male or female. All were killed (or simply left to die) if encountered by patrolling soldiers. Sometimes, after what the Herero suffered at the hands of their captors, death was probably an escape. Eyewitness accounts preserve the horrors of the massacring.



The Nama suffered at the hands of the colonists too. After the defeat of the Herero the Nama also rebelled, but von Trotha and his troops quickly routed them. On April 22 1905 Lothar von Trotha sent his clear message to the Nama: they should surrender. ‘The Nama who chooses not to surrender and lets himself be seen in the German area will be shot, until all are exterminated. Those who, at the start of the rebellion, committed murder against whites or have commanded that whites be murdered have, by law, forfeited their lives. As for the few not defeated, it will fare with them as it fared with the Herero, who in their blindness also believed that they could make successful war against the powerful German Emperor and the great German people. I ask you, where are the Herero today?’ During the Nama uprising, half the tribe (over 10,000) were killed; the 9,000 or so left were confined in concentration camps.




Forced labor inconcentration camps followed for those who survived the initial genocidal efforts. The death rates in the camps were staggering. Von Trotha was not completely successful, however. Some Hereros survived his horrific campaign, but their tribe's numbers were decimated. Estimates put the magnitude of the event into perspective. Out of an original 80,000 Herero people, only about 20,000 escaped von Trotha's death crusade alive; that's three quarters of the entire population, completly wiped from existence.
In the Herero work camps there were numerous children born to these abused women, and a man called Eugen Fischer, who was interested in genetics, came to the camps to study them; he carried out medical experiments on them as well. He decided that each mixed-race child was physically and mentally inferior to its German father

It is estimated that up to 2000 pastoralist Herero escaped eastward in small numbers into the Kalahari desert, into what was then the British protectorate of Bechuanaland (Botswana).  Included was Samuel Maharero, the Herero leader. His people arrived with little or no cattle and became subservient to the Tswana - Bechwana chieftain of Sekgathôlê a Letsholathêbê.

The Nama led by Hendrick Witbooi, had fought with the Germans against the Herero. Regardless, von Trotha turned his murderous attention to him, sending Witbooi, Cornelius Fredericks and other chiefs the following message; The Nama who choose not to surrender and lets himself be seen in the German area will be shot until all are exterminated. Those who at the start of the rebellion committed murder against whites, or have commanded that whites be murdered have by law, forfeited their lives.

Hendrik Witbooi was killed. In September 1906, Cornelius Fredericks and the fighters of Witbooi surrendered and were sent to Shark Island. Death in the camp was meticulously recorded. Solders were tasked with naming the dead and recording numbers. Their records show that of the 1795 Nama prisoners who had arrived, only 763 were alive in April. One thousand thirty two had died. The detailed record shows that of the living, 123 were in such poor health they would soon die. By 1908 when the camps were closed, disease and malnutrition had killed up to 80% of all prisoners who had entered Shark Island - including Namaqua chief Cornelius Fredericks.


Shark Island

Prisoners were intentionally placed on the exposed northwest point of the barren island - infamous for its bitter cold arctic gale force wind. Diseases in the camp were rampant and intentionally left out of control. The unhygienic living quarters, lack of clothing and high concentration of people contributed to disease which rapidly spread. (typhoid) Huddled together and suffering from malnutrition, the prisoners began to die. Statistics show that as many as 80 % of the prisoners sent to this concentration camp never left the island alive.

Armenian Genocide

Armenia (1915-1923)

The Armenian Genocide was committed by the Ottoman Empire in what is now known as the Republic Of Turkey. Along with this, The Aremnian Genocide was the first genocide to occur in the 20th century. Since 1876, the Ottoman state had been led by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, but the words " kill every Armenian woman, child and man without concern for anything" spoken by Talaat Pasha (Former Ottoman Empire Leader) sparked the genocide.

 It is said that the Armenian Genocide served as a blueprint for future Genocides. Similar to theHolocaust, the genocide of 1915 shows the similar interests and motives of mankind and it is the second most-studied case of genocide after the Holocaust. All genocides have been committed by humans, but in no way were they humane. Just as Germany had a "Jewish problem" the Armenian's had a "Young Turks problem." The genocide was an organized manner to eliminate the Armenians, seeing as Armenians were viewed as outsiders because they didn't speak the Turkish language.

There is no denying that religion was fundamental to the Armenian Genocide.  Even though the most used factor is ethnicity, religion accounted more for a person’s identity than language or heritage. This is still demonstrated daily throughout the Islamic world today, where Muslim governments and Muslim mobs persecute Christian minorities. These minorities share the same ethnicity, language, and culture, and are essentially the same as the majority, except, of course, for being non-Muslims.

By the nineteenth century, the empire was in serious decline. It had been reduced in size and by 1914 had lost virtually all its colonies in Europe and Africa. This decline created enormous internal political and economic pressures which contributed to the intensification of ethnic tensions. Armenian aspirations for representation and participation in government aroused suspicions among the Muslim Turks who had never shared power in their country with any minority and who also saw nationalist movements. In response to the issues in the Ottoman Empire, a new political group called the Young Turks seized power by revolution in 1908.

Essentially, the Armenian Genocide occurred in two phases. First all men were mass murdered or forced into labor camps, then, all women children and elderly were deported or taken on death marches in the Syrian Desert similar to those of the holocaust. If early 20th century Turkey had the technology to execute in mass murder like 1940's German gas chambers;the entire Armenian population may well have been eliminated.

Over 1 million people were killed just from the death marches. The deportations were disguised as a resettlement program. The brutal treatment of the deportees, most of whom were made to walk to their destinations, made it apparent that the deportations were mainly intended as death marches. As well as the policy of deportation surgically removing the Armenians from the rest of society, it disposed of great masses of people with little or no destruction of property. The deportation process served as a major opportunity for the Ottoman Empire to claim the material wealth of the Armenians and proved an effortless method taking all of their properties.



Armenian civilians, escorted by armed Ottoman soldiers, are marched to a nearby prison 

On April 24th 1915, Ottoman officials arrested over 250 Armenian political, religious, educational, and intellectual leaders next. Next, the Turkish government ordered the deportation of the Armenian people to "relocation centers" - actually to the barren deserts of Syria and Mesopotamia.  forced Armenians out of their homes and marched them through the Syrian Desert without food or water. Massacres occurred without any regard to gender, age, or religion. Ottoman troops escorting the Armenians allowed others to rob, kill, and rape other Armenians, and often participated in these activities themselves. The death rate from starvation and sickness is very high and is increased by the brutal treatment from the Officials whom acted as slave drivers throughout the march.


Bodies of the deceased lay in piles across the Syrian Desert

Reports of the murders gradually came out and were eventually spread the world over by newspapers, journals, and eyewitness accounts. In the United States a number of prominent leaders and organizations established fundraising drives for the remnants of the "Starving Armenians". In Europe the Allied Powers gave public notice that they would hold personally responsible all members of the Turkish government and others who had planned or participated in the massacres. Yet, within a few years, these same governments and statesmen turned away from the Armenians in total disregard of their pledges. Soon the Armenian genocide had become the "Forgotten Genocide".


Demons of the Past: The Armenian Genocide and the Turks


The memory of the nation was intended for obliteration. The existence of Armenians in Turkey was denied by Turkish Government and maps and history were rewritten. Churches, schools, and cultural monuments were destroyed and misnamed. Armenian children were taken from their parents and placed in homes where they would grow up as Turks. Nations worldwide and several states of the U.S. have passed resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide despite of Turkish government’s consistent denial of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, especially by Western countries.


Main article: Witnesses and testimonies of the Armenian Genocide in the New York Times

Despite the denial; documents authenticated by Turkish authorities in 1919 in a telegram sent in June 1915 by Dr. Sakir, one of the leaders of the organization that carried out the planning the Genocide.  He asks the provincial party official who is responsible for carrying out the deportations and massacres of Armenians within his district: "Are the Armenians, who are being dispatched from there, being liquidated? Are those harmful persons whom you inform us you are exiling and banishing, being exterminated, or are they being merely dispatched and exiled?" showing proof not only from the few survivors but physical evidence.

More than one million Armenians died as the result of execution, starvation, disease, the harsh environment, and physical abuse.  People who had lived in eastern Turkey for nearly 3,000 years lost their homes and were reduced in the first large-scale genocide of the twentieth century.  At the beginning of 1915 there were about two million Armenians living in Turkey; today there are fewer than 60,000.

Cambodian Genocide

Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979)

Location 

Cambodia is a country in South East Asia

Historical background

The Cambodian Genocide  was carried out by the Khmer Rouge (KR) regime led by Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979. During this time 2-3 million people were murdered. The KR policies of forced relocation of the population from urban centers, mass executions, use of forced labor and malnutrition led to the deaths of an estimated 25 per cent of the total population. The Khmer Rouge had this desire to bring the nation back to a “mythic past.” Outside nations were considered a corrupting influence and by stopping entrance into the nation the KR was able to restore the country to an agrarian society.This new agrarian society was to be based on Stalinist ideals (See Holodomor for more details).The manner in which they tried to implement was one factor in the genocide.  Before the genocide occurred, the population of Cambodia was just over 7 million, with a predominate Buddhist population. Under Pol Pot's leadership, the Khmer Rouge began  on an organized mission; they ruthlessly imposed an extremist program to reconstruct Cambodia. The main goal of the mission was that the population was forced to work as labourers in one huge group of collective farms. Anyone who opposed was eliminated. Along with this; all educated people such as doctors and engineers  were seen as threat and were executed immediately. 

Important Dates

1975 – Year Zero, as it was called, marks the beginning of the Khmer Rouge regime.

1975 – Tortures and executions all across the country. The social categories in focus are intellectuals, teachers, doctors, former military police members, lawyers, and anybody else opposing the regime. This is the year with the most casualties.

1976 – The country is renamed Democratic Kampuchea, to mark the beginning of a new era. The name is the old form of the contemporary form Cambodia.

1977 – The Cambodian-Vietnamese War begins.

1978 – Cambodia is invaded by Vietnam.

1979, January – The Khmer Rouge rule is over.

Nations/Groups/Individuals involved

Religion was now banned and all Buddhist monks were killed and all temples were destroyed. The Khmer Rouge also targeted those of ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai descent. Half of the Muslim population was murdered along with 8,000 Christians.

Atrocities committed 

 Things such as music and radio were banned. An individual could be shot simply for knowing a foreign language, wearing glasses, laughing or even crying. Personal relationships were discouraged in the labor camp,along with expressions of affection.Peace Settlements/ UN Action. Those who managed to escape being murdered became unpaid workers who worked with minimal rations and for incredibly long hours daily. Prisoners soon became weak from malnutrition and over exhaustion. If one fell sick, there was no treatment seeing as doctors were all killed and hospitals shut down; and the individual was left for death. Survival in Cambodia was determined by one’s ability to work. Starvation played a large role in the Genocide as over 2 million people are estimated to have died from starvation during this time. 

The murders began with a warning from the KR in the labor camps. People receiving more than two warnings were sent for "re-education," which meant near-certain death. Prisoners were taken to mass-grave sites and were told that they  would be forgiven if they admitted to "pre-revolutionary lifestyles and crimes" which essentially meant any free-market activity or contact with foreigners. Prisoners were then taken away to prisons such as Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek for torture and/or execution. In order to save ammunition, the executions were often carried out using poison, spades or sharpened bamboo sticks. In some cases the children and infants of adult victims were killed by having their heads bashed against the trunks of Chankiri trees. Tuol Sleng translates into "Hill of the Poisonous Trees". 

Current status of the Nation 

These conditions of genocide continued for three years until 1978 when Vietnam invaded Kampuchea and overthrew the Khmer Rouge. Vietnam took control and set up a "puppet government" based off Vietnam's communist government founded mainly from KR members that had defected. This puppet government was Vietnam monitoring and advising the movements of Cambodia in order to ensure the country was restarted properly. Unfortunately Pol Pot's policies had ruined the economy. Cambodia lay in ruins under the newly-established Vietnamese regime as all professionals, engineers, technicians and planners who could reorganize and restart Cambodia had been murdered.

Before his suicide on April 15th 1998, Pol Pot stated that he had a clear conscience and denied being responsible for genocide in an interview. Pol Pot asserted that he "came to carry out the struggle, not to kill people.” Under international pressure, Vietnam finally withdrew its occupying army from Cambodia in 1989. In 2013, current Cambodian Prime Minister; Hun Sen passed legislation which made the denial of the Cambodian genocide and other war crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge illegal.  Researchers still discuss whether the events in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 can be referred to as genocide, because the massive killings which occurred there under the Khmer Rouge rule did not specifically target a certain ethnic or religious group. However, most agree that the term should be used, given the large number of casualties. 

Bosnian Genocide

Bosnia ( 1991- 1995)

Location 

The Bosnian Genocide was committed by the Bosnian Serb Forces during 1995 in the midst of war. 

Historical background

In 1979 Muslims represented the largest single population group. In 1989 Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia became President of Yugoslavia. Milosevic began promoting violent uprisings of Serb political parties in Croatia. Milosevic wanted a Serb-dominated state and saw fit an ethnic cleansing. In 1992 Croatia declared independence from Slovania and almost immediately, Croatia was flooded with violence, no nationality was spared during the fighting. In the first seven months of the war, 10,000 people died and another 700,000 were deported.

Nations/Groups/Individuals involved

Bosniaks( Muslims) and croats (romans catholics were the main targets of the ethnic cleansing. Bosnian Serbs( Extreme Nationalists) were the attackers in the situation and were manned and funded by the government.

Reasons and means of promotion for the genocide

The ethnic cleansing campaign targeted Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats. This campaign included confinement, murder, rape, sexual assault, torture, beating, robbery and inhumane treatment of civilians. Along with this; the targeting of political leaders,deportation of the citizens and the destruction of homes, business and places of worship. During World War II, Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia and corrupted the government, murdered over 80 percent of the Jewish population, along with thousands of Serbs and gypsies. A communist resistance army, led by Marshal Tito, drove the Nazis back in 1945 and declared Yugoslavia to be a new independent communist state. Afterwards, Tito ruled Yugoslavia as a benevolent dictator. Yugoslavia was one of the most open communist nations for its time and successfully implemented peaceful coexistence between cultures, but Tito marginalized any political activists  who disagreed with his pan-Yugoslav ideals.

The biggest execution happened in the town of Srebrenica, a small town in the East of Bosnia. The massacre killed more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims, as well as the mass murder of an additional 27,000+ civilians, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, committed by units of the Army of the Republika Srpska under the command of General Ratko Mladić.

Important dates/ events that occurred during the genocide

The single largest massacre in Europe since World War II occurred on July 11th, 1995. General Ratko Mladic marched his army into Srebrenica, and murdered approximately 7,000 Bosnian males. Up to 7,500 men, and boys over 13 years old, were killed. They were marched to fields which later became mass graves. Anyone caught trying to escape, were shot or decapitated on the spot.

Atrocities Committed 

The Serbs had five various methods of execution:
 1. Concentration -  The Serbs would urge residents of the chosen city to leave, while the army surrounded the city and opened fire resulting in mass murder. The camps were surrounded by  land-mines to prevent escape of prisoners.
2. Decapitation - This mainly happened to professionals and political leaders and anyone with substantial education
3. Separation -  This segregated the women, children, and elderly men from the men of “fighting age.”
4. Evacuation - move women, children, and edlerly men to concentration camps or national   borders.
5. Liquidation - execute the men of “fighting age.”

Those who were not killed in massacres, were sent to one of 381 concentration or detention camps in Bosnia. These camps contained inhumane living conditions, and beatings, torture, and mass executions were daily occurrences. Approximately 10,000 people died over the course of the war. Women of reproductive age were taken to rape camps, where they were raped and tortured until they became pregnant. It is estimated that 20,000 women were raped during this time.

Peace Settlements/ UN Action
After Serbian forces had taken over several Bosniak- dominated cities, the UN established six safe areas that were to be protected by international peacekeepers. However with vey few weapons and orders not to fire unless in self- defense , these peacekeepers were completely insufficient.The Croatians and Bosniaks combined  their forces to launch Operation Storm, an offensive campaign to push Serbian forces out of the Krajina region in the northwest corner of Bosnia. For two years prior to this campaign, Bosniak and Croat forces had turned on each other and had begun a conflict parallel to the one against the Serbs. Yet by combining their forces, the Croation-Bosniak offensive was able to push serb forces, as well as 200,000 civilians, out of Krajina and into other Serb- dominated areas. Although Operation Storm succeeded in bringing the three warring faction to peace negotiations supervised by President Clinton, it also created on of the largest refugee populations in Europe. The peace agreement- the Dayton Accords- was signed on December 14, 1995, which ended conflict in Bosnia and stationed 60,000 NATO troops to keep peace.

Criminal Charges/ War Crimes tribunals

In July of 1992, the first international press reports, photos, and videos of the conflict in Bosnia were revealed, which brought back images of the horror from the Holocaust fifty years earlier, however the international community and powerful countries did not send relief or aid. In Bosnia's, a radio message from an amateur operator in Srebrenica was recieved: 'Please do something. Whatever you can. In the name of God, do something.'
Former Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić  went on trial on two counts of genocide and other war crimes committed in Bosnia. Karadžić and Mladić were charged(separately) with: the following and both been declared war criminals. In 2001, Radislav Krstic was sentenced 46 years in prison.

Count 1: Genocide against multiple communities 
Count 2: Genocide
Count 3: Persecutions on Political, Racial and Religious Grounds, a Crime Against Humanity.
Count 4: Extermination, a Crime Against Humanity.
Count 5: Murder, a Crime Against Humanity.
Count 6: Murder, a Violation of the Laws or Customs of War.
Count 7: Deportation, a Crime Against Humanity.
Count 8: Inhumane Acts (forcible transfer), a Crime Against Humanity.
Count 9: Acts of Violence the Primary Purpose of which is to Spread Terror among the Civilian Population, a Violation of the Laws or Customs of War.
Count 10: Unlawful Attacks on Civilians, a Violation of the Laws or Customs of War.
Count 11: Taking of Hostages, a Violation of the Laws or Customs of War.

Current status of the Nation 

Today, most places in the countryside are littered and in ruins. Hundred of thousands who fled have not yet returned. Economic hardship and corruption continue to affect Bosnia, and unemployment reamain at 43%. Many educated people have left for better opportunities abroad; thig 'brian drain' further weakens prospects for economic and social recovery in the region. 

Darfur Genocide

Darfur Genocide ( 2003- present)

Location 

Darfur - Western Sudan

Historical background

They gained their independence from the UK in 1956, then for the remainder of the 20th century they had 2 civil wars. International interest became involved when oil was discovered in Darfur. War between North and South ended in 2005, but Darfur was not apart of the peace agreement. Darfur remains underdeveloped compared to the rest of Sudan, because of this,  allegations started that the government was arming the Arab Tribes (Janjaweed) to raid non Arab villages. This rumour cause the threatened non Arabs to attack the Sudan airforce base. These events were the beginning of the genocide.


Important Dates

In early 2000, the UN ordered a mission to maintain peace in Darfur. It was planned that 26,000 troops were to be sent but only 9,000 were sent. In February 2003 two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement drawn from members of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups, demanded an end to chronic economic marginalization and sought power-sharing within the Arab-ruled Sudanese state. They also sought government action to end the abuses of their rivals, Arab pastoralists who were driven onto African farmlands. In September 2004, President George W. Bush declared the crisis in Darfur a "genocide". 

Nations/Groups/Individuals involved

Janjaweed (Arab Militia Group) funded by the government to ethnically cleanse Darfur on Non- Arab groups. Darfuri men, women, and children were also involved as they are the victims of this genocide.

Reasons and means of promotion for the genocide

Religious differences and hatred towards the Darfuri people promoted the genocide. However, the attacks on the Sudan Air base gave the initial reason for the government to begin attacks.  

Important dates/ events that occurred during the genocide

As a result, 100,000 people fled their homes in Darfur in the first week of March, bringing the total number of newly displaced persons to 120,000 in 2014. These alarming numbers are on top of the 460,000 people displaced by violence in 2013, the highest number since the height of the genocide in 2004. The U.N. estimates that 300,000 Darfuris have died since 2003, but it hasn't bothered to estimate casualty numbers since 2008. With fighting continuing to this day, the number is likely to be far higher.Atrocities committed 

The violence had spread over the border to Chad with the same devastating effect. Innocent civilians died at the hands of factions, countless women and girls were raped and murdered without mercy, large numbers of men were tortured or killed, while children suffered severely from malnutrition and violence. 

Numerous assaults have resulted in decimated small farming communities. Everything that can sustain life such as livestock, food stores, wells, blankets or clothing had been looted or destroyed. Villages were torched systematically, often not just once, but rather twice. The uncontrolled presence of Janjaweed units in the burned countryside and in abandoned villages has driven civilians into refugee camps and improvised settlements outside of the larger towns.

Atrocities Committed

The Janjaweed systematically destroyed Darfurians by burning villages, looting economic resources, polluting water sources, and murdering, raping, and torturing civilians. These militias are historic rivals of the main rebel groups, the Sudanese Liberation Movement , and the Justice and Equity Movement. As of today , over 480,000 people have been killed and over 2.8 million people are displaced.

Criminal Charges/ War Crimes tribunals

-On March 4th 2009 the international criminal court ordered a warrant for arrest against Omar Bashir for crimes against humanity and.

-In july 2010 a warrant for arrest on charges of genocide were also placed upon Bashir. The government of Sudan has not yet turned Bashir to the ICC

-Since the order of the arrest, Sudan has seen an increase in crime and protest.

-Sudan is strongly backed by China and Russia who oppose the peacekeeping of the UN and continues to supply the Sudanese military with weapons and helicopters. Russia considers Sudan an important global ally in the international world especially as a part of Africa. 

Current status of the Nation 

In 2003, after decades of neglect, drought, oppression and small-scale conflicts in Sudan's western region of Darfur, two rebel groups mounted an insurgency against Sudan's central government. In response, the regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and its allied militia, known as the Janjaweed, launched a campaign of destruction against civilians of similar ethnic background as the rebels. This campaign wiped out entire villages, destroyed food and water supplies, and systematically murdered, tortured and raped thousands of Darfuris. In September 2004, President George W. Bush declared the crisis in Darfur a "genocide". Despite the world's outcry, the violence continued and in recent years has spread to other states in Sudan.

Finally, in July 2007 the United Nations agreed to pass Resolution 1769 which authorized the deployment of 26,000 peacekeeping forces in Darfur. The foundations for Darfur Peace Agreement were set and in 2011 it was reached in Doha. A peace agreement was signed between the two sides - the Government of Sudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement.

This agreement includes establishment of a compensation fund for victims of the Darfur conflict, allows the President of Sudan to appoint a Vice-President from Darfur and to establish a new Darfur Regional Authority as a overseer in the troubled region until a referendum can determine its permanent status within the Republic of Sudan.

Rwanda Genocide

Rwanda Genocide (1994)

Location 

The country of Rwanda in central Africa

Historical background

Historians have several theories that the first settlers of Rwanda were the Hutu, while the Tutsi migrated later and formed an unique ethnic group. In 1884 German began ruling through the Rwanda monarchy. Th Europeans believed that the Tutsi were more Caucasian that the Hutu and there fore superior over them. Belgian forces took over Rwanda during World War I and continues to rule in the same way. They put the Tutsi's in charge of the colony and the Hutu were subjected to hard labour. Identity cars were introduced to identify a person as a Hutu, Tutsi, Twa, or Naturalized. This prevented movement between the different classes. The Hutu nation began to grow stronger and the Rwanda Revolution started when the Hutu's began killing Tutsis. From here on the racial conflicts between the Hutu and Tutsis continued to escalate leading up to the genocide. 

Important dates

1894- Germany Colonized Rwanda
1918-Belgium assumes control of Rwanda
1933- Belgium classified everyone as Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa
1959-A Hutu rebellion begins against the Tutsis and the Belgians
1961-The Tutsi Monarchy is abolished
1962- Rwanda gained independence
1988- RPF is created in Uganda
1990-The RPF invaded Rwanda, starting civil war
April 6 1994- The Hutu president was assassinated
April 9 - July 1994- Genocide erupts and thousands of Tutsis are killed
Mid July 1994- The Rwandan Genocide ends when the RPF gains control of the country

Nation/groups/individuals involved

The genocide was carried out by Hutu Supremacist military groups, the state of Rwanda, the Rwandan army, and Rwandan civilians complete with the " Hutu Power" movement. Many people took refuge in Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and former Zaire. 

Reasons and means of promotion for the genocide

The Rwanda genocide took place because of racial issues between the Hutu and the Tutsi group. When Rwanda was first colonized the Europeans believed that the Tutsi had more European ancestry and were therefore treated better and given more opportunities such as leadership roles, which upset the Hutu. When Rwanda was struggling for independence from Belgium the Belgians switched that status of the two groups. The Tutsis did not like this. Because of past events there has been an ongoing conflict between these two racial groups for several decades. However the specific reason for the genocide taking place was due to the increased involvement of the Tutsis in the government again which weakened the Hutu involvement in Rwanada. Finally the assassination of the Hutu president Juvenal Habyarumana was blamed on the Tutsis and thus began the slaughter of the Tutsi.

Important dates/ events that occurred during the genocide

April 6, 1994- Hutu President's plane crashed. 

April 7, 1994- Genocide begins. Armed forces from Rwanda begin the mass murder of the Tutsis and Hutus who sympathetic for the Tutsis. 

April 15, 1994- Mayor of Rwanda lead the Tutsi to the Nyarubuye Roman Catholic Church with them believing that they would be safe inside. Instead the Mayor sold them out to the Hutu extremest and it took over two days to kill the 2000 people inside the church.

April 21, 1994- United Nations removed its troops from Rwanda, due to the fear that peacekeepers were being killed. 

July 4, 1994- The RPF gained control of the capital city  and planed on reforming the government of Rwanda. 

July 18, 1994- The genocide ends. 

Atrocities committed

On a large scale the genocide was carried out by hand often with machetes and clubs. Victims were rounded up and killed in churches, hospitals and schools. Grenades and guns were also use to kill people in the streets. Witness survivors from the genocide have also mentioned that people were set on fire, being cooked alive in vats of oil, babies being fried, women were raped and children were skinned. Over the course of 100 days and estimated 800,000 to 1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutu's were slaughtered.Recent reports have actually estimated that the number is closer to 2 million people. There was between 300,000 to 400,000 survivors of the genocide. 75,000 survivors became orphans. Between 250,000 to 500,000 women were raped during the 100 day period and up to 20,000 children were born as a result.

Peace Settlements/ UN action

During the years leading up to the Rwanda genocide, there was a civil war taking place between the Hutu and Tutsi, however neither the world of the United Nations stepped in to intervene. The UN failed to successfully intervene in the crisis because it lacked an objective, or proper view of the crisis. It also lacked funds, supplies, and skills needed to intervene. The United nations did not think that the issue was genocide at first because there had been an ongoing civil wasn't and they instead thought that the deaths were just war casualties. While the United Nations assisted before and after the genocide they did not intervene during the genocide in a way that could have prevented the death of many individuals.

Criminal Charges/ War Crimes Tribunals

The International Criminal tribunal for Rwanda is an international court that was established in November of 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in order to judge people who were responsible for the Rwanda genocide.

Current status of the nation 

GDP (2012): $7,103 million
GDP per Capita (2012): $389.60 US Dollars
Life Expectancy: 58.85 years
Adult Literacy Rate: 71%
AIDS/ HIV Rate: 2.9%
Type Of Government: Sovereign presidential republic.
Level of Peace Freedom: Rwanda is remarkably peaceful country. The Rwanda Patriotic Front , the former rebels who stopped the genocide, has worked hard to get rid of racial divisions. However in order to achieve this piece the current president has had to rule with an iron fist. There is no freedom of press or association and there is not an opposition parties.