Is There A Way To Avert Future Genocides?

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Wikipedia

Foreign Policy Experts Discuss Ways To Avert Future Genocide -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — Against the backdrop of memorials to historic atrocities, a group of foreign policy experts, among them Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, gathered at the Holocaust Memorial Museum on Tuesday to consider modern threats of genocide and how to prevent them.

With the specter of mounting violence in some countries, the threat of future mass killings was a prime concern.

“The United States and our partners must act before the wood is stacked or the match is struck,” Mrs. Clinton said, “because when the fire is at full blaze, our options for responding are considerably costlier and more difficult.”

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My Comment: It's hard to avoid future genocides when past genocides .... especially the first one in the 20th century ..... are denied by some democratic governments.

Satellite Images Reveal Mass Graves In Sudan

Satellite images by the Satellite Sentinel Project, a program run by the actor George Clooney, showed visual evidence of mass graves in the South Kordofan region of Sudan, apparently the result of recent offensives by Arab Sudanese forces against black African tribes. (DigitalGlobe/MCT) | MCT

Clooney's New Project Finds Signs Of Mass Graves In Sudan -- McClatchy News

NAIROBI, Kenya — Satellite images from above Sudan have found three excavated sites that eyewitnesses suggest could be mass graves, a watchdog project co-founded by actor and activist George Clooney said Thursday.

The alleged mass burial sites are located on the outskirts of Kadugli, the capital of central Sudan's South Kordofan state. An outburst of conflict there since June 5 has led to allegations that Sudan's Arab government is slaughtering minority Africans aligned with the rival government now running the breakaway nation of South Sudan.

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More News ON Evidence Of Mass Graves In Sudan

Satellite Evidence Indicates Mass Graves in Sudan -- New York Times/AP
US Monitoring Group Detects Suspected Mass Graves in Sudan -- Voice of America
Sudan's South Kordofan fighting: 'Mass graves found' -- BBC
George Clooney’s satellites capture pictures of mass graves in Sudan -- Toronto Star
Clooney's Satellites Capture Piles of Bodies, Mass Graves in Sudan -- Time
Crime Scene: Evidence of Mass Graves in Kadugli, Sudan -- AllAfrica.com
How George Clooney's Satellite Group Is Identifying Mass Graves in Sudan -- The Atlantic

Google Launches The Holocaust Archive

Holocaust Memorial Day: Google Launches Holocaust Archive To Help Keep Memories Of Tragedy Alive -- The Telegraph

Google has partnered with Israel’s Yad Vashem museum, to help digitise the largest collection of Holocaust photos and documents in the world, to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The search giant is working with the Jerusalem-based archive to properly index and store in Google’s cloud 130,000 photographs, some of which are currently available on Yad Vashem’s website, but until now have been difficult to locate and discover online.

Google is also applying the same indexing and optical character recognition (OCR) technology to lots of documents, ranging from visas to survivor testimonials, in order to help people locate more easily online.

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My Comment: Once in a while Google gets involved in a good project .... this is one of them. The Yad Vashem's website is here.

Preserving The Memory Of 875,000 Who Were Killed At Treblinka

Treblinka Monument

Only 2 Survivors Remain From Nazi Camp Treblinka -- CBS News/AP

Last 2 Survivors Of Notorious Nazi Death Camp Treblinka Devote Last Years To Memory Of Victims.

(AP) BAT YAM, Israel (AP) - They are believed to be the last two survivors of the most chillingly efficient killing machine of the Nazi Holocaust: the Treblinka extermination camp in occupied Poland.

Samuel Willenberg and Kalman Taigman, 87-year-old Israelis, are devoting their final years to trying to preserve the memory of the 875,000 people systematically murdered in a one-year killing spree at the height of World War II. Almost all of them were Jews.

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My Comment: Knowing that you are the last 2 survivors out of 875,000 .... what a painful and terrible legacy to carry, along with the knowledge that you are the last survivors from that era.

UN Report: Rwanda And 6 Other Countries May Have Committed Genocide In Congo

Rwanda May Have Committed Genocide In Congo, UN Says -- Bloomberg

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Rwandan soldiers may have committed genocide and six other countries are suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1993 to 2003, the United Nations said.

A so-called mapping report, published by the UN’s human- rights agency today, details more than 600 “gross violations of human rights and/or international law” by rebel groups and the armies of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe and Chad. Rwandan soldiers in particular may be guilty of genocide for the deliberate killing of ethnic Hutu refugees, according to the report.

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More News On The UN Report Of Genocide In The DR Congo

UN claims possible genocide in DRCongo -- Yahoo News/AFP
U.N. report details hundreds of Congo atrocities -- Yahoo News/Reuters
UN claims possible genocide in DRCongo -- Sydney Morning Herald
UN report pins Uganda on Congo -- Daily Monitor
UN tones down Congo 'genocide' report -- AP
Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi furious at UN DRC report -- RFI
Backlash as UN unveils DRCongo massacres report -- AFP
Uganda rejects UN report on war crimes in Congo -- The Guardian
Ugandan fury over UN report into Congo 'war crimes' -- BBC
Dispute Over U.N. Report Evokes Rwandan Déjà Vu -- New York Times
UN's Congo report could spur genocide trials -- AP
DR Congo demands justice for massacre victims -- Vancouver Sun/AFP
Rwanda: UN Report On Congo Atrocities Threatens Regional Stability -- RTT News
Identify the Congo killers and bring them to justice -- Reed Brody, The Guardian
ANALYSIS-Justice in doubt for Congo atrocity victims -- Reuters

My Comment: There is going to be no follow-up on this report. Rwanda is needed for peace keeping missions in places like Darfur, and charging Rwanda's leaders for genocide while they are preventing genocide in Darfur is a decision that the UN is not going to take (for now).

Mankind's First Genocide?

An archaeologist uncovers a skeleton from the Uruk colony's remains. Was this person killed by his/her own people? Photo courtesy Professor Clemens Reichel

New Discoveries Hint At 5,500 Year Old Fratricide At Hamoukar, Syria -- The Independent

Five years ago, archaeologists found the “earliest evidence for large scale organized warfare in the Mesopotamian world.” Using slings and clay bullets a – likely Uruk – army took over the city of Hamoukar, burning it down in the process. Now, new discoveries at a nearby settlement shed more light on the 3500 BC battle – and raise more questions. If the invading army was from Uruk, did they kill their own people? If so, why?

Hamoukar is a city that flourished in northern Syria since at least 4000 BC. They traded in obsidian and in later times copper working became increasingly important to the city’s economy. Thousands of clay sealings – once used to lock doors or containers and impressed with stamp seals – were found at the ancient site. They tell of a bureaucratic system that was almost as complex as our own.

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My Comment: It appears that mankind has been at war with each other since the beginning of time. Sighhh .... the only difference is that our weapons are now vastly more destructive than what the ancients had 5500 years ago.

Documenting Genocide In The Congo

Hell On Earth: The UN Documents Congo's Bloodbath -- Spiegel Online

Women and girls were raped. Men slaughtered. Refugees killed with machetes and sticks. A new UN report describes an orgy of violence in Congo between 1993 and 2003, meticulously documenting how law and humanity were abandoned. It also accuses Rwanda of atrocities in Congo -- something that has not gone down well in Kigali.

The report is over 500 pages long. It is one of the most comprehensive investigations into war crimes in the history of the United Nations. Even though it has not even been released yet, it has caused serious diplomatic tensions in New York, Congo and Rwanda.

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More News On The UN's Congo Genocide Report

UN report on Congo genocide could be game-changer -- Christian Science Monitor
U.N.: Rwanda Attacks in Congo Could be Genocide -- PBS
Dissecting Rwandan criticism of UN report on Congo genocide -- Christian Science Monitor
Rwanda May Withdraw Darfur Peacekeepers Over Report -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Rwandan troops in Sudan preparing for possibility of immediate withdrawal -- Sudan Tribune
Rwanda considers pulling peacekeepers from Darfur -- Reuters
Rwanda threatens to quit Darfur mission -- Financial Times
Rwanda's past source of recent ire -- UPI

Rwanda Responds To The U.N.'s Genocide Charges

Rwanda Pushes Back Against U.N. Genocide Charges -- New Yorker

A draft report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights arguing that the Rwandan military may have committed genocide in Congo in the late nineteen-nineties has been leaked to the press. Le Monde had the first item on the report yesterday; the Guardian and the Christian Science Monitor had the longest ones. The U.N. has so far refused to comment on the leak, except to say that the draft is not the final version of the report. The Rwandan government has rejected the report, but not said much more.

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More News On Rwanda And The U.N.'s Genocide Charges

Rwanda threatens UN over DR Congo 'genocide' report -- BBC
Rwanda Contests Report on Army -- New York Times/AP
Rwanda threatens to withdraw peacekeepers -- AP
Rwanda threatens to curtail cooperation with UN -- AFP
U.N.: Rwandan troops may have committed war crimes in efforts to end '94 genocide -- Washington Post
Rwanda dismisses UN report detailing possible Hutu genocide in Congo -- Christian Science Monitor
U.N. Congo Report Offers New View on Genocide -- New York Times

UN Report Accuses Rwanda Of Genocide In Congo

Among the Hutus who fled to DR Congo in 1994 were many of the militiamen responsible for Rwanda's genocide. Photo from The BBC

Leaked UN Report Accuses Rwanda Of Possible Genocide In Congo -- The Guardian

Unprecedented investigation by human rights commissioner says Hutu deaths 'cannot be put down to margins of war'

The United Nations has accused Rwanda of wholesale war crimes, including possibly genocide, during years of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An unprecedented 600-page investigation by the UN high commissioner for human rights catalogues years of murder, rape and looting in a conflict in which hundreds of thousands were slaughtered.

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More News On the UN Report Accusing Rwanda of Genocide

UN DR Congo 'genocide' draft report - key excerpts -- BBC
Leaked UN Report Levels Serious Accusations Against Rwanda -- UN Dispatch
Congo butchery resembled Rwanda genocide: UN lawyer -- AFP
Rwanda accused of war crimes -- Sydney Morning Herald
Draft U.N. report accuses Rwandan army of genocide -- The Hindu
UN: Attacks on Hutus in 1990s could be genocide -- AP
Bombshell UN report leaked: 'Crimes of genocide' against Hutus in Congo -- Christian Science Monitor
UN uncovers possible genocide in Congo: report -- AFP
Rwanda Rejects Report Alleging Role In Possible Congolese Genocide -- NPR
Rwandan Government Slams United Nations Report Alleging Genocide in Congo -- Bloomberg
Statement by the Government of Rwanda on Leaked Draft UN Report on DRC -- Financial Post

War Crimes Conviction For Khmer Rouge Executioner

Khmer Rouge Executioner Found Guilty, But Cambodians Say Sentence Too Light -- Christian Science Monitor

Khmer Rouge chief executioner 'Duch' was found guilty today by a UN-backed court. He could be out of prison in 19 years, even when many Cambodians say he deserved life in prison for his role in the Pol Pot regime.

In the first verdict at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal, the Khmer Rouge’s chief executioner has been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Kaing Guek Eav, better known by his nom de guerre, “Duch,” ran the notorious S-21 prison where as many as 17,000 people were tortured before being killed.

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More News On Today's Conviction Of A Khmer Rouge Executioner

Khmer Rouge Figure Is Found Guilty of War Crimes -- New York Times
Khmer Rouge Jailer Faces 19 Years for 16, 000 Dead -- New York Times/Reuters
Senior Khmer Rouge Cadre Jailed For Mass Murder, Torture -- New York Times/Reuters
Former Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Gets 35-Year Jail Term -- RTT News
Khmer Rouge torture chief jailed for mass killings -- The Age
Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch found guilty -- BBC
Video of First Khmer Rouge Trial -- New York Times
Mixed reactions to Khmer Rouge verdict -- Euronews
Genocide in Cambodia: Who were the Khmer Rouge? -- CNN
Duch trial: Khmer Rouge factfile -- The Telegraph
Who's on Trial at Cambodia's War Crimes Tribunal -- New York Times/AP

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Awaits Verdict On Genocide Charges

Judgment Day For Khmer Rouge Executioner -- The Australian

THIRTY-ONE years ago the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed and its leaders fled Phnom Penh.

Invading Vietnamese troops came across an abandoned prison where the bodies of tortured prisoners were still shackled to beds and the floor was splattered with their blood.

This was Tuol Sleng, a school that Pol Pot's murderous regime had converted into its main extermination centre in Cambodia.

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More News On Seeking Justice In Cambodia

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Awaits Verdict -- New York Times/AP
Long haul for Cambodia's genocide court -- BBC
Cambodia confronts its past as Khmer Rouge killer awaits court's verdict -- The Independent
Comrade Duch, the Khmer Rouge executioner who killed thousands for Pol Pot, faces his day of justice -- The Guardian
Khmer Rouge victims pray at prison before historic verdict -- Montreal Gazette/AFP
Many victims of the Khmer Rouge regime may now get justice -- Herald Scotland
A timeline of the Khmer Rouge regime and its aftermath -- CNN

Patterns Of Genocide -- A Book Review

Machetes collected at the Rwandan border after the 1994 genocide. Jenny Matthews/Panos

From The New York Times:

Evil repels analysis. Poets from the time of Homer have sung of war, but only a monster sings of atrocities. So, too, with journalism and scholarship. We are admonished not to ascribe rational motives to Osama bin Laden or Hitler, or to their followers. To admit of motives is to reduce the moral to the psychological, and thus to the comprehensible, and thus perhaps to the acceptable. Our understanding of unspeakable acts is limited on the one hand to the irreducible moral fact of evil, and on the other to the dynamics of mob psychology — of mass lunacy.

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My Comment: I can write 10 books on this topic because this is a subject that demands more analysis and study .... but I am also sure that what I will produce will only touch the surface on what is a dreadful topic.

U.S. Backs Implementing U.N. Doctrine Against Genocide

From the Wall Street Journal:

UNITED NATIONS -- The Obama administration is supporting moves to implement a U.N. doctrine calling for collective military action to halt genocide.

The next step is to see if the countries in favor of implementing the policy will act when a new genocide is brewing if all other diplomatic actions fail. The doctrine is political, not legal: Although these countries have expressed the political will to act, they aren't legally bound to.

The U.N. just concluded a week long debate on implementing the doctrine, which was endorsed by U.N. members in 2005.

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My Comment: Another well meaning U.N. resolution .... but with no teeth nor clear lines of who will enforce such a mandate. I will take such doctrines seriously when killers like the President of Sudan is arrested in any African nation and brought to the International Court at the Hague ..... that is when I know that there is meaning in this resolution.

“Some People Just Want To See The World Burn” -- A Commentary

Vultures feeding on corpses lying abandoned in alleyway after bloody rioting between Hindus and Muslims. Hindu/Muslim Riots - India '46 (Photo LIFE Magazine)

From Fabius Maximus:

Many people who have neither traveled through the third world nor read Martin van Creveld’s new book, Culture of War, did not take this seriously:

“He can’t be bought, bullied or negotiated with… some people just want to see the world burn.”
— Alfred (Michael Caine) speaking of the Joker, in The Dark Knight (2008)

What would they make of this insight in the CIA? Perhaps their reaction would be like that of critic James Bowman:

Are there such men? Conceivably. But history affords no example of them, outside of comic books and the movies, attaining the sort of power it would take actually to burn the world, or even any very significant part of it.

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My Comment: Since the Rwanda Genocide, I have always wanted to write an essay on the psychology and mind-set of people who have developed (in a very short period of time) an overwhelming desire to commit mass murder on another group/tribe of people.

Fabius Maximus has written a good essay here.