Genocide refers to crimes that are violent and which intend to destroy and damage the existence of a certain group (Rubenstein 15). Genocide involve certain crimes that include; forcefully transfer of children from one group into another, causing both mental and physical damages to individuals, introducing regulations that aim at controlling birth from a certain group and killing members of a certain community. The acts of genocide involve violence towards members of a certain religious, national, racial and ethnic groups. The world did not experience acts of genocide before the year 1944 (Rubenstein 21). The word genocide originated from a Jewish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin when he described polies by Nazi that targeted the destruction of European Jews and systematic murder. The paper focuses on modern global genocide statistics and facts. Genocide remains to be a global issue raising concern from all parts of the world.
The convention on prevention and punishment of genocide was approved by United Nations in 1948 and recognized the act as an international crime. Several well-known cases of genocide include certain countries such as, Rwanda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq and Darfur in Sudan. The most common genocide cases reported in the world include; Armenian, Soviet collectivization, Soviet great terror, communication of Eastern Europe, China’s land reform, Rwanda, Pakistan, Cambodian and Chinese collectivization (Rubenstein 75).
The government of the United States is reported to have claimed that the Islamic State (ISIS) was responsible for several genocide acts against religious minorities in Syria and Iraq. According to a report released by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015, more than 800000 people had been forced from their homes while churches, shrines, mosques and temples had been destroyed(Rubenstein 55). According to the United Nations, genocide acts in Syria and Iraq were characterized with certain acts that include; rape, kidnapping, murder, torture, displacements, assault and forced conversions. Previous research conducted indicates that approximately 25000 people die every day from acts of genocide. In addition, there is an estimated ten million deaths caused by genocide between the years 1932 and 1933.
Within a period of two months December, 1937 and January 1938, an estimated 300000 soldiers and civilians from China were killed by The Japanese Imperial Army (Seltzer 546). In the year 1988, the Iraqi regime that was led by Saddam Hussein attacked civilians using nerve agents and mustard gas which later led to approximately 100000 deaths of Iraq Kurds. For a period of three years, President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia attacked Bosnia after declaring its independence leading to deaths of over 100000 people and rape of many women. In 1994, more than 800000 people were killed within a period of three months in Rwanda, where majority of the victims were from Tutsi ethnic group Gray et al 7). Moreover, men suffering from HIV virus raped women thus further infecting them and spreading the disease.
A permanent international criminal court was established in 1998 to handle genocide cases. The first genocide cases to be heard by the International Criminal Court were in 1998 where a Hutu mayor in the town of Taba, Rwanda was convicted of crimes against humanity and genocide. In addition, Rodavan Karadzic of Bosnia was charged and arrested in the year 2008 in connection to the 1995 Srebrenica massacre (Rubenstein 15). President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir of Sudan was issued with a warrant of arrest in March 2009, in connection to charges against war and crimes against humanity.
From the year 2003 to date, approximately 500000 people have been killed in Darfur, Sudan. In addition, Sinjar town in North Iraqi was attacked by the ISIS fighters where many Yazidis were killed and forcefully displaced. Past research conducted indicates that 70 children and 500 men had been killed while majority of women were being sold into slavery. Moreover, The United Nations reports that 3500 people have been held by ISIS as slaves where a majority includes the Yazidi societies and other marginalized and minority groups (Seltzer 525). In March 2016, Radovan Karadzic was charged and imprisoned for forty years over one count of genocide.
In Rwanda many Tutsi Rwandans were massacred by Hutu led government with an intention of eradicating the whole community. 800000 people were killed within a short period of time with a lot of brutality where majority of them were from the Tutsi minority. The massacre was executed on ethnic basis. The United Nations also established International Tribunal for Rwanda (ITR) which was based in Tanzania and helped to convict cases relating to rape, killings and forceful displacement of people. The Yugoslavia republic was composed of three ethnic groups in 1991 44% Bosnian Muslim, 17% Croat, 31% Serb and 8% Yugoslav (Rubenstein 67). The government of Bosnia, Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia thus triggering the Bosnian Genocide which caused over 100000 deaths in 1995. International criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was established in 1993 by the United Nations Security Council which was mandated with the jurisdiction of handling and prosecuting genocide crimes in the region. Within 20 years of operation, the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia is reported to have charged over 161 people of genocide crimes including Slobodan Milosevic a former Serbian leader. In addition, former Bosnian Serb military leader was convicted of genocide crimes. Civil war in Yugoslavia lasted for three years, and estimated 100000 people killed where 80% being Bosniaks. In 1995, over 8000 Bosniak boys and men were killed and have been described as the largest massacre in the European countries since the Holocaust. The crisis in Darfur, Sudan was declared as genocide by senate and House of Representatives in the United States.
However, the number of reported genocide cases has been declining since the end of World War 2 with the Holocaust being the darkest in the world (Seltzer 535). The United General Assembly describes genocide as denying a certain group of people the right to existence. The highest number of genocide cases occurred from the year 1970 t0 1995. Genocide has many causes but can be summarized into, national crises, government power, grievance, fractionalization and dehumanization. Several scholars believe that genocide is caused by certain events that include; revolution, war and economic depressions that leads to group killings. In addition, several theories argue that, when a government becomes powerful, there is a possibility of occurrence of genocide acts in the country. Moreover, ethnic and religious divisions further increase the chances of genocide acts.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) that is based in Hague, Netherlands has been instrumental in prosecuting genocide cases and bringing perpetrators to justice. In addition, the court has been involved in prosecuting leaders especially in Sudan and Rwanda.
Several other countries have experienced acts of genocide to a great extent. The Brazilian Indian genocide occurred between 1957 and 1968 and was characterized with acts of rape, bacteriological warfare, sexual abuse, slavery, torture and mass murder (Krain 333). Moreover, between the year 1965 and 1967, more than half a million people were massacred in Indonesia as a result of a failed coup in the country. In Nigeria, the Biafran war that took place between 1967 and 1970 led to death of over 30000 individuals where a majority of them were from the Igbo community. The Bangladesh attacks and mass killings of 1971 also amounts to genocide where more than a million people died and many families displaced and therefore, forced to seek refuge in other countries (Krain 356). In Uganda, over 10000 civilians were killed during Idi Amin’s administration while more than two million people were killed between the years 1975 to 1979 in the Democratic state of Kampuchea.
Works Cited
Gray, Mary W., and Sharon Marek. "The statistics of genocide." Statistical methods for human rights. Springer, New York, NY, 2015. 37-50.
Krain, Matthew. "State-sponsored mass murder: The onset and severity of genocides and politicides." Journal of conflict resolution 41.3 (1997): 331-360.
Rubenstein, Richard L. Genocide and the Modern Age: Etiology and Case Studies of Mass Death. Syracuse University Press, 2010.
Seltzer, William. "Population statistics, the Holocaust, and the Nuremberg trials." Population and Development Review(2015): 511-552.
