Other Genocides in the 20th (and 21st) Century

Cambodian Genocide

• Led by Pol Pot• 1975-1979• 2,000,000 deaths• Used mass starvation in the

“killing fields” (targets: educated, artists, monks, former govt. officials, and minorities)

• Diet=1 tin of rice (180 grams) per person every 2 days.

• Torture included pulling out fingernails, peeling off skin, etc.

Cambodian Genocide Background

• Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge (an armed resistance movement)

• Inspired by communism and Mao ZeDong

• Claimed he was “purifying” society by removing capitalism, western culture, city life, and all western influences.

• Cambodia was sealed off from outside world- $forbidden

• Pol Pot deposed by Vietnam in 1979, he continued to lead resistance for next 17 years.

• Died by heart attack before he could be tried for war crimes

I. Rwandan Civil War (1994)1. Tutsis –

A. Held most of the power, but was only 15-20% of the population.

B. Were given special treatment better jobs, education.

C. Redistribution of land.2. Hutu –

A. 80-85% of the population.B. Mistreated by Tutsis.

3. Genocide – trying to kill off an entire ethnic group, religion, race, etc.A. Hutu uprising – wanted a Hutu run government.B. April-July 1994

i. 500,000 Tutsis die.ii. Total death = 800,000 – 1,000,000.

Tribal Makeup – divided between Hutus and Tutsis.

Hutus – 85% of the pop.

Tutsis – 15% of the pop.

Pre-1800s – Tutsi royal family ruled the area (held most of the wealth).

European Imperialism

• 1800s – early 1900s – Rwanda controlled by Germany and then Belguim

• Tutsis are favored over the Hutus by Europeans (over the years, creates tension btw. the two tribes)

Rwandan Independence

• 1959 – Rwanda given ind. by Belgium• Elections held – Hutu majority wins the election.• Hutus use power to begin to take rights/power

away from Tutsi minority.• Violence breaks out causing many Tutsis to flee

the nation.• 1985 – Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) created

by Paul Kagame to fight for Tutsi rights in Rwanda.

• 1990 – Civil war breaks out as RPF attacks Rwandan army.

• 1993 – Civil war ends as RPF and Hutu govt. try to make peace.

• Hutus in the army and govt. begin to gather arms and train militias in preparation for mass killings.

• April 6, 1994 – Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana assasinated (plane shot out of sky)

Genocide Begins

• Moderate members of the govt. are all killed by the radicals to prevent their blocking of the killings.

• April – July 1994 – Tutsis and moderate Hutus are rounded up and killed. (1 million dead)

World’s Response?

• VERY LITTLE IS DONE!!!

• United States doesn’t want to get involved because of what happened in Somalia in 1993.

• UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda is too small to accomplish anything. UN commander in Rwanda constantly asked for reinforcements.

Genocide Ends

• RPF immediately resumes its attacks after hearing word of the genocide.

• July 1994 – RPF seizes control of the capital ending the genocide.

• 2 million Hutus flee Rwanda to neighboring nations.

• Paul Kagame becomes President of Rwanda in 2000 (still is today).

• Trials held in Rwanda to punish those who participated in the genocide.

Genocide in former Yugoslavia

• Location: Bosnia-Herzegovina

• 1992-1995• 200,000 deaths• Comprised of three main

ethnic groups:• Serbs (Orthodox Christians)• Croats (Catholics)• Muslims• Muslims and Croats were

massacred by Bosnian Serbs

Background: Bosnia

• Serbs led by Slobodan Milosevic and Karadzic

• Bosnian Muslims were put into concentration camps, gunned down and females were raped

• Serbs referred to their policy as “Ethnic Cleansing”

• UN was not allowed to intervene, watched atrocities

• One day in 1993, 8,000 Muslims were executed by Serbs at a UN Safe Haven

• US led a NATO supported bombing raid

• Nov. 1, 1995 Peace talks were attended by Milosevic and others

I. Darfur, Sudan (2003)1. Aggressors

A. Sudanese government.B. Janjaweed – Arab nomads.

2. VictimsA. Black African ethnic groups from

southern Darfur. 3. Cause – nomads have invaded

southern Darfur for access to better land.

4. As many as 450,000 dead from violence & disease.

Darfur (Sudan)

• Culture is divided between those of Arab background and those of African background.

• Arabs control the government and have used this power to oppress the black population.

• Janjaweed – Arab militia supported by the govt. have attacked black villages in Darfur (over 450,000 dead, thousands of women and girls raped, over 2.5 million displaced refugees)

• International Court has issued a warrant for Pres. Omar al-Bashir.

• Not enough action on the part of the world to stop this genocide.