Genocide Watch
Encyclopedia
Genocide Watch is an international organization based in the United States
which attempts to predict, prevent, limit, eliminate, and punish genocide
throughout the world through reporting, public awareness campaigns, and judicial or quasi-judicial follow-up. This can include trials in national justice systems, special national and international tribunals, the International Criminal Court
, and Truth and Reconciliation commissions. Genocide Watch manages a website, Facebook page , and YouTube account.
. Genocide Watch is the founder and chair of the International Campaign to End Genocide, initiated in The Hague
in May 1999. On their webpage in 2006, Genocide Watch explains the ICEG this way:
In addition to being a resource for the United Nations
and national governments, Genocide Watch produces reports accessible to activists and journalists. In 2006, Genocide Watch was quoted in the worldwide press regarding Darfur
in Sudan
, Chad
, Ethiopia
, and Iraq
. Genocide Watch maintains is based out of Washington, D.C.
They have also spoken out against the South African government and their stance on South African farm attacks.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
which attempts to predict, prevent, limit, eliminate, and punish genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
throughout the world through reporting, public awareness campaigns, and judicial or quasi-judicial follow-up. This can include trials in national justice systems, special national and international tribunals, the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
, and Truth and Reconciliation commissions. Genocide Watch manages a website, Facebook page , and YouTube account.
History
Genocide Watch was founded by Gregory StantonGregory Stanton
Gregory H. Stanton is the founder and president of Genocide Watch, the founder and director of the Cambodian Genocide Project, and the founder and Chair of the International Campaign to End Genocide...
. Genocide Watch is the founder and chair of the International Campaign to End Genocide, initiated in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
in May 1999. On their webpage in 2006, Genocide Watch explains the ICEG this way:
1.5 million ArmeniansArmenian GenocideThe Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
. 3 million UkrainiansHolodomorThe Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
. 6 million Jews. 250,000 GypsiesPorajmosThe Porajmos was the attempt made by Nazi Germany, the Independent State of Croatia, Horthy's Hungary and their allies to exterminate the Romani people of Europe during World War II...
. 6 million SlavsGeneralplan OstGeneralplan Ost was a secret Nazi German plan for the colonization of Eastern Europe. Implementing it would have necessitated genocide and ethnic cleansing to be undertaken in the Eastern European territories occupied by Germany during World War II...
. 25 million RussiansStalinismStalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
. 25 million ChineseGreat Leap ForwardThe Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
. 1 million Ibo1966 anti-Igbo pogromThe 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom was a series of massacres directed at Igbo and other southern Nigerian residents throughout Nigeria before and after the overthrow of the Aguiyi-Ironsi junta by Murtala Mohammed.-Background:...
s. 1.5 million Bengalis1971 Bangladesh atrocitiesBeginning with the start of Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971 and continuing throughout the Bangladesh Liberation War, there were widespread violations of human rights in East Pakistan perpetrated by the Pakistan Army, with support from local political and religious militias, especially...
. 200,000 GuatemalansGuatemalan Civil WarThe Guatemalan Civil War ran from 1960-1996. The thirty-six-year civil war began as a grassroots, popular response to the rightist and military usurpation of civil government , and the President's disrespect for the human and civil rights of the majority of the population...
. 1.7 million CambodiansThe Killing FieldsThe Killing Fields are a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Cambodian Civil War ....
, 500,000 Indonesians. 200,000 East TimoreseIndonesian occupation of East TimorIndonesia occupied East Timor from December 1975 to October 1999. After centuries of Portuguese colonial rule in East Timor, a 1974 coup in Portugal led to decolonization among its former colonies, creating instability in East Timor and leaving its future uncertain...
. 250,000 BurundiansBurundi genocideSince Burundi's independence in 1962, there have been two events called genocides in the country. The 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army, and the 1993 mass killings of Tutsis by the Hutu populace are both described as genocide in the final report of the International...
. 500,000 Ugandans. 2 million SudaneseWar in DarfurThe Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
. 800,000 RwandansRwandan GenocideThe Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. 2 million North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
ns. 10,000 KosovarsKosovo WarThe term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
. Genocides and other mass murders killed more people in the twentieth century than all the wars combined.
“Never again” has turned into “Again and again.”
In addition to being a resource for the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and national governments, Genocide Watch produces reports accessible to activists and journalists. In 2006, Genocide Watch was quoted in the worldwide press regarding Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Genocide Watch maintains is based out of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
They have also spoken out against the South African government and their stance on South African farm attacks.
Mission statement
Genocide Watch's mission statement isGenocide Watch exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocideGenocideGenocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
and other forms of mass murderMass murderMass murder is the act of murdering a large number of people , typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time. According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders...
. We seek to raise awareness and influence public policyPublic policyPublic policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
concerning potential and actual genocide. Our purpose is to build an international movement to prevent and stop genocide.
Vision
Genocide Watch states its vision as the followingWe address genocide as it is defined in the Genocide Convention: "the intentional destruction, in whole or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such." We also address political mass murder, ethnic cleansingEthnic cleansingEthnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
, and other genocide-like crimes.
Genocide Watch is the Coordinating organization of The International Campaign to End Genocide (ICEG), an international coalition of organizations. The ICEG aims to educate the general public and policy makers about the causes, processes, and warning signs of genocide; to create the institutions and political will to prevent and stop genocide; and to bring perpetrators of genocide to justiceJusticeJustice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
."
Funding
Genocide Watch continues to work off of the original gift of $25,000 from over a decade ago, though donations are welcome.External links
- Genocide Watch homepage; accessed online December 12, 2006.