# data[].attributes.body
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Melnyk, M. “A Curriculum Guide for Teaching Genocides with a focus on the Holodomor, the Famine Genocide in Ukraine”. Jan 2011. cis.uchicago.edu/oldsite/sites/cis.uchicago.edu/files/.../110128-ukraine-genocide.pdf. 15 Jan 2018.

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Google Docs
“Syria.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/cases/syria/introduction/syria.

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“Cambodian Genocide.” Cambodian Genocide « World Without Genocide -,worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/cambodian-genocide.

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The Cambodian Genocide refers to the attempt of Khmer Rouge party leader Pol Pot to nationalize and centralize the peasant farming society of Cambodia virtually overnight, in accordance with the Chinese Communist agricultural model. This resulted in the deaths of over 25% of the country's population in three years, from 1975 when the Khmer Rouge seized power until they were overthrown by the Vietnamese in 1979.

Cambodia, a country in Southeast Asia, is about the size of Wisconsin; its capital is Phnom Penh. In the years preceding the genocide, the population of Cambodia was just over 7 million, almost all of whom were Buddhists. The country is bordered by Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.
Decolonization
The genocide emanated from a harsh climate of political and social turmoil that began during the French decolonization of Southeast Asia in the early 1950s and continued until the late 1980s.

Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953 after nearly 100 years of colonial rule. Power was given to Cambodia's Prince Sihanouk. During his rule, civil war broke out in neighboring Vietnam between Communist North Vietnam and the South Vietnamese Army, aided by the US. Cambodia maintained neutrality by giving support to both sides, allowing the Viet Cong to use Cambodian ports to ship in supplies, while allowing the US to secretly bomb Viet Cong hideouts in Cambodia.

In 1970, Prince Sihanouk was deposed in a military coup led by his own Cambodian Lieutenant-General Lon Nol, a response to the turbulent political climate of Southeast Asia during this time. Lon Nol was made president of the new Khmer Republic while Prince Sihanouk and his followers joined forces with a communist guerrilla organization known as the Khmer Rouge. Soon after, civil war began.
Rise of the Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement was founded in 1960. The movement's leader, Pol Pot, was educated in France and was an admirer of Maoist (Chinese) communism. Pol Pot envisioned the creation of a new Cambodia based on the Maoist-Communist model with the aim to deconstruct Cambodia to a primitive "Year Zero," wherein all citizens would participate in rural work projects and Western innovations would be destroyed. Pol Pot brought in Chinese training tactics and Viet Cong support for his troops and soon produced a formidable military force.

In 1970, the Khmer Rouge began a civil war with the U.S.-backed Khmer Republic, under Lieutenant-General Lon Nol. Lon Nol's government assumed a pro-Western, anti-Communist stance and demanded the withdrawal of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces from Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge guerillas deposed Lon Nol's government in 1975 and within days of overthrowing the government, the Khmer Rouge began the mission to reconstruct Cambodia on the communist model of Mao's China. These extremist policies led to the Cambodian genocide.

In order to achieve the "ideal" communist model, the Khmer Rouge believed that all Cambodians had to work as laborers on collective farms; anyone who opposed this system would be eliminated. This list of potential opposition included intellectuals, educated people, professionals, monks, religious enthusiasts, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Cambodians with Chinese, Vietnamese, or Thai ancestry. The Khmer Rouge also frequently executed its own members on suspicions of treachery.

Under the threat of death, Cambodians nationwide were forced from their homes and villages. The ill, disabled, old, and young incapable of making the journey to collectivized farms and labor camps were killed on the spot. People who refused to leave were killed, along with any who appeared to oppose the new regime. People from cities were forcibly evacuated to the countryside. All political and civil rights of citizens were abolished. Children were taken from their parents and placed in forced labor camps. Factories, schools, universities, hospitals, and all other private institutions were shut down and former owners, employees, and their extended families were murdered. Religion was banned. Leading Buddhist monks and Christian missionaries were killed, and temples and churches were burned. While racist sentiments did exist within the Khmer Rouge, most of the killing was inspired by the extremist propaganda of a militant communist transformation. It was common for people to be shot for speaking a foreign language, wearing glasses, smiling, or crying. One Khmer slogan best illuminates Pol Pot's ideology: "To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss."

Cambodians who survived the purges and marches became unpaid laborers who worked on minimum rations for endless hours. They were forced to live in public communes, similar to military barracks, with constant food shortages and rampant diseases. Virtual slave labor, starvation, injury, and illness caused many Cambodians to become incapable of performing physical work, and they were killed by the Khmer Rouge as expenses to the system. These conditions of genocide continued for three years until Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978 and ousted the Khmer Rouge government in 1979. Civilian deaths totaled over 2 million people.

Cambodians continued to suffer after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Countless numbers of people fled to Thailand. Many died of starvation or stepped on land mines that the Khmer Rouge soldiers placed along the western border to prevent their victims from fleeing. Those who made it to Thailand brought malaria, typhoid, cholera, and a host of other illnesses into the camps. Human rights groups estimate that 650,000 people died in the year following the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

Lon Nol abandoned the neutrality stance of his predecessor, establishing close ties with the US and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. U.S. troops felt free to move into Cambodia to continue their struggle with the Viet Cong. Cambodia soon became a battlefield, harboring U.S. troops, airbases, barracks, and weapons. As many as 750,000 Cambodians were killed from 1970-1974 by American B-52 bombers, using napalm and dart cluster-bombs to destroy suspected Viet Cong targets in Cambodia. The heavy American bombardment and Lon Nol's collaboration with America drove new recruits to Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement.

Many Cambodians had become disenchanted with Western democracy due to the huge loss of Cambodian lives resulting from the US involving Cambodia in the Vietnam War. Pol Pot's communism brought images of new hope, promise, and national tranquility for Cambodia. By 1975, Pol Pot's force had grown to over 700,000. Within days of the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia in 1975, Pol Pot had put into motion his extremist policies of collectivization, government confiscation and control of all properties, and communal labor.

While the Khmer Rouge was gaining power, the U.S. government had very little interest in the events that were occurring in Southeastern Asia. The American Embassy was concerned with Cambodia solely in relation to the effect on the Vietnam War. U.S. Embassy staff in Phnom Penh was not particularly interested in the regime or the victims. General William Westmoreland, the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, stated, "The Oriental doesn't put the same high price on life as does a Westerner. Life is plentiful, life is cheap in the Orient."

Cambodia was in ruins when the Vietnamese took control in 1979. The economy failed under Pol Pot, and all professionals, engineers, technicians, and planners who could potentially reorganize Cambodia had been killed in the genocide. After Cambodia fell under Communist Vietnamese control, foreign relief aid from any Western democratic state was unlikely. Instead, the US and UK offered financial and military support to the Khmer Rouge forces in exile, who had sworn opposition to Vietnam and communism. The Vietnamese occupation and the continued threat of Khmer Rouge guerilla forces left Cambodia in underdeveloped conditions until Vietnam's eventual withdrawal in 1989. In the military conflicts of 1978-1989, an additional 14,000 Cambodian civilians perished. In 1991, a peace agreement was finally reached, and Buddhism was reinstated as the official religion. The nation's first democratic elections were held in 1993.

On July 25, 1983, the "Research Committee on Pol Pot's Genocidal Regime" issued its final report, including detailed province-by-province data. The data showed that 3,314,768 people, an estimated 25% of the population, lost their lives in the "Pol Pot time."

In the early 1990s, mass graves were uncovered throughout Cambodia. They held hundreds of skeletal remains from Khmer Rouge execution grounds, known as killing fields. Survivors suffered high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder but often went undiagnosed and almost always went untreated.

Bringing the perpetrators to justice has proven to be a difficult task. The UN called for a Khmer Rouge Tribunal in 1994; The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was established, and trials finally began in November of 2007 and are ongoing today.

Many suspected perpetrators were killed in the military struggle with Vietnam or eliminated as internal threats to the Khmer Rouge itself. In 1997, Pol Pot was arrested by Khmer Rouge members; a "mock" trial was staged, and Pol Pot was found guilty. He died of natural causes in 1998. The last members of the Khmer Rouge were officially disbanded in 1999.

The ECCC tribunal has been criticized for handing down only three convictions despite being operational for eleven years at a cost of $300 million. This is in part due to the court prosecuting only senior leaders most responsible for the crimes. Additionally, Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge member, has opposed further indictments. Several government officials are former Khmer Rouge members and there have been considerable efforts to protect them, including denying access to witnesses because of their position.

Kaing Guek Eav, known as "Comrade Duch," Nuon Chea, and Khieu Samphan are the only perpetrators of the genocide to be convicted thus far. Duch was found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes and was originally sentenced to 35 years in prison, but the sentence was overturned in favor of life imprisonment in 2012. Nuon Chea was found guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Chea appealed the verdict but the sentence was upheld in 2016. Khieu Samphan was found guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment. He appealed the verdict, but his sentence was also upheld in 2016.

Today, Cambodia's main industries are fabrics and tourism; foreign visitors to Cambodia surpassed five million in 2016. However, corruption remains a serious issue in Cambodian politics. International aid from the US and other countries is often embezzled by bureaucrats. This illegal seizure of foreign aid has greatly added to the widespread income disparity which affects most Cambodian citizens today.

Human rights abuses soared in recent years, according to Human Rights Watch. In 2016, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, escalated political persecution against Cambodia's opposition party, human rights workers, social activists, and intellectuals. There have been arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, and denial of citizens' rights to protest. Human rights abuses continued into 2017. The leader of Cambodia's opposition party was arrested and the party was dissolved, leaving no opposition to contest the CPP in the 2018 elections.

Download a one page PDF summary of this information here.
Updated: World Without Genocide, May 2018. By Kathryn Ust, World Without Genocide Research and Advocacy Coordinator.

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Cambodian Genocide " World Without Genocide -

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The Cambodian Genocide refers to the attempt of Khmer Rouge party leader Pol Pot to nationalize and centralize the peasant farming society of Cambodia virtually overnight, in accordance with the Chinese Communist agricultural model. This resulted in the deaths of over 25% of the country's population in three years, from 1975 when the Khmer Rouge seized power until they were overthrown by the Vietnamese in 1979.

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“Genocide in Cambodia (1975-1979).” Genocide in Cambodia, www.hmh.org/ed_Genocide_Cambodia.shtml.

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The history of genocide in Cambodia, with the Khmer Rouge murdering almost 2 million in attempts to weed out insolence and members of the population with subversive knowledge and experience.

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Google Doc

Melnyk, M. “A Curriculum Guide for Teaching Genocides with a focus on the Holodomor, the Famine Genocide in Ukraine”. Jan 2011. cis.uchicago.edu/oldsite/sites/cis.uchicago.edu/files/.../110128-ukraine-genocide.pdf. 15 Jan 2018.

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History.com Staff. “Bosnian Genocide.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/bosnian-genocide.

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Bosnian Genocide - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com

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Find out more about the history of Bosnian Genocide, including videos, interesting articles, pictures, historical features and more. Get all the facts on HISTORY.com

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“Bosnian Genocide.” Bosnian Genocide « World Without Genocide -, worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/bosnian-genocide.

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Melnyk, M. “A Curriculum Guide for Teaching Genocides with a focus on the Holodomor, the

Famine Genocide in Ukraine”. Jan 2011. cis.uchicago.edu/oldsite/sites/cis.uchicago.edu/files/.../110128-ukraine-genocide.pdf. 15 Jan 2018.

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“Genocide in Rwanda (1994).” Genocide in Rwanda, www.hmh.org/ed_Genocide_Rwanda.shtml.

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History of genocide between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda.

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Google Doc

Melnyk, M. “A Curriculum Guide for Teaching Genocides with a focus on the Holodomor, the Famine Genocide in Ukraine”. Jan 2011. cis.uchicago.edu/oldsite/sites/cis.uchicago.edu/files/.../110128-ukraine-genocide.pdf. 15 Jan 2018.

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“Genocide in the Darfur Region of Sudan (2004-Present).” Genocide in the Darfur Region of Sudan, www.hmh.org/la_Genocide_Darfur.shtml.

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History of genocide in Darfur, between the ethnically Arab "Janjaweed" and the victimized ethnically African citizens.

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Google Docs

“North Korea” World Without Genocide. http://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/north-korea. 11 Jan. 2018

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“Jihad in Sub-Saharan Africa .” World Policy Institute, www.worldpolicy.org/blog/2012/02/06/genocide-north-korea.

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By Robert Park

The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court define genocide as five specific actions committed with "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

What is indisputable is that North Korea has employed each of the five acts characterized as genocidal in the Convention and Statute through (a) executions and state-sanctioned murders, (b) the systematic use of torture, (c) state-induced mass starvation in political prison camps and elsewhere, (d) forcible abortions and infanticide, and (e) the forcible transfer and enslavement of children.

Also the argument that North Korea has directed these attacks against the specific human groups protected under the Genocide Convention and Article 6 of the Rome Statute holds strong.

Genocide on religious grounds

In 2007, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) published a report written by international lawyers that was based on seven years of research and that confirmed that there are indicators of genocide directed towards religious groups in North Korea, and specifically against Christians. This is in line with the observations of Christian watchdogs such as Open Doors and Release International that rate North Korea as the world's most egregious violator of religious rights. Its policy towards its indigenous religious population is said to extend far beyond "persecution"sincereligious believers as well as up to three generations of their entire families, including non-religious relatives, children, and babies still in the womb, are being exterminated.

There are many indications of the specific intent to destroy religious groups in North Korea, primarily due to alleged reasons of national security. Before the installation of the Kim Il-sung regime by the Soviets in 1945, the north was considered to be the center of Christianity in East Asia; 25-30% of Pyongyang's population was Christian. Today all traces of this once-flourishing religious community and culture have been obliterated. Recognizing the inherent threat posed by faith to totalitarian rule and the Kim cult of personality, the DPRK regime has since its inception committed genocide against religious believers and their families.

Also Former North Korean police and security agents who were tasked specifically to identify and "eliminate"Christian groups have testified that the DPRK regime considers religion, and particularly Christianity, to be the primary threat to national security. Accordingly, the harshest punishment is meted out to repatriated North Korean refugees who have had contact with missionaries and churches in China. Refugees, after being forcibly returned, are brutally tortured and interrogated specifically to discern whether or not they had any contact with religious groups. Those that confess to or are suspected of having met with missionaries in China or of having converted to Christianity are either killed or banished to concentration camps for life along their entire families. According to Open Doors estimate the number of Christians currently imprisoned in North Korea's concentration camps lies between 50,000-70,000.

Moreover, the aforementioned Christian human rights organizations believe that North Korean Christians who have not been publicly executed or killed by beatings or starvation in the prison camps have in many instances been used as guinea pigs in chemical and biological weapon experiments -an allegation which is not by any means new. For already over a decade North Korean refugees, including former prison camp guards who played a role in facilitating these atrocities, have been speaking out in an attempt to draw the international community's attention to these widespread human rights violations, but to no avail.

Genocide on national, ethnical, and racial grounds

Equally compelling is the case for genocide committed on national, ethnical, and racial grounds through North Korea's fixed policy of killing the half-Chinese babies of North Korean women who have been forcibly repatriated by China.

Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have been forced to flee to China in order to survive famine and oppression. The majority of these refugees consist of women, 80 percent of whom were victims of sex-trafficking or had been sold into forced marriages. However, China refouls over 5,000 North Korean refugees a year. And even if a North Korean woman marries a Chinese citizen the PRC authorities will repatriate every North Korean refugee they can find due to a 1961 treaty and a subsequent 1986 border protocol with the DPRK. But this practice stands in flagrant breach of its obligations under the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol since once these refugees are forcibly returned, they face torture, imprisonment in camps, and even execution, as North Korea criminalizes exit from the country.

A large number of these refugees are North Korean women that became pregnant through rape. These broken refugees are then once again subjected to senseless and unrestrained brutality at the hands of DPRK officials after they are forcibly returned by China for "carrying foreign sperm."In fear of the atrocities these refugees face back in their home country, they claim to always have a razor blade or arsenic on them in case they get caught by Chinese police, stating that they would rather commit suicide than suffer from the cruelties of the DPRK after repatriation.

North Korea also continues to systematically and brutally exterminate the children of North Korean women believed to be fathered by non-North Koreans (usually Chinese or Chinese-Koreans) through infanticide and forced abortions. According to the U.S. State Department, "The reason given for this policy was to prevent the birth of half-Chinese children."The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has officially acknowledged North Korea's "continued violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women, which in particular refers to the trafficking of women for prostitution or forced marriage, ethnically motivated forced abortions, including by labor inducing injection or natural delivery, as well as to infanticide of children of repatriated mothers, including in police detention centers and labor training camps."

This is confirmed by multiple reports over the last ten years that have indicated that infanticide and forced abortion on ethnic grounds are systematically carried out in North Korea's prisons. This practice, which also constitutes ethnic cleansing, corresponds with the DPRK's obsession with racial purity. The intent to destroy racially mixed babies on ethnic grounds is therefore clear and incontestable.

Noteworthy is also a report published on December 19, 2011 by Genocide Watch, a reputable international NGO which "exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide"and whose board of advisors includes many admirable anti-genocide activists such as Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire and Samantha Power (Special Assistant to President Obama and head of the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights). It conclusively found and confirmed that North Korea has committed genocide as defined by Raphael Lemkin's 1948 Convention, stating that the organization "has ample proof that genocide has been committed and mass killing is still underway in North Korea."

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Robert Park, a founding-member of the nonpartisan Worldwide Coalition to Stop Genocide in North Korea, is a Korean-American missionary and human rights activist.

[Photo courtesy of Living Act]

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By Robert Park The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court define genocide as five specific actions committed with "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

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United to End Genocide

“Syria Backgrounder.” United to End Genocide, endgenocide.org/conflict-areas/syria-backgrounder/.

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United end to Genocide

“The Rwandan Genocide.” United to End Genocide, endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/the-rwandan-genocide/.

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The Rwandan genocide is one of the heaviest moments in human history. An airplane crash in 1994 carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi provided a spark for an organized campaign of violence against the Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians across the country.

Approximately 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates were slaughtered in a carefully organized program of genocide over 100 days, making history as the quickest killing spree the world has ever seen.

Genocide Begins

Civil war broke out in Rwanda in 1990, exacerbating existing tensions between the Tutsi minority and Hutu majority. The civil war began when Rwandan exiles formed a group called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and launched an offensive against Rwanda from their home base in Uganda.

The RPF, which was comprised of mostly Tutsis, placed blame on the government for failing to address the Tutsi refugees. All Tutsis in the country were characterized as accomplices of the RPF and all Hutu members of the opposition parties were deemed traitors. Despite the opposition forces reaching a peace agreement in 1992, political negotiations continued in attempts to achieve harmony between the Tutsis and Hutus.

On April 6th 1994, as Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana returned from a round of talks in neighboring Tanzania, he was killed when his plane was shot down outside of the country's capital, Kigali.

Following the crash, the U.S. Deputy Assistance Secretary of State warned of "the strong likelihood that widespread violence could break out."

The president's death provided a spark for an organized campaign of violence against Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians across the country. In just a matter of hours, Hutu rebels surrounded the capital and took over the streets of Kigali. Within a day, the Hutus had successfully eliminated Rwanda's moderate leadership. As the weeks progressed, Tutsis and anyone suspected of having any ties to a Tutsi, were killed.

The political vacuum enabled Hutu extremists to take control of the country. Detailed lists of Tutsi targets were prepared in advance and government radio stations called upon Rwandans to murder their neighbors. These specific lists included names, addresses and sometimes license plates. Through radio hate speech, people were encouraged to take the streets and exterminate those who matched the list.

The Power of the Radio

The radio was utilized to not only list the location of specific Tutsis to be targeted, but to also justify the genocide. Radio hosts discussed discrimination the Hutus suffered under the power of the Tutsis. Strong connotations describing Hutus as slaves during colonization painted the Rwandan genocide as a type of slave rebellion. Radio stories were used to anger the Hutus and channel that anger into action. Radio was also used to dehumanize Tutsis by calling them "cockroaches," making acts of violence against them seem less inhumane.

The extremist Hutus strategy turned into an extermination campaign as they began to encounter resistance from the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi rebel group. The RPF fought back as the violence grew more severe, creating a toxic mix of both civil war and genocide. In response, the Hutus changed their strategy, believing if the opposition was completely exterminated, their majority power and status would be reassured and preserved. Thus, they set out to get rid of the Tutsis completely.

In addition to the brutal mass killings, systematic rape was also widely used as a weapon of war during the Rwandan genocide. The exact number is unknown, but it is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped. It was considered another way to destroy the Tutsi ethnic group, through both the emotional pain (so the woman could "die of sadness"), and through the health problems that would be a result. Often times, women did not even have to succumb to the aftermath of rape as they were often immediately killed right after.

Over the course of the 100 days, the RPF began to make gains on both the battlefield and in the negotiations led by Tanzania. By early July, the RPF had control of the majority of the country. Fearing reprisal killings, hundreds of thousands of Hutus fled the country.

Who Are the Hutus and Tutsis?

Rwanda is composed of three main ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. Nearly 85% of the population identified as Hutu, making it the majority group in Rwanda. Tutsi comprised 14% of the population and Twa made up 1%.

The colonial power, Belgium, believed that the Tutsi were superior to the Hutu and the Twa and put the Tutsis in charge of Rwanda. At the end of colonial rule, however, Belgium began giving more power to the Hutus. As the Hutus gained more leverage, they began to drive the Tutsis out of Rwanda and significantly lowered the population of Tutsis in the country.

Precursors to Genocide

Ethnic tensions existed in Rwanda for centuries, growing even more extreme after Rwanda gained independence from Belgium in 1962. In the 1990's, the Hutu political elite blamed the Tutsi population for increasing political, social, and economic problems in the country. They also associated Tutsi civilians with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebel group.

Many Hutus resented the Tutsi, as they were typically considered the elite and had ruled the country for decades. As a result, they also feared the Tutsi and were determined to hold on to their own power. When President Habyarimana's (a Hutu) plane crashed, Hutu extremists assumed it was the Tutsis who shot it down. Immediately, Hutus set out to destroy the entire Tutsi population and seek revenge on the power that had always been deemed the elite.

The Response

From the beginning, despite claiming to be caught unaware by the killings, the United States and international community knew of the danger and disorder in Rwanda. But no actions were taken to stop the killings. Months before the killing began, General Romeo Dallaire, the commander of the UN Peacekeepers in Rwanda, sent a now infamous " genocide fax ", warning of an "anti-Tutsi extermination" plot.

The media covered eyewitness accounts and direct stories from missionaries who were unable to save their Rwandan friends from inevitable death. Stories hit the front pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times, even with descriptions of six foot high piles of corpses. There were Defense Intelligence Agency reports that stated the killings were directly administrated by the government and intelligence memos that reported the ringleaders of the genocide.

The United States

Despite these reports, President Clinton specifically avoided calling the massacre genocide to avoid U.S. involvement. The Clinton administration held on to the idea that there were no U.S. interests in Rwanda, so it was not their place to intervene. They also believed that U.S. credibility would be diminished if they deemed Rwanda acts of genocide and then did not step it to intervene.

A senior U.S. official described the decision to not intervene in Rwanda as "a foregone conclusion." Military intervention was not on the table for discussion; it was automatically concluded that the United States would not take part in stopping the Rwandan genocide.

The International Community

International leaders also refused to use their authority to challenge the legitimacy of the genocidal government. When disapproval was finally voiced, the perpetrators in Rwanda did not stop the killing. The whole world saw what was happening, yet refused to step in.

A UN peacekeeping operation (UNAMIR) was sent to Rwanda in April. The mission, however, failed to be sufficient and was extremely ill equipped. There was a lack of functioning vehicles and the ones that were available were hand-me-downs. Medical quickly supplies ran out with no money to restock and other supplies could rarely be replaced.

The United States was the main proponent in backing the UNAMIR's exit of Rwanda. U.S. officials felt that a small peacekeeping mission would result in a large and costly war for Americans. Belgium joined the United States in calling for a full UN exit in April of 1994. The Security Council later voted in mid-May to send 5,000 troops back to Rwanda after reports that the genocide spread. However, by the time the force returned, the genocide had long been over.

Those in power at the time claim that the information available was overlooked in the confusion of the civil war and the rapidity with which the genocide unfolded. But newly released archived materials of discussions within the U.S. government and the UN Security Council suggest more could and should have been done to prevent and respond to the Rwanda genocide.

The Aftermath

When the killing stopped, the RPF established a coalition government with Pasteur Bizimungu (a Hutu) as president and Paul Kagame (a Tutsi) as vice president and defense minister.

The UN also reinstated and revamped the UNAMIR operation in Rwanda, which remained there until March 1996. UNAMIR provided humanitarian relief in the aftermath of the genocide.

The outflow of former genocidaire's across the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo has had lasting effects that continue to reverberate in the region today.

The effect that the genocide posed on the people of Rwanda is immeasurable. The people were tortured and terrorized as they saw those they love die and feared the loss of their own life. It is estimated that nearly 100,000 children were orphaned, abducted or abandoned. Twenty-six percent of the Rwandan population still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder today.

In 1994, the United Nations created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), dedicated to bringing those responsible for the genocide to justice. Although slow-moving, the ICTR began trying and indicting perpetrators in 1995.

The United Nations conducted more than 70 tribunal cases and Rwandan courts have tried up to 20,000 individuals. However, trying individuals in courts proved to be a challenging process as the location of many perpetrators was unknown.

To deal with the thousands of accused and to foster reconciliation, the traditional community court system known as " Gacaca" was used, leading to over 1.2 million cases being tried. The ICTR has also determined that the widespread rapes committed during the Rwandan genocide may also be considered an act of torture and genocide on their own. The ICTR closed at the end of 2014.

"Rwanda can be a paradise again, but it will take the love of the entire world...and that's as it should be, for what happened in Rwanda happened to us all - humanity was wounded by the genocide."
- Immacuée Ilibagiza, Rwandan author

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The Rwandan Genocide - United to End Genocide

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The Rwandan genocide is one of the heaviest moments in human history. An airplane crash in 1994 carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi provided a spark for an organized campaign of violence against the Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians across the country.

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World Without Genocide

“Darfur Genocide.” Darfur Genocide « World Without Genocide -, worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/darfur-genocide.

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The "Darfur Genocide" refers to the current mass slaughter and rape of Darfuri men, women, and children in Western Sudan. The killings began in 2003 and became the first genocide in the 21st century.[1] Unrest and violence persist today.

The genocide is being carried out by a group of government-armed and government-funded Arab militias known as the Janjaweed (which loosely translates to 'devils on horseback') or Rapid Support Forces (RSF). [2] The Janjaweed systematically destroy Darfuris 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 (SLM), and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). As of spring 2020, over 480,000 people have been killed and more than 2.8 million people are displaced. [3]

Sudan is one of the largest countries in Africa. Located in northeastern Africa, it borders the Red Sea and falls between Egypt, Chad, Uganda, and six other countries. The capitol, Khartoum, is in the northeastern part of the country. Darfur is a region in western Sudan that encompasses an area roughly the size of Spain. The population of Darfur is estimated at 7 million people.

The conflict in Darfur has increased tensions in neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic as hundreds of thousands of refugees have streamed over the two countries' borders to escape violence.

Following independence from Britain in 1956, Sudan became embroiled in two prolonged civil wars for most of the remainder of the 20th century. These conflicts were rooted in the north's domination of the economic, political, and social institutions of largely non-Muslim, non-Arab, southern Sudanese. Competition for scarce resources played a large role. [4] As nomads began to compete for grazing land for their herds, disputes arose and traditional peaceful reconciliation measures were no longer able to settle these disputes, causing the region to become increasingly militarized. The complexities of desertification, famines, and the civil war raging between North and South Sudan contributed to a rise in regional tensions during the 1980s. Similarly, as oil was discovered in western Sudan, the Sudanese government and international contributors became increasingly interested in the land in Darfur.

The first civil war ended in 1972 but broke out again in 1983. [5] The second war and famine-related effects resulted in more than 4 million people being displaced and, according to rebel estimates, more than 2 million deaths occurred over a period of two decades. [6] As the civil war between the North and the South reached its peak in the 1990's, the government ignored reports of rising violence in Darfur.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended the North-South War in 2005, [7] granting additional political power to South Sudan. However, it failed to take into account the effects of the war on Darfur. Darfur remained underdeveloped and marginalized at the federal level, lacking infrastructure and development assistance. This neglect, combined with allegations that the government was arming Arab tribesmen (Janjaweed) to raid non-Arab villages, was used as the justification for a rebel attack on a Sudanese Air Force Base at El Fasher, North Darfur in 2003. [8] This attack sparked government reprisals on residents of Darfur, contributing to the large-scale human rights atrocities facing Darfuri civilians today.

Failed peace talks have allowed for the continuation of the conflict. The most successful talks thus far took place in Abuja in 2005-2006, leading to the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). Present at these negotiations were the Sudanese government and three main rebel groups: the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Abdel Wahid Mohamed al-Nur's faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), and Minni Minawi's faction of the SLM. However, multiple negotiations have thus far been largely unsuccessful.

In July of 2007, the UN issued a hybrid United Nations-African Union mission (UNAMID) to maintain peace in Darfur. [9] UNAMID, with a projected strength of 26,000 troops, was authorized to use force to protect civilians. Despite this mandate, however, only 9,000 troops were sent, and they lacked the necessary equipment to carry out their mission. At its peak, close to 16,000 forces were deployed in the region, well short of the 26,000 that had been authorized. [10] However, throughout 2007-2020, the Sudanese government blocked and prevented UNAMID from accessing towns where many of the Janjaweed attacks occurred. Thus, UNAMID has been, for a large part, greatly ineffective in both providing aid to and protecting civilians. [11] UNAMID originally was authorized for ten years, but in 2017 a resolution was passed for a gradual troop phase-out, ending in mid-2020. [12]

On March 4, 2009, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for crimes against humanity and, in July 2010, a warrant for arrest on charges of genocide. [13] For ten years the government of Sudan had yet to turn him over. Since the issuance of the warrants, Sudan has seen major protests and increased violence. The government has also forcefully expelled aid agencies from the country that has further jeopardized the conditions for thousands of displaced and marginalized civilians.

It was expected that al-Bashir would not face trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague until he was apprehended in a nation which accepts the ICC's jurisdiction. Sudan is not a state party to the Rome Statute, the international treaty creating the ICC, which it signed but didn't ratify. By all accounts, al-Bashir should be a prisoner in his own country. However, in 2011 the Arab League has announced its solidarity with al-Bashir. Since the warrant, al-Bashir had visited Qatar and Egypt.[14] Both countries refused to arrest him, and the African Union also condemned the arrest warrant and asked the United Nations Security Council to delay its enforcement.

The Sudanese government and JEM signed a ceasefire agreement in February 2010, with a tentative agreement to pursue further peace.[15] However, talks have been disrupted by accusations that the Sudanese army continues to launch raids and air strikes against Darfur villages.

The Janjaweed have also been accused of incursions and attacks in neighboring Chad. Hundreds of aid workers in Chad were evacuated due to increased tension between rebel groups and military forces. Meanwhile, the Janjaweed have ventured deep into Chad to conduct assaults, resulting in the flight of nearly 100,000 Chadians. [16]

In July 2011, South Sudan gained independence from Sudan and became its own nation.[17] During the same month, the Liberation and Justice Movement, an umbrella organization representing rebel groups, and the Sudanese government signed the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD). [18] This document represents the process of peace in Darfur; however, little progress has been made after the document was signed because of lack of implementation and enforcement.

In 2014 and 2015, government forces backed by the Janjaweed led counterinsurgency campaigns in Darfur where they repeatedly attacked villages, burned and looted homes, and beat, raped, and executed villagers. [19] In October of 2014, a mass rape of over 200 women and girls was organized and executed by Sudanese forces in a north Darfur town over the course of 36 hours. According to defected Janjaweed members, they had been explicitly ordered to "rape women". [20]

Violence continued into 2016. Amnesty International alleged that the government used chemical weapons against civilians, and 190,000 people were displaced due to violence, according to the UN. [21] In 2016, President Omar al-Bashir announced a unilateral ceasefire in conflict zones. This ceasefire was extended until the end of 2018. However, throughout 2017 and 2018, government forces continued to attack villages throughout Darfur, causing deaths and massive displacement of citizens. As of late 2018, over 2 million people remain displaced from the conflict and almost 5 million people in total have been affected. [22]

In April 2019, President Omar al-Bashir was finally ousted. He had been in power for over 30 years and his removal was in response to months of unarmed protests, to which the government responded with armed retaliation. In Sudan, al-Bashir's rule was first followed by a military council and, in August 2019, it was replaced by a transitional government of both military and civilian members. [23] In February 2020, the Sudanese government officially agreed to hand al-Bashir over to the ICC to face war crime and genocide charges. [24]

Attacks on Darfuri villages commonly begin with Sudanese Air Force attacks using Russian-supplied Antonov bombers. Air campaigns are often followed by Janjaweed militia raids. All remaining village men, women, and children are either murdered or forced to flee. Looting, burning food stocks, enslaving and raping women and children, and stealing livestock are common. Dead bodies are tossed in wells to contaminate water supplies and entire villages are burned to the ground.

The on-going conflict in Darfur, Sudan was declared "genocide" by United States Secretary of State Colin Powell on September 9, 2004, in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[25] On February 18, 2006, President George W. Bush called for the number of international troops in Darfur to be doubled. In addition, the US has imposed economic sanctions on Sudan since 1997. However, after working and talking with the Sudanese government for years, the US formally revoked its sanctions on Sudan in 2017. [26] This was largely in response to the Sudanese government's "sustained positive actions in reducing hostilities in conflict areas, improving humanitarian access throughout Sudan, and addressing the threat of terrorism in cooperation with the US." [27]

On September 17, 2006, British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrote an open letter to the members of the European Union calling for a unified response to the crisis.[28] In supporting the United Nations Security Council Resolution in 2007 to authorize the deployment of up to 26,000 peacekeepers to prevent further violence in Darfur, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly that the Darfur crisis was "the greatest humanitarian disaster the world faces today."[29] The British government also endorsed the International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and urged the Sudanese government to co-operate.

Both China and Russia have blocked many United Nations resolutions on Darfur because of their support for the Sudanese government, a big trading partner. From its seat on the United Nations Security Council, China has been Sudan's chief diplomatic ally. China invests heavily in Sudanese oil. [30] The country is China's largest oversees oil provider. Sudan's military is supplied by Chinese- and Russian-made helicopters, tanks, fighter planes, bombers, rocket launch propelled grenades, and machine guns.

Russia and China opposed UN peace keeping troops in Sudan. Russia strongly supports Sudan's territorial integrity and opposes the creation of an independent Darfuri state. Also, Russia is Sudan's strongest investment partner and political ally in Europe. [31] Russia considers Sudan as an important global ally in the African continent.

Since the ousting of Omar al-Bashir in early 2019, the Sudanese government has established and retained a transitional government. Although this government recently did agree to turn to turn over al-Bashir to the ICC, its next steps and transition to a permanent government remain to be seen. Arbitrary detention, torture, limitations of the freedom of press, and gender-based violence continue to be seen in both Darfur and Sudan as a whole under this new government. [32]
Updated: World Without Genocide, January 2021.
Citations:

[1] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/africa-july-dec08-origins_07-03

[2] https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/janjaweed

[3] https://tolerance.tavaana.org/en/content/darfur-genocide-0

[4] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_su.html

[5] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/country-fast-facts-sudan/

[6] https://secondsudanesecivilwars.weebly.com/facts.html

[7] https://peacemaker.un.org/node/1369

[8] https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-rebels-retreat-under-government-air-attack

[9] https://www.un.org/press/en/2007/sc9089.doc.htm

[10] https://thedefensepost.com/2019/11/01/un-unamid-darfur-extended-march-2020/

[11] https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/sudan

[12] https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/unamid

[13] https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir

[14] https://worldpolicy.org/2011/07/07/the-icc-gains-ground-in-the-arab-world/

[15] http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/02/23/sudan.peace.agreement/index.html

[16] https://www.hrw.org/news/2006/02/21/chad-darfur-conflict-spills-across-border

[17] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14069082

[18] https://unamid.unmissions.org/doha-document-peace-darfur

[19] https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mvpy8y/darfurs-tribes-are-killing-each-other-over-gold-and-water

[20] https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/02/11/sudan-mass-rape-army-darfur#

[21] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/sudan-crisis-amnesty-report-cites-evidence-government-used-chemical-weapons-n656121

[22] World Report 2019, op. cit.

[23] https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/sudan

[24] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51462613

[25] https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/after-1945/genocide-in-darfur

[26] https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-sudan/

[27] https://sd.usembassy.gov/sanctions-revoked-following-sustained-positive-action-government-sudan/

[28] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jun/23/speeches.eu

[29] https://www.ft.com/content/28b08110-3f73-11dc-b034-0000779fd2ac

[30] https://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/26.htm

[31] https://intpolicydigest.org/2018/03/26/russia-and-sudan-are-cozying-up/

[32] World Report 2019, op. cit.

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Sudan - Darfur " World Without Genocide - Making It Our Legacy

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The "Darfur Genocide" refers to the current mass slaughter and rape of Darfuri men, women, and children in Western Sudan. The killings began in 2003 and became the first genocide in the 21st century.[1] Unrest and violence persist today.

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“North Korea- World Without Genocide -.” World Without Genocide North Korea Comments, worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/north-korea.

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Millions of people in North Korea suffer extreme forms of repression and violations that infringe upon nearly the entire spectrum of their human rights. In January 2013, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said that North Korea had "one of the worst-but least understood and reported-human rights situations in the world." Hundreds of thousands of people, including children, are arbitrarily held in political prison camps and other detention facilities where they are subjected to forced labor, denial of food as punishment, torture, and public executions. Many of those held in political prison camps are family members of those deemed unfriendly to the regime; these family members are arbitrarily detained as a form of collective punishment.[1]

North Korea, officially named the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia located on the northern half of the Korean peninsula. North Korea is bordered by South Korea to the south and China and Russia to the north. North Korea is approximately the size of Pennsylvania and has an estimated population of 24.5 million people.[2]

Following World War II, the Korean peninsula was divided into North Korea and South Korea. North Korea became communist under the rule of Kim Il-sung, who began a series of social and economic reforms throughout the country. The Korean War, between communist and Soviet-backed North Korea and democratic and U.S.-backed South Korea, lasted from 1950-1953. The war reached a stalemate and the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, to "insure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settlement is achieved." The Korean peninsula was split into communist North Korea and democratic South Korea. No 'final peaceful settlement' has been reached to date.[3]

Following the war and with support from the Soviet Union, Kim Il-sung made efforts to make North Korea self-reliant, or 'Juche.'[4] North Korea industrialized and saw economic growth through the 1950s and '60s, but the 1970s brought high oil prices and a technology gap that left communist countries struggling. Other countries opted for reform but North Korea maintained a rigid state-controlled system. High military spending and economic crises caused North Korea to default on all of the country's loans except those owed to Japan in 1980.[3] Kim Il-sung refused to open the country to foreign investment.

Known as the 'Great Leader' or the 'Heavenly Leader,' Kim Il-sung restricted almost all aspects of society. He placed a large emphasis on loyalty and hierarchy and created a cult mentality within North Korea's population. He replaced spiritual components of religion with loyalty to the state and ruling family to maintain control over the population.[4] The government claims that this is 'genuine hero worship' rather than a cult of personality.[5]

Kim Il-sung died in 1994 and the country exhibited an outpouring of grief. Kim Il-sung's son, Kim Jong-il, took control of the country and appointed a number of his relatives to high-ranking government and military positions.[3] The country has since struggled with economic collapse, widespread and continuing famine, and an entirely closed political environment.[2]

Kim Jong-il died in 2011 and was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-un.[3]

North Korea has a dire human rights record and pervasive problems include arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, starvation and malnutrition, lack of press freedom, and a lack of due process or rule of law.[6]

North Koreans deemed 'unloyal' to the regime or otherwise 'politically undesirable' are sent to prison camps and detention centers for life. There are more than 200,000 North Koreans incarcerated, including children, who face torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.[7] Prisoners are forced to work in slave-like conditions and many prisoners die in the camps because of starvation, lack of medical care, abuse by guards, and unhygienic living conditions. Prisoners are refused trial.[8]

It is estimated by The International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) that more than 10,000 people die in the prison camps every year.[9] According to U.S. News & World Report, more than 400,000 people have perished in the camps in the last forty years.[10]

Starvation and famine are massive problems in North Korea, as the country itself is unable to provide adequate food for its population. Reports continue of people dying of starvation and nearly a million North Koreans have starved to death since the 1990s.[7] Despite small increases in household food consumption reportedly due to recent improved harvests, food insecurity and chronic malnutrition remain widespread, and millions remain dependent on food aid.[11] A recent survey carried out by the North Korean government with United Nations support reported that one-third of the population suffers from stunting, a condition of below normal body growth.12]

North Korea's media control by the government is among the strictest in the world. Although the constitution grants freedom of speech and press, the government prohibits the exercise of both.[13] Reporters without Borders ranked North Korea's freedom of the press 177 th out of 178 in 2013.[14] The only news allowed in North Korea is information that favor the regime. Foreign criticism or articles about economic and political issues are not allowed.[13]

North Korean regime collapse is imminent. Historically, China was the largest trade partner with North Korea, accounting for more than 70% of North Korea's international trade.[15] In May 2013, Bank of China Ltd., one of China's largest banks, closed North Korea's accounts and suspended all financial transactions.[16]

The U.N. General Assembly has condemned North Korea every year since 2005 for its conduct.[17] Many countries and multilateral organizations criticize North Korea's human rights abuses. China has condemned allegations against North Korea, claiming the regime has made progress in terms of human rights.[18] Sudan claims that the international community should provide more support to North Korea to protect human rights.[19]

In 2004, the United States passed the North Korean Human Rights Act, which created an office in the State Department to monitor North Korean human rights.[20]

In March 2013, Amnesty International analyzed new satellite images of North Korea. They found that the North Korean government is blurring the lines between the political prison camp kwanliso 14 and the surrounding population. This raises concerns about increasing restrictions and control of people living near prison camps.[21]

Also in March 2013, the UN Human Rights Council established a year-long Commission of Inquiry to investigate a range of "systematic, widespread and grave" human rights violations including crimes against humanity in North Korea.[21]

In December 2015, the UN Security Council made North Korea part of its formal human rights agenda. The Human Rights Council, and later the UN General Assembly 3rd Committee, adopted resolutions condemning North Korea's human rights violations. [22]

North Korea rejects all reports of human rights violations.

Supplementary Materials:

' North Korea Extends Its No-Free Zone ' by Jack Rendler, North Korea Country Specialist, Amnesty International USA (PDF download)

References:
[1] Render, Jack, North Korea Country Specialist, Amnesty International USA. E-mail interview. 26 April 2013.
[2] " The World Factbook: North Korea." Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[3] Shah, Dhruti. " North Korea - A Country Never at Peace." BBC News. 04 Sept. 2013. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[4] Lee, Grace. "The Political Philosophy of Juche." Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs 3 (2003): 105-12.
[5] Lodestar May-June 2005. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[6] " North Korea." Human Rights Watch. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[7] " World Report 2013: North Korea." Human Rights Watch. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[8] " Annual Report 2012: North Korea." Amnesty International. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[9] " Human Rights Groups Call on UN Over N.Korea Gulag." The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[10] Omestad, Thomas. " Gulag Nation." U.S.News & World Report. 15 June 2013. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[11] " AFP: Millions of N.Koreans dependant on food aid." Yahoo News Singapore. 13 Mar. 2013. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[12] " World Briefing | Asia; North Korea: A Third of Children Under 5 Are Stunted, U.N. Says." The New York Times. 13 June 2012. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[13] " North Korea's tightly controlled media." BBC News. 19 Dec. 2011. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[14] Reporters Without Borders. World Press Freedom Index (2013).
[15] Demick, Barbara. " China's trade with North Korea increases." Los Angeles Times. 28 Dec. 2012. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[16] " Bank of China halts business with North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank." Reuters. 07 May 2013. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[17] " The Editor View from America." The Editor. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[18] Bajoria, Jayshree and Xu, Beina. " The China-North Korea Relationship." Council on Foreign Relations. 21 Feb. 2013. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[19] " Q & A for Activists on a United Nations Commission of Inquiry on North Korea." Human Rights Watch. 21 Jan. 2013. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[20] " Implementation of the North Korean Human Rights Act." U.S. Department of State. 02 June 2011. Accessed 07 May 2013.
[21] " North Korea's Human Rights Crisis." Amnesty International. 13 Apr. 2013. Accessed 07 May 2013.

[22] " North Korea Events of 2015." Human Rights Watch. 2015. Accessed 17 February 2017.
This page was written by Rachel Hall Beecroft. This page was updated on May 7, 2013.

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Millions of people in North Korea suffer extreme forms of repression and violations that infringe upon nearly the entire spectrum of their human rights. In January 2013, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said that North Korea had "one of the worst-but least understood and reported-human rights situations in the world."

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“Syria.” Human Rights Watch, 9 Jan. 2018, www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/syria.

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Greater United States and Russian engagement on Syria and efforts to reach a political settlement in 2016 failed to significantly reduce egregious violations of human rights and humanitarian law that have come to characterize the armed conflict there.

According to the Syrian Center for Policy Research, an independent Syrian research organization, the death toll from the conflict as of February 2016 was 470,000. The spread and intensification of fighting has led to a dire humanitarian crisis, with 6.1 million internally displaced people and 4.8 million seeking refuge abroad, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. By mid-2016, an estimated 1 million people were living in besieged areas and denied life-saving assistance and humanitarian aid.

More than 117,000 have been detained or disappeared since 2011, the vast majority by government forces, including 4,557 between January and June 2016, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. Torture and ill-treatment are rampant in detention facilities; thousands have died in detention.

The Islamic State (also known as ISIS), and the former Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, which changed its name to Jabhat Fath al-Sham, were responsible for systematic and widespread violations, including targeting civilians with artillery, kidnappings, and executions. Non-state armed groups opposing the government also carried out serious abuses including indiscriminate attacks against civilians, using child soldiers, kidnapping, unlawfully blocking humanitarian aid, and torture.

In its fourth report, released this year, the Joint Investigative Mechanism between the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN concluded that Syrian government forces used chemicals in an attack in Idlib in March 2015. The inquiry also identified the military units responsible for flights connected to the attacks but could not name the commanders of the units due to the Syrian government's failure to respond to crucial queries. In an earlier report, the joint inquiry had reached the same conclusion for two other attacks, in 2014 and 2015. The inquiry also previously found that ISIS had used sulfur mustard gas in an attack on areas held by armed opposition groups in August 2015.

On October 28, Russia lost its seat at the Human Rights Council after failing to secure enough votes for re-election from UN member states. Several human rights and humanitarian relief organizations, including Human Rights Watch, had urged UN member states to hold Russia accountable for its involvement in possible war crimes.

Targeting Civilians, Indiscriminate Attacks, Use of Incendiary Weapons, Cluster Munitions, and Chemical Weapons

The number of civilian deaths from airstrikes and artillery decreased slightly following internationally brokered ceasefires in February and September, but only briefly, and unlawful attacks on civilians by all parties to the conflict persisted throughout the year. Syrian and Russian airstrikes continued to target, or indiscriminately strike civilian areas, including homes, markets, schools, and hospitals, using wide-area explosives, barrel bombs, cluster munitions, and flammable incendiary weapons.

In 2016, Human Rights Watch documented several attacks on homes, medical facilities, markets, and schools that appeared to be targeted, including a major airstrike by the Syrian-Russian coalition that hit al-Quds Hospital and surrounding areas on April 27, 2016, killing 58 civilians and patients. In August alone, there were several attacks on health facilities including in Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, and Homs.

Government forces used at least 13 types of internationally banned cluster munitions in over 400 attacks on opposition-held areas between July 2012 to August 2016, killing and injuring civilians, including children. The Syrian-Russian joint military operations, which began on September 30, 2015, have also extensively used internationally banned cluster munitions. Cluster munitions have been outlawed by most countries since their submunitions fall over a wide area, failing to distinguish between fighters and civilians and because many submunitions fail to explode and become de facto land mines that can explode, if disturbed, even after many years if they are not cleared.

Government forces, and their allies, also increasingly resorted to the use of incendiary weapons, with at least 18 documented attacks on opposition-held areas in Aleppo and Idlib between June 5 and August 10. In June, Russia Today broadcasted footage of incendiary weapons-specifically RBK-500 ZAB-2.5SM bombs-being mounted on a Russian Su-34 fighter-ground attack aircraft at a Syrian airbase. Incendiary weapons induce a chain of chemical reactions that ignite fires which are hard to extinguish and cause excruciatingly painful burns that are difficult to treat. A total of 113 countries including Russia (but not Syria) have ratified the Convention on Conventional Weapons protocol prohibiting the use of air-delivered incendiary weapons in areas with a "concentration of civilians."

While Russia continues to deny its involvement in incendiary weapons attacks in Syria, Syria has persistently ignored calls to sign the protocol and its military forces' use of incendiary weapons has been documented since the end of 2012.

Government forces also continued using toxic chemicals in several barrel bomb attacks in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Syrian government helicopters dropped barrel bombs with toxic chemicals on residential neighborhoods in opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo city on August 10 and September 6.

In a report issued on August 24, 2016, a UN-appointed investigation attributed two chemical weapon attacks earlier in 2016 to the Syrian government and one to ISIS, which is already under UN sanctions.

Unlawful Restrictions on Humanitarian Assistance

The siege of civilian areas by government and pro-government forces and by armed opposition groups and blocking of humanitarian aid continued in 2016. The Syrian government continued requiring aid agencies to go through a bureaucratic approval system to obtain permits before accessing these areas. The UN secretary-general said that even in areas where aid was allowed in, the Syrian government has removed life-saving items from convoys. In February alone, the government prevented 80,000 medical treatment items, including diarrhea kits, emergency health kits, antibiotics, and other medicines, from going into besieged areas, the UN said.

Humanitarian conditions in areas besieged by government and pro-government forces rapidly deteriorated, forcing civilians to leave these areas. Residents of Daraya, Damascus countryside, were forced to evacuate the city following a four-year siege on August 25.

On September 19, 2016, airplanes struck a UN humanitarian aid convoy and a Syrian Red Crescent warehouse in Urum al-Kubra in Aleppo, killing 20 civilians and one staff member as they unloaded trucks. Most of the aid, including food and medical supplies, was to be distributed to at least 78,000 people, according to a Syrian Red Crescent statement. The UN said that the convoy had received proper permits from the Syrian government in advance to cross from government-controlled Aleppo to parts of opposition-held western Aleppo to deliver the aid.

Arbitrary Arrests, Enforced Disappearances, Torture, and Deaths in Custody

Arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, torture, and forced disappearances by government forces continue to be widespread and systematic in Syria, and take place within a climate of impunity. Deaths in government detention from widespread torture, abuse, starvation, beatings, and disease is also extensive with at least 12,679 persons dying in custody between March 2011 and June 2016, according to local monitors.

A September report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria noted that while stigma and trauma has led to an underreporting of sexual violence, they were able to document some cases of sexual violence against male and female detainees by government officials.

Government security forces used excessive force to quell a riot inside the Hama Central Prison that began on May 1, resulting in some injuries, according to prisoners who spoke to Human Rights Watch.

On April 1, Judai Abdallah Nawfal, director of the Syrian Center for Civil Society and Democracy, was arrested by Syrian forces at a border checkpoint on his way to Lebanon. He was previously detained in 2014 and 1992. He was being held by the Military Intelligence Branch 235, barred from meeting lawyers and his family. Likewise, the fate of Bassel Khartabil, a 34-year-old free speech advocate, remains unknown with unconfirmed information indicating that he might have been tried and sentenced to death by a military court in the al-Qaboun Syrian Military Police headquarters, notorious for closed-door proceedings that lack fairness.

Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS Abuses

In July 2016, Jabhat al-Nusra announced it was splitting from Al-Qaeda and forming Jabhet Fath al-Sham. Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS were responsible for abuses including intentionally bombing civilian targets, abductions, arbitrary detentions, executions, and unlawful sieges in 2016. While information about ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra abuses is hard to obtain because of the difficulties independent monitors have accessing areas under their control, both groups have publicized their unlawful attacks.

ISIS claimed responsibility for several car bombings and suicide attacks in Latakia governorate on May 23, including near bus stations and a hospital, announcing that it was targeting areas where "Alawites gather." The attacks killed 145 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

On February 21, a series of ISIS bombings also targeted a Shia religious site in Damascus and a civilian neighborhood in Homs, according to media reports, killing 109 and injuring 235, including children.

On July 27, ISIS also claimed to have bombed Qamishli, northeast Syria, which is held by the People's Protection Units (YPG) military forces and Kurdish police (the Asayish). A truck bomb exploded near a PYD security center, killing 48 people and injuring about 140 others.

ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra have also both targeted and executed civilians when conducting military operations in Syria. On January 17, according to media reports, ISIS killed at least 85 civilians and 50 Syrian soldiers during an offensive in the city of Deir al-Zour.

Women and girls continue to face discrimination and severe restrictions including on their freedom of movement in ISIS-held areas. A September report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria noted that ISIS fighters forcibly married Sunni women living in ISIS-controlled areas.

ISIS also continues to torture, rape, murder, and sexually enslave Yazidi women and children, many of whom were captured in Iraq and taken to Syria.

News reports in 2016 also indicate that ISIS continues to execute men accused of homosexuality. In one reported case from Deir al-Zour governorate, a 15-year-old boy was stoned to death on January 3 after he was accused of being gay. At least 25 men have been murdered by ISIS in Syria on suspicion of homosexuality or for sodomy, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Abuses by Other Non-State Armed Groups

Non-state armed groups have launched indiscriminate mortar and other artillery strikes from areas under their control killing civilians in neighborhoods under government control in Aleppo, Damascus, Idlib, and Latakia. These attacks repeatedly hit known civilian objectives, including schools, mosques, and markets.

According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, 16 civilians were killed and 41 injured when an opposition armed group shelled a mosque on April 29 during Friday prayers in Aleppo city. On June 5, SANA reported that five people were killed and 77 injured when opposition armed groups fired rockets on government-held parts of Aleppo, including al-Ramouseh, the Electricity Company, al-Midan, and the public park, also hitting an Armenian church. Opposition armed group shelling also hit a maternity hospital in a government-held district of Aleppo on May 3, according to media reports.

Areas under Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) Control

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) and allied parties have set up local governance structures in large parts of northern Syria.

Despite some progress in the demobilization of child soldiers in 2014 and 2015 and disciplining officers who allowed children to serve, the People's Protection Units (known as the YPG affiliated with the PYD) is still not meeting its commitment to demobilize children and to stop using boys and girls under the age of 18 in combat. Concerns also remain over the creation of a YPG "non-combatant category" for children aged 16 and 17.

Displacement Crisis

Relentless airstrikes, shelling, and widespread and systematic arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, torture, and forced disappearances have exacerbated a displacement crisis, both internally and externally, which has been further aggravated by shortfalls in international humanitarian aid funding.

Neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, sought to curb the massive inflow of refugees with unlawful administrative, legal, and even physical barriers. Despite a bilateral open-door treaty, Lebanon since early 2015 has imposed visa-like restrictions for Syrians seeking entry and maintains stringent residency renewal regulations, negatively impacting refugees' freedom of movement, access to education, and access to healthcare. During the year, Jordanian border authorities blocked entry of migrants and asylum seekers along the eastern stretch of its border with Syria, except for a period in the early summer when it allowed 20,000 to enter for security screening.

Following a June 21 attack by ISIS on the Rukban crossing, Jordan allowed no one to enter and blocked humanitarian assistance to nearly 70,000 Syrians stranded at the border, except for one delivery of aid lowered from a crane in early August. Turkish border authorities, likewise, continue to push back refugees. In March and April, Turkish border guards killed five Syrian asylum seekers, including a child, and smugglers trying to enter the country.

The Supporting Syria and the Region conference, held in London on February 4, raised over US$12 billion, half of which was for 2016. Countries attending UNHCR's Geneva Conference on March 30, however, failed to commit to more than a modest increase in resettlement places for refugees.

The lengthy procedures and limited number of resettlement places, coupled with dwindling aid resources and restrictions on access to the European Union by land, led many Syrian refugees to choose to attempt to enter the EU by sea.

Key International Actors

Efforts to push the UN Security Council to take more meaningful action in Syria failed. Peace talks held by the International Syria Support Group, meant to resolve the conflict in Syria, stalled in February 2016 with only some bilateral meetings between Russia and the United States (the ISSG co-chairs) resuming. A cessation of hostilities was negotiated for the end of February, which saw the decrease of civilian casualties, but it collapsed rapidly. Another cessation of hostilities was negotiated in September but broke down after an airstrike hit a UN aid convoy killing at least 20 people.

The Syrian government continued to repeatedly violate Security Council resolutions demanding safe and unhindered humanitarian access-including across conflict lines and across borders; that all parties cease "indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and aerial bombardment, such as the use of barrel bombs;" and an end to the practices of arbitrary detention, disappearance, and abductions, and the release of everyone who has been arbitrarily detained.

In addition to persistently discouraging or pre-emptively rejecting suggestions for meaningful Security Council action to curb violations by the Syrian government, Russia, along with the Iranian government, continued to provide the Syrian government with military assistance in 2016.

The United States also continued to lead a coalition of other states targeting ISIS in Iraq and Syria. France promised to increase its airstrikes in ISIS-controlled areas after ISIS claimed a series of attacks in Paris in November.

On October 21, the UN Human Rights council held a special session to discuss the grave human rights situation in Aleppo, adopting a resolution which calls for an end to aerial bombardments, affirms the need for humanitarian access, highlights the need for accountability, and mandates the Syria Commission of Inquiry to conduct a "comprehensive, independent special inquiry into the events in Aleppo," identifying perpetrators of alleged violations and abuses, and reporting to the council no later than March 2017.

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Greater United States and Russian engagement on Syria and efforts to reach a political settlement in 2016 failed to significantly reduce egregious violations of human rights and humanitarian law that have come to characterize the armed conflict there.