A Short History of Genocide

A SHORT HISTORY OF

GENOCIDE

BRIAN ROBINSON 2010

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Title page image from : Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team 2007.

INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 12 DEFINITION AND CAUSES OF GENOCIDE................................................................. 13 Definition .....................................................................................................................................................................13 Punishable Acts .........................................................................................................................................................15 Killing members of the group...................................................................................................................................15 Causing serious bodily or mental harm.....................................................................................................................15 Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy a group......................................................................15 Prevention of births...................................................................................................................................................15 Forcible transfer of children......................................................................................................................................15 Genocidal acts need not kill or cause the death of members of a group. ...................................................................15 It is a crime to plan or incite genocide, even before killing starts, and to aid or abet genocide. .................................15 Key Terms .................................................................................................................................................................15 The crime of genocide has two elements: intent and action. “Intentional” means purposeful. ..................................15 Intent is different from motive. .................................................................................................................................16 The phrase "in whole or in part" is important............................................................................................................16 The law protects four groups –..................................................................................................................................16 1. The Legal Definition ...............................................................................................................................................18 2. The Common Definition.........................................................................................................................................18 3. General Definition...................................................................................................................................................18 Democide .....................................................................................................................................................................18 Genocide:..................................................................................................................................................................18 Politicide:..................................................................................................................................................................18 Mass Murder:............................................................................................................................................................18 Causes ..........................................................................................................................................................................22 Political Structure .......................................................................................................................................................23 Context.........................................................................................................................................................................23 Motives.........................................................................................................................................................................23

GENOCIDE THROUGHOUT HISTORY ......................................................................... 27 BIBLICAL GENOCIDE .................................................................................................... 28 THE PUNIC WARS AND THE DESTRUCTION OF CARTHAGE ................................ 30 DESTRUCTION OF MELOS........................................................................................... 33 Delian League..............................................................................................................................................................33 Genocide ......................................................................................................................................................................33

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ANTI-SEMITISM............................................................................................................... 35 Jew ...............................................................................................................................................................................35 History of ancient Israel and Judah...........................................................................................................................35 Causes of Anti-Semitism.............................................................................................................................................36 Chronology..................................................................................................................................................................37 The Great Jewish Revolt ............................................................................................................................................41 Deus vult - The First Crusade ....................................................................................................................................44 The German Crusade 1096........................................................................................................................................47 Mainz........................................................................................................................................................................47 Rindfleisch Massacres 1298........................................................................................................................................48 The Black Death 1348.................................................................................................................................................48 Strasbourg 1349........................................................................................................................................................49 Spain ............................................................................................................................................................................49 Granada ....................................................................................................................................................................49 Seville.......................................................................................................................................................................50 Barcelona..................................................................................................................................................................50 Conversos ....................................................................................................................................................................50 Lisbon 1506..............................................................................................................................................................51 The Chmielnicki Massacres 1648-49.........................................................................................................................51 Haidamaka Uprisings - 1734......................................................................................................................................52 Uman........................................................................................................................................................................52 Russia...........................................................................................................................................................................53 Morocco.......................................................................................................................................................................55

THE HOLOCAUST .......................................................................................................... 56 Seeds of the Holocaust. ...............................................................................................................................................56 Einsatzgruppen ...........................................................................................................................................................58 Firing Squads............................................................................................................................................................58 Babi Yar - Ukraine....................................................................................................................................................59 Rumbula - Latvia......................................................................................................................................................59 Gas Vans...................................................................................................................................................................60 The Final Solution.......................................................................................................................................................61 Operation Reinhardt..................................................................................................................................................62 Belzec .......................................................................................................................................................................63 Sobibor .....................................................................................................................................................................63 Treblinka ..................................................................................................................................................................64 Sonderaktion 1005....................................................................................................................................................65 End of Aktion Reinhardt...........................................................................................................................................65 Auschwitz.................................................................................................................................................................66

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Estimated Number of Jews Killed in The Final Solution.........................................................................................71

THE ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE..................................................................................... 73 The massacre at Bezieres............................................................................................................................................74

THE MONGOLS............................................................................................................... 75 Origin...........................................................................................................................................................................75 China............................................................................................................................................................................75 Tanguts.....................................................................................................................................................................75 The Jin......................................................................................................................................................................76 Khwarizm Empire......................................................................................................................................................76 Sughnaq....................................................................................................................................................................76 Bukhara ....................................................................................................................................................................76 Samarquand..............................................................................................................................................................76 Khwarzizm ...............................................................................................................................................................77 Merv.........................................................................................................................................................................77 Sabzwar ....................................................................................................................................................................77 Naishapur..................................................................................................................................................................77 Herat.........................................................................................................................................................................77 Europe .........................................................................................................................................................................77 Kiev..........................................................................................................................................................................78 Armenia....................................................................................................................................................................78 Hungary....................................................................................................................................................................78 Invasion of the Middle East........................................................................................................................................79 Baghdad....................................................................................................................................................................79 Aleppo......................................................................................................................................................................80 Damascus .................................................................................................................................................................80 Tamerlane ...................................................................................................................................................................80 Central Asia..............................................................................................................................................................80 India..........................................................................................................................................................................81

THE MOSLEM CONQUEST OF INDIA .......................................................................... 84 Mahmud of Ghazni.....................................................................................................................................................86 Thanesar 1011 CE ....................................................................................................................................................86 Nandana 1013 CE.....................................................................................................................................................86 Mathura 1018 CE .....................................................................................................................................................87 Asi ............................................................................................................................................................................87 Shrawa......................................................................................................................................................................87 Somnath 1026...........................................................................................................................................................87 Muhammad Ghori......................................................................................................................................................87 Kanauj 1193 .............................................................................................................................................................87 Varanasi....................................................................................................................................................................87 Kol 1193...................................................................................................................................................................88 Anahilwar Patan 1196...............................................................................................................................................88 Kalinjar 1202............................................................................................................................................................88 The Delhi Sultanate.....................................................................................................................................................89

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The Khaljiks................................................................................................................................................................89 The Tughlaqs...............................................................................................................................................................90 Puri ...........................................................................................................................................................................91 Vijayanagar.................................................................................................................................................................91 Mudkal .....................................................................................................................................................................92 Adoni 1366...............................................................................................................................................................92 Vijayanagar...............................................................................................................................................................92 Gulbarga 1419 ..........................................................................................................................................................93 West Coast (Goa) 1469.............................................................................................................................................93 Rajahmundry............................................................................................................................................................94 Timur...........................................................................................................................................................................94 Kator.........................................................................................................................................................................94 Bhatnir......................................................................................................................................................................94 Sarsuti.......................................................................................................................................................................94 Loni ..........................................................................................................................................................................94 Delhi.........................................................................................................................................................................94 Europeans....................................................................................................................................................................95 The Mughal Empire ...................................................................................................................................................96 Babur ...........................................................................................................................................................................96 Panipat 1527.............................................................................................................................................................96 Akbar...........................................................................................................................................................................97 Chitor 1567/8............................................................................................................................................................97 Ahmad Shah................................................................................................................................................................97 Mathura ....................................................................................................................................................................97 Vrindavan .................................................................................................................................................................98 The Third Battle of Panipat.......................................................................................................................................98

CONSTANTINOPLE...................................................................................................... 100 SAINT BARTHOLOMEW’S DAY MASSACRE ........................................................... 102 THE SHIMABARA REBELLION................................................................................... 104 The Rebellion ............................................................................................................................................................ 104

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ....................................................................................... 106 History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 106 The Turks ............................................................................................................................................................... 106 Ottoman Empire....................................................................................................................................................... 107 Abdul-Hamid.......................................................................................................................................................... 109 The Massacres-1894-1896 ........................................................................................................................................ 109 The Genocide 1915.................................................................................................................................................... 111 Chronology............................................................................................................................................................. 112 Deportation............................................................................................................................................................. 116

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The Bryce Documents............................................................................................................................................... 117 Doc. 22. Bitlis, Moush and Sassoun: Interview with Roupen, of Sassoun, 6th November, 1915. ............................ 118 Doc. 23. Moush: Statement by a German eyewitness. ............................................................................................ 118

BANGLADESH GENOCIDE ......................................................................................... 121 History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 121 Sindh and Punjab.................................................................................................................................................... 121 Bengal..................................................................................................................................................................... 122 Independence ............................................................................................................................................................ 123 Two Nations Theory............................................................................................................................................... 123 The Genocide............................................................................................................................................................. 124 Death Toll............................................................................................................................................................... 125 Evidence................................................................................................................................................................. 125 Accounts of the atrocities........................................................................................................................................ 126 Newspaper Accounts.............................................................................................................................................. 127 Genocide in Pakistan ................................................................................................................................................ 129

INDONESIA.................................................................................................................... 130 History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 130 Hindu...................................................................................................................................................................... 130 Islam....................................................................................................................................................................... 131 Portuguese .............................................................................................................................................................. 131 Dutch...................................................................................................................................................................... 131 Nationalism............................................................................................................................................................. 132 Independence.......................................................................................................................................................... 133 The Coup 1965. ......................................................................................................................................................... 134 Genocide .................................................................................................................................................................... 135 Death Toll .................................................................................................................................................................. 135 East Timur................................................................................................................................................................. 136 Genocide .................................................................................................................................................................... 138

RWANDA AND BURUNDI ............................................................................................ 141 History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 141 Rwanda – Burundi Development............................................................................................................................ 141 Colonisation............................................................................................................................................................ 142 Rwanda...................................................................................................................................................................... 143 Independence.......................................................................................................................................................... 143 Rewandese Patriotic Front (RPF)............................................................................................................................ 144 Arusha Accords ...................................................................................................................................................... 145 Framework for Genocide ......................................................................................................................................... 145 The Initiators............................................................................................................................................................. 147 Genocide .................................................................................................................................................................... 147

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Accounts of the Killing........................................................................................................................................... 148 RPF victory ............................................................................................................................................................... 151 The Aftermath........................................................................................................................................................... 151 Refugees ................................................................................................................................................................. 152 UN Failure.............................................................................................................................................................. 153 Burundi...................................................................................................................................................................... 154 Ubuhake ................................................................................................................................................................. 156 Kwihutura............................................................................................................................................................... 157

SUDAN ........................................................................................................................... 158 History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 158 Oil geography......................................................................................................................................................... 163 Development of political parties............................................................................................................................... 163 North....................................................................................................................................................................... 163 South....................................................................................................................................................................... 164 The second war – beginning of genocide................................................................................................................. 165 Peace Talks............................................................................................................................................................. 168 Highlights of the Sudan peace accord..................................................................................................................... 169 The Genocide............................................................................................................................................................. 170 J. Millard Burr ........................................................................................................................................................ 170 Genocide Watch ..................................................................................................................................................... 171 Commission on Human Rights, CHR, 1999........................................................................................................... 171

CAMBODIA.................................................................................................................... 173 History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 173 The growing communist threat ............................................................................................................................... 176 Pol Pot .................................................................................................................................................................... 177 The Genocide............................................................................................................................................................. 177

THE UKRAINIAN GENOCIDE ...................................................................................... 180 History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 180 Lenin 1917-1924........................................................................................................................................................ 181 Kulak...................................................................................................................................................................... 181 Stalin’s Genocide....................................................................................................................................................... 182 Collectivization and Dekulakization ....................................................................................................................... 183 The Famine............................................................................................................................................................. 186 Deaths..................................................................................................................................................................... 186 Denial ..................................................................................................................................................................... 186

SOVIET RUSSIA............................................................................................................ 189 History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 189 Serfdom .................................................................................................................................................................. 191 Start of Socialism.................................................................................................................................................... 192 Revolution .............................................................................................................................................................. 193

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The Genocide............................................................................................................................................................. 194 Red Terror .............................................................................................................................................................. 194 NEP ........................................................................................................................................................................ 195 Stalin....................................................................................................................................................................... 196 Gulag...................................................................................................................................................................... 197 Death ...................................................................................................................................................................... 199

CHINA............................................................................................................................. 201 History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 201 Revolutionary struggle. ............................................................................................................................................ 202 Boxer Rebellion...................................................................................................................................................... 203 Republican China ..................................................................................................................................................... 204 Genocide .................................................................................................................................................................... 204 The Warlord Period, 1917-1927............................................................................................................................... 205 Genocide .................................................................................................................................................................... 206 Struggle for Nationalism .......................................................................................................................................... 207 Genocide .................................................................................................................................................................... 207 The Sino-Japanese War............................................................................................................................................ 208 Genocide .................................................................................................................................................................... 209 Japanese Atrocities. .................................................................................................................................................. 210 Civil War 1945-1949................................................................................................................................................. 212 Genocide .................................................................................................................................................................... 213 The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) .................................................................................................................... 214 Collectivisation....................................................................................................................................................... 216 Famine.................................................................................................................................................................... 217 Cultural Revolution................................................................................................................................................. 217 Liberalisation.......................................................................................................................................................... 218

COLONIAL GENOCIDE ................................................................................................ 221 Spanish Genocide in the Americas .......................................................................................................................... 221 Caribbean................................................................................................................................................................ 221 Central America...................................................................................................................................................... 223 Mexico.................................................................................................................................................................... 224 South America........................................................................................................................................................ 225 Peru......................................................................................................................................................................... 227 North America........................................................................................................................................................ 228 African Genocide ...................................................................................................................................................... 228 Belgium .................................................................................................................................................................. 229 The Deaths.............................................................................................................................................................. 230 American Genocide .................................................................................................................................................. 230

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Genocide .................................................................................................................................................................... 235 The Trail of Tears ................................................................................................................................................... 236 Wounded Knee....................................................................................................................................................... 238 Ghost Dance ........................................................................................................................................................... 239 Massacre................................................................................................................................................................. 240 Other Incidents........................................................................................................................................................ 241

SLAVERY....................................................................................................................... 243 Rome .......................................................................................................................................................................... 243 Islam........................................................................................................................................................................... 244 Europe ....................................................................................................................................................................... 246 The African Slave Trade .......................................................................................................................................... 247 The Middle Passage................................................................................................................................................ 250 Arrival .................................................................................................................................................................... 254 Beginning of Segregation ....................................................................................................................................... 256 Abolition................................................................................................................................................................. 260

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 263 History of the Convention....................................................................................................................................... 263 Criminal Prosecution of Genocide. ......................................................................................................................... 264 Rome Statute. ......................................................................................................................................................... 264 No Prosecution ....................................................................................................................................................... 267 Risk Assessment..................................................................................................................................................... 268 Genocides and Politicides from 1955 to 2001......................................................................................................... 268 CONSOLIDATED STATE FAILURE EVENTS, 1955-2006: ............................................................................. 271 COUNTRIES AT RISK OF GENOCIDE AND POLITICIDE IN 2008............................................................... 290

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FIGURE 1 20TH CENTURY DEMOCIDES......................................................................................................28 FIGURE 2 ANCIENT ISRAEL...........................................................................................................................28 FIGURE 3 ROUTES OF HANNIBAL................................................................................................................30 FIGURE 4 ROMAN AND CARTHAGE WARS ...............................................................................................31 FIGURE 6 ROUTE OF FIRST CRUSADE.........................................................................................................44 FIGURE 7 INCIDENTS AGAINST JEWS.........................................................................................................52 FIGURE 8 RUSSIA THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT.........................................................................................53 FIGURE 9 EINSATZGRUPPEN LOCATIONS.................................................................................................58 FIGURE 10 EISATZGRUPPEN SHOOTING....................................................................................................60 FIGURE 11 EXTERMINATION CAMPS IN POLAND ...................................................................................68 FIGURE 12 ENTRANCE TO AUSCHWITZ .....................................................................................................69 FIGURE 13 LAST JOURNEY TO GAS THE CHAMBER ...............................................................................69 FIGURE 14 AUSCHWITZ FURNACE ..............................................................................................................70 FIGURE 15 CHILDREN USED IN MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS.....................................................................70 FIGURE 16 A BURNING PIT ............................................................................................................................71 FIGURE 17 CATHAR COUNTRY.....................................................................................................................73 FIGURE 19 MONGOL EMPIRE 1294 ...............................................................................................................83 FIGURE 20 MONGOL INVASIONS OF EUROPE...........................................................................................83 FIGURE 21 GENGHIS KHAN INVASIONS.....................................................................................................84 FIGURE 22 INDIA BEFORE MOSLEM CONQUEST .....................................................................................85 FIGURE 23 GHAZNAVID EXPANSION IN INDIA ........................................................................................86 FIGURE 24 MAP OF THE DELHI SULTANATE: KHALJI.............................................................................89

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FIGURE 25 MAP OF DELHI SULTANATE: TUGHLAQ................................................................................90 FIGURE 26 MAP SHOWING VIJAYANAGAR ...............................................................................................91 FIGURE 27 THE MUGHAL EMPIRE ..............................................................................................................96 FIGURE 28 MAP OF CONSTANTINOPLE .................................................................................................... 100 FIGURE 30 MAP: OTTOMAN EMPIRE......................................................................................................... 107 FIGURE 31 MAP OF BANGLADESH ............................................................................................................ 121 FIGURE 32 MAP OF INDONESIA................................................................................................................. 130 FIGURE 33 MAP TIMOR................................................................................................................................. 136 FIGURE 35 MAP OF NUBIA........................................................................................................................... 158 FIGURE 36 ETHNIC GROUPS IN SUDAN .................................................................................................... 162 FIGURE 37 MAP: SUDAN OIL GEOGRAPHY.............................................................................................. 163 FIGURE 38 MAP: ANCIENT KHMER EMPIRE ............................................................................................ 173 FIGURE 39 MAP: CAMBODIA....................................................................................................................... 176 FIGURE 41 MAP: ANCIENT RUSSIA............................................................................................................ 189 FIGURE 42 MAP: RUSSIA .............................................................................................................................. 193 FIGURE 43 MAP: CHINA CH’ING DYNASTY............................................................................................. 202 FIGURE 44 MAP: CHINA WARLORD PERIOD ........................................................................................... 205 FIGURE 45 MAP: CHINA: JAPANESE OCCUPATION................................................................................ 208 FIGURE 46 MAP: COMMUNIST ADVANCE AGAINST THE KMT........................................................... 213 FIGURE 47 MAP: 15TH CENTURY HISPANIOLA......................................................................................... 221 FIGURE 48 MAP: CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN..................................................................... 223 FIGURE 49 MAP: CORTEZ CONQUEST OF MEXICO................................................................................ 224 FIGURE 50 MAP: PERU .................................................................................................................................. 227 FIGURE 51 MAPS SHOWING AMERICAN EXPANSION........................................................................... 234 FIGURE 52 MAP OF TRAIL OF TEARS ........................................................................................................ 238 FIGURE 53 LOCATION OF SIOUX TRIBES................................................................................................. 240 FIGURE 54 PRESENT DAY INDIAN RESERVATIONS. ............................................................................ 241 FIGURE 56 MEDIEVAL SLAVE TRADE ROUTES...................................................................................... 248 FIGURE 57 SLAVE SHIP................................................................................................................................. 251 FIGURE 58 SLAVE SALE................................................................................................................................ 255 FIGURE 59 MAP OF TRIANGULAR TRADE ............................................................................................... 256 FIGURE 60 MODERN DAY SLAVING COUNTRIES .................................................................................. 263 FIGURE 61 STATE FRAGILITY ................................................................................................................... 292

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TABLE 1 GENOCIDE DEFINITIONS...............................................................................................................19 TABLE 2 ORIGINS OF VIOLENCE: STAUB...................................................................................................25 TABLE 3 JEWS KILLED IN FINAL SOLUTION.............................................................................................72 TABLE 4 ETHNIC DEPORTATIONS IN RUSSIA......................................................................................... 197 TABLE 5 SOVIET DEMOCIDE....................................................................................................................... 200 TABLE 6 SENTENCES HANDED OUT BY THE CHEKA/NKVD .............................................................. 200 TABLE 7 CHINA: DEMOCIDE/FAMINE/WAR DEATHS............................................................................ 220 TABLE 8 SLAVES SHIPPED 1501 - 1866....................................................................................................... 260 TABLE 9 ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE ......................................................................................... 262 TABLE 10 GENOCIDE/POLITICIDE 1955-2001 ........................................................................................... 270 TABLE 11 STATE FAILURES 1955-2006 ...................................................................................................... 271

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GENOCIDE. INTRODUCTION Few people in the 21st Century will be unfamiliar with the word genocide. Probably the ongoing atrocities in Darfur, in western Sudan, is the most recent event labelled as genocide. Knowledge of the atrocities carried out during WW II by Hitler’s Third Reich, which systematically set out to kill off the Jewish race is what really determines our conception of the term. As will be seen later the word itself was unknown until coined by the Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, in the late 1940’s. Genocide has been perpetrated throughout history since ancient times. The Bible relates that God advocated the extermination of the Canaanites. There was the sack of Damascus by the Assyrians in 796 BCE; the destruction of Carthage by the Romans in the 2nd century BCE; the crusades, initiated by the Papacy to destroy the Moslems in the middle ages; the Mongols during their expansion through China, Asia, and Europe during the 14th-15th centuries AD. From the beginning of the first millennia Moslems began their incursions into India killing countless millions of the ‘infidel’. In the late 15th century, the Spanish began their destruction of civilizations in the Caribbean and South America in their quest for riches. Beginning a little after the birth of Christianity to the present, the Jews have been persecuted and killed. The Crusades, although they were initiated to rid the ‘Holy Land’ of the Moslem, could not resist killing Jews along the way. In modern times the killing goes on. The Armenians living in Turkey were persecuted, like the Jew; they were a resourceful people and were feared by the ruling elite. In Sudan, the Islamic rulers killed millions in their pursuit of land and oil owned by the indigenous southern population, killing is still going on in Darfur in western Sudan. Also in Africa, differences between racial groups, the Tutsi and the Hutu, have resulted in mass killing in Rwanda and Burundi. The mass killing which resulted from regime changes in Russia and China were th unthinkable in the 20 century. In a period of nearly forty years, the Communists in Russia killed over 60,000,000, in China from 1928 to 1987, over 70,000,000 were killed. What it is and why it happens are the stuff of historians, lawyers, social scientists, and psychologists. They have analysed, theorised, and categorised the phenomenon; called it genocide, democide, politicide. But despite all their deliberations there are no explanations or definitions that are universally accepted; the debate will no doubt go on. Some research in st the early 21 century by Harff et al has been carried out in an effort to determine where the next Genocide will be perpetrated, and so hopefully prevent the next killing. The research for this essay is not one of academic intent, but as a personal exercise, in an attempt to understand the killing of one group by another. I have used resources available on the Internet; and the research has shown up killing and murder on a massive scale. The Holocaust is uppermost when we think of Genocide, but, there are other mass killings that are equally as horrendous in history, some of them are hidden or ignored.

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Definition and causes of Genocide Definition The term ‘Genocide’ was unknown until the early 1940’s when Raphael Lemkin, a Polish scholar, derived it from the Greek: genos, which means ‘race’ or ‘tribe’; and the Latin word cide, which means ‘killer’ or ‘act of killing’. In 1933, Lemkin delivered a paper at an International meeting in Madrid, Fifth International Conference for the Unification of Penal Law, dealing with the historical destruction of racial, religious, and other social groups – (barbarity and vandalism). At this meeting he called for an international convention that would make the destruction of these groups a crime. At that time he used the term ‘Acts of Barbarity’ to describe the murder and killing. When Lemkin was exiled in Sweden he concluded, from information coming to him from Germany, that people, the Jews in particular, were being systematically exterminated. In 1944, when the ‘Holocaust’ was at its worst, he published his work: “Axis Rule in Occupied Europe”, in which he used for the first time, the concept of Genocide. In 1941, when the extermination of the Jews became known, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, in a radio broadcast stated – “We are in the presence of a crime with no name” - Lemkin gave it a name - Genocide. Reading of mass killing that had occurred throughout history Lemkin was shocked by the number of events that had taken place and that the perpetrators appeared immune to prosecution; it was this “legal impunity” that moved him most to present his paper to the Madrid conference. At the time of the conference governments considered that state sovereignty was paramount, and that interference in state affairs would not be tolerated. Lemkin’s resolution against the crimes was not adopted. For more than a decade, Lemkin pursued his obsession to get the crime recognised internationally. Lemkin defined genocide:

By “genocide” we mean the destruction of a nation or an ethnic group. . . . Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group. 1 Genocide has two phases: one, destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group; the other the imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor. This imposition, in turn, may be made upon the oppressed population which is allowed to remain, or upon the territory alone, after removal of the population and the colonization of the area by the oppressor’s own nationals. 1

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Genocide, Ch IX, Raphael Lemkin's Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation - Analysis of Government Proposals for Redress, (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1944), p. 79 - 95. http://www.preventgenocide.org/lemkin/AxisRule1944-1.htm Visited 11 Jan. 10

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In December 1948, the Genocide Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defined the term and declared it a crime against international law. Adopted by Resolution 260 (III) A of the U.N. General Assembly on 9 December 1948, Entry into force: 12 January 1951. 1

The Contracting Parties, Having considered the declaration made by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 96 (I) dated 11 December 1946 that genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations and condemned by the civilized world, Recognizing that at all periods of history genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity, and Being convinced that, in order to liberate mankind from such an odious scourge, international co-operation is required, Hereby agree as hereinafter provided:

Article I: The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Article VI: Persons charged with genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.

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Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/text.htm Visited: 13 Dec. 09

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Punishable Acts

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The following (Defined by G.H.Stanton, President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, 2002) are genocidal acts when committed as part of a policy to destroy a group’s existence: Killing members of the group Includes direct killing, and actions causing death. Causing serious bodily or mental harm Includes inflicting trauma on members of the group through widespread torture, rape, sexual violence, forced or coerced use of drugs, and mutilation. Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy a group Includes the deliberate deprivation of resources needed for the group’s physical survival, such as clean water, food, clothing, shelter or medical services. Deprivation of the means to sustain life can be imposed through confiscation of harvests, blockade of foodstuffs, detention in camps, forcible relocation, or expulsion into deserts. Prevention of births Includes involuntary sterilization, forced abortion, prohibition of marriage, and long-term separation of men and women intended to prevent procreation. Forcible transfer of children May be imposed by direct force, or through fear of violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or other methods of coercion. The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines children as persons under the age of 14 years. Genocidal acts need not kill or cause the death of members of a group. Causing serious bodily or mental harm, prevention of births and transfer of children are acts of genocide when committed as part of a policy to destroy a group’s existence. It is a crime to plan or incite genocide, even before killing starts, and to aid or abet genocide. Criminal acts include conspiracy, direct and public incitement, attempts to commit genocide, and complicity in genocide.

Key Terms

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The crime of genocide has two elements: intent and action. “Intentional” means purposeful. Intent can be proven directly from statements or orders. But more often, it must be inferred from a systematic pattern of co-ordinated acts.

1 2

Stanton G H. What is Genocide? 2002. http://www.genocidescholars.org/about-us/about Visited 13th Oct 2011 Ibid.

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Intent is different from motive. Whatever may be the motive for the crime (land expropriation, national security, territorial integrity etc.) if the perpetrators commit acts intended to destroy a group, even part of a group, it is genocide. The phrase "in whole or in part" is important. Perpetrators need not intend to destroy the entire group. Destruction of only part of a group (such as its educated members, or members living in one region) is also genocide. Most authorities require intent to destroy a substantial number of group members – mass murder. But an individual criminal may be guilty of genocide even if he kills only one person, so long as he knew he was participating in a larger plan to destroy the group. (See page 264 for the International Criminal Court, which has laid down a more comprehensive and explicit definition of punishable acts.)

The law protects four groups – National – ethnical – racial - or religious groups.

A national group means a set of individuals whose identity is defined by a common country of nationality or national origin.

An ethnical group is a set of individuals whose identity is defined by common cultural traditions, language or heritage.

A racial group means a set of individuals whose identity is defined by physical characteristics.

A religious group is a set of individuals whose identity is defined by common Religious creeds, beliefs, doctrines, practices, or rituals.

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The exact meaning of the definition has been subject to much analysis and discussion over the years since its inception. Many regard it as being too narrow; in that it does not include the intent to destroy political, economic, and other none-indelible groups. One example is the killing of the Kulaks in Stalin’s Russia. Another is the murder of the ‘intelligentsia’ in Cambodia. There are many more examples. Others regard the definition as too broad. Social scientists researching Genocide consider that the legal definition contains too many different kinds of behaviour - murder, mental damage, prevention of births, removing children from the group, etc. Professor Yehuda Bauer, Hebrew University in Jerusalem stated that the Convention was not the result of weighty academic thinking, but a compromise agreed between the “Great Powers” of the west and east – USA and the USSR – “it is no wonder that serious problems arise”. He says further that academics have not been able to agree on a definition, and that we must use the one that we have been given by the United Nations. R.J. Rummel has this to say:

The progress of our knowledge of genocide depends fundamentally on the clarity and significance of our concepts. Especially, these concepts should refer to real world behaviour and events that can be clearly and similarly discriminated regardless of the observers and their prejudices. For if any area of social study is laden with predisposition’s and biases, it surely has to do with the who, why, when, and how of government murder. 1

For these reasons, genocide scholars have tried to develop their own definitions of genocide that would better fit their understanding of such government murder. The table on page 19 contains the essential points of many scholarly definitions. It includes Lemkin’s original definition, and others that led to the UN legal definition of 1948. Genocide can be defined in many ways depending on whether you make the law or whether you look at the phenomenon from an academic point of view. Scholarly definitions are no doubt derived to facilitate their particular line of research. Rummel, in his paper on Genocide suggests: “Across the law oriented and scholarly literature, genocide is defined explicitly or implicitly in three ways.” 2

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Rummel R. J. Democide versus Genocide Which is What? http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/GENOCIDE.HTM Visited 13 Dec. 09 2 Rummel R. J. Genocide http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/GENOCIDE.ENCY.HTM Visited 15 Jan. 10

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1. The Legal Definition As given in the UNCG (see pg. 14) and now taken up by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

2. The Common Definition. The intentional murder by government of people because of their group identity. No doubt influenced by the Holocaust, genocide has become wholly equated with murder and only murder by government of those in specific groups or those perceived to be members of a specific group. This mode of thinking, that genocide is only killing, has ruled out the idea that non lethal ‘methods’, like mental and physical conditions imposed on a group, are in fact genocidal. What is quite clear by this definition is - killing Jews because they are Jews or killing Christians because they are Christians or other groups because they are what they are is considered Genocide within this definition.

3. General Definition. Any intentional killing of unarmed and helpless people by government. This definition covers the mass murder of people for reasons other than their membership of a specific group. Murder of POW’s, rule breakers, those killed by rapists or in sexual enslavement, ideological purification, or to fulfil a government death quota, like that in the Soviet Union in the 1930’s. According to the legal and common definitions none of these are considered genocide. The general definition does not take into account the murder of people because of their group membership, or the intent to destroy part of that group or the whole of the group.

Democide To overcome this difficulty with the general definition Rummel has defined a new concept – Democide 1 (demos = people); it means - murder by government or ruling authorities; it includes:

Genocide: among other things, the killing of people by a government because of their indelible group membership (race, ethnicity, religion, and language).

Politicide: the murder of any person or people by a government because of their politics or for political purposes. (Derived independently by Rummel and Harff)

Mass Murder: the indiscriminate killing of any person or people by a government.

Moreover, even when applicable the concepts of "genocide," "politicide," "mass murder" or "massacre," and "terror" overlap and are sometimes used interchangeably. Clearly, a concept is needed that includes all intentional government killing in cold blood and that is comparable to the concept of murder for private killing. 2

1

Rummel R. J. Death By Government, Ch 2, Definition of Democide 1994 http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DBG.CHAP2.HTM Visited 17 Jan. 10 Ibid.

2

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The International Criminal Court (ICC), set up in 2002, as well as taking on the legal definition, has defined in detail crimes such as murder and extermination, enslavement, torture, rape, forced pregnancy, political persecution, and other crimes against humanity. The ICC now covers almost all cases of genocide. • Table 1 Genocide definitions AGENTS Lemkin 1944

VICTIMS

Oppressor,

Nation

whoever

group as an entity.

or

Ethnic

GOALS Coordinated plan of different actions aiming at

SCALE Destruction

the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating

Annihilation.

the groups themselves. Disintegration of – Political/ Social institutions. Culture/ Language National feelings/ Religion/ Economic existence. Destruction of – Personal security/ Liberty/ Health/ Dignity/ Lives. Imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor.

19

UN

Fifth

Racial

Right of existence

Religious

Culture – loss of.

Political and whole

Homicide

Destroy, entirely or

Plenary

in part.

meeting Dec. 1946

9

human groups.

UNCG

Racial

Physical genocide

Destruction,

Secretariat

in

whole or in part.

Draft 1947

National

10

Religious

Death/ injuring health/ massacre/ execution /Mutilation/ Deprivation of livelihood. Biological genocide.

Linguistic Restricting birth/ segregation of sexes/ Obstacles Political groups.

to marriage.

Human beings.

Cultural genocide. Destroying

specific

characteristics/

Forcible

transfer of children/ Forced exile/ Prohibition of language/

Destruction

of

books,

religious

monuments.

UNCG Hoc

Ad

National

Physical genocide.

Destruction

Racial

Killing/ Impairing physical integrity/ conditions

NB Omits in whole

causing death/ Preventing births.

or in part.

Draft

1948.

Religious Cultural genocide. Political groups. Deliberate act to destroy – Language/ Printing Libraries/ Museums/ Schools/ Places of worship/ Historical monuments. UNCG

National

Killing – Direct killing.

Destruction In whole

Legal

Ethnical

Actions causing serious bodily/mental harm –

Racial

Torture/ Rape/ Sexual violence/ Forced drug

or in part. definition 1948

taking/ Mutilation. Religious groups Deliberate…conditions of life bringing about Political gps left out

physical destruction – Deprivation of – Food/

- Soviet objections.

Clothing/ Shelter/ Medical services. Preventing

births

–

Sterilization/

Abortion/

Prohibiting marriage/ Separation of the sexes.

9

UN Resolution http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/033/47/IMG/NR003347.pdf?OpenElement Visited 15 Jan. 10 10 Prevent genocide International, Secretarial Draft. http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/drafts/ Visited 14 Jan. 10

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Forcibly transferring children. Drost 1959

Individuals/ Human

Destruction of physical life.

Substantial

beings/ Any human

numbers.

collectivity. Dadrian

Dominant

group

1975

with

formal

authority. Overall

Minority group.

Coercion/ Lethal violence.

Extermination.

Vulnerable.

power. Horowitz

State bureaucratic

Innocent

1976.

apparatus.

Minority.

people/

Kuper 1981

Related to political

Follows

conflict.

Should add political

To ensure conformity of citizenry.

Liquidation

over

time. UNCG.

Liquidation

Extermination.

Mass murder/ Deportation/ Starvation.

Whole or in part.

groups. Porter 1982

Government or its

Racial/

agents.

Religious.

Sexual/

Political/ economic/ biological subjugation. Tribal/

political

minority. Bauer 1984

Racial

Planned destruction.

All members.

National

Elimination of Culture/ Religion/ Enslavement/ Destruction of economy.

Ethnic Biological decimation – Kidnapping children/ Prevention of normal family life. Thompson

Whatever,

and

whatever

Quets

with

1987

intentions.

Walliman and

Government or its

Dobkowski

agents.

Social collectivity.

Destruction outside war.

Racial

Destruction/ Mass murder/ Deportation/ Rape/

1987

Ethnic

Huttenbach

Any act that puts the very existence of a group in

1988

jeopardy.

Fein 1988

State of the victim. Other

Chalk

Whole or in part.

Economic and biological subjugation.

and

Collectivity.

Purposeful action to destroy/ Mass murder.

Another

Prohibition

collectivity.

reproduction.

State or other.

Jonassohn

Destroy collectivity.

state.

Groups as defined

of

biological/

sociological

Mass killing.

Destroy group.

Prohibition of reproduction regardless of lack of

Destroy collectivity.

by perpetrator.

1990 Fein 1993

Perpetrator.

Collectivity.

threat.

21

Katz 1994

National/ Racial/

Ethnic/

Intent to murder by any means.

Totality.

Religious/

Political/ Social or Economic

groups

defined

by

perpetrator. Charny 1994

Military forces of

Defenceless

avowed enemy.

human beings.

Horowitz

State bureaucratic

Subject people.

1996

apparatus.

Mass killing.

Structural and systematic destruction of innocent

Liquidation on large

people. Physical dismemberment.

scale.

Total

elimination. Harff 2003

Governing elites in

Communal political

civil war – either

or politicized ethnic

authority.

group.

Destroy.

In whole or in part.

This table is based on information in: The Origins of Genocide Ch 1, A. Jones PhD.

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Causes In trying to understand why genocide takes place scholars and social scientists have looked at the problem in terms of the - political structure within which it takes place - the context in which it occurs - the motives of the perpetrator - who are the victims - and the stages through which it passes. The psychologist Ervin Staub states that the social conditions under which groups live are the starting point for violence. An environment that gives rise to difficult life conditions such as economic problems, disorganisation, political conflict, social changes, all tend to lead one group to turn against another group. The subject group becomes afraid and perceives a weakening of their identity, what is reality becomes confused. These and other difficult life conditions need some means of satisfaction by the perpetrator.

The characteristics of one's culture and society determine not only the consequences of difficult life conditions and the choice of avenues to satisfy needs, but also whether reactions to initial acts of mistreatment occur that might inhibit further steps along the continuum of destruction. Most cultures have some predisposing characteristics for group violence, and certain cultures possess a constant potential for it. Also, when life problems are more intense, a weaker pattern of cultural-societal preconditions will make group violence probable. 12

Staub also states that to understand group violence requires a multidisciplinary approach that considers social conditions, culture, the political system, and the psychology of individuals and groups.

11

http://www.genocidetext.net/gaci_origins.pdf Visited 14 Jan. 10 Staub, E. (1989). The roots of evil: The origins of genocide and other group violence. New York: Cambridge University Press. http://frontpage.uwsuper.edu/psychology/317/staub.htm Visited 13 December 2009

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Political Structure Research by historians and social scientists has shown that genocide is more likely to occur in systems where the government is totalitarian or authoritarian; none democratic government increases the likelihood of killing within that system. There is usually an ideology involved; Communism – Nazism – Fascism - which offer a “better world”.

Context The possibility of genocide increases sharply when the government is involved in domestic or international war. Two major examples of ‘modern’ genocide are the Holocaust of WW II - the extermination of the Jews; and in WW 1 - the mass murder of Armenians and Christians by the Young Turks in Eastern Turkey.

“War has always been an excuse, cover, or stimulus for genocide and mass murder.”

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Motives

a). Destruction of a group that is seen as a threat to the ruling power. The 1970 elections in East Pakistan were seen as a threat to the military government in West Pakistan who had control in the East. The Soviet Union under Stalin saw a threat from Ukrainian nationalism to existing communist control.

b). Destruction of those that are envied, resented, hated or despised. The Jews are the classic example; they were envied because of their economic position and professional achievements. The Armenians were seen to have too much wealth and status for a relatively small group; they were also hated for being Christians in a Moslem society.

c). Ideological transformation of society. Those resisting or thought to be opponents of the change are murdered as ‘counterrevolutionaries’. Russia, China, Cambodia.

d). Elimination of alien beliefs, cultures, practices, and ‘ethnic groups’. “Ethnic Cleansing” is the main term used to describe this motive. Some examples are the attempted elimination of Moslems in the middle age Crusades. The attempt by Stalin to get rid of the people who did not believe in the Communist society. Serbia’s ‘cleansing’ of the Bosnians.

e). Economic gain. Colonial powers have murdered millions in their exploitation of resources: metals, timber, oil etc. found in the ‘colonised’ countries. Even people during the slave trade were a ‘commodity’ to be exported and worked to death; others were killed for resisting; prime examples are Europeans in Africa, the Spanish in South America. The stages, through which genocide develops, assuming totalitarian or authoritarian regimes is as follows: (Developed by G.H.Stanton 14

1. Classification. People are given a type, a category or are classified into different groups, black, white, Christian, Jew, communist or leftist.

13

Rummel R. J. Genocide. http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/GENOCIDE.ENCY.HTM Visited 13 December 2009 Stanton G. H. The 8 stages of Genocide, Genocide Watch http://www.genocidewatch.org/aboutgenocide/8stagesofgenocide.html Visited 13 December 2009 14

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2. Symbolisation. Different groups are given names, Asians, Hindus, Marxists. The way they dress, their physical characteristics, what they eat, or their behaviour, become ways of stereotyping them. Although classification and stereotyping are common in most societies it does not necessarily mean that genocide will take place. 3. Dehumanisation. “Out-group” members are given names like parasites, apes, rats, and vermin. They are made to appear clearly outside of the ‘moral’ world, having been stripped of the protection from the “in-group”. 4. Organisation. In-group leaders and officials organise the repression and murder of the out-group. Weapons are handed out; security forces are formed, the militia or the army are selected for the coming killing. Plans are made. 5. Polarisation. Officials and others in prominent positions undertake a systematic campaign to increase the social, psychological, and moral distance between ‘us and them’. Moderates and leaders of the group are singled out, are silenced, beaten, murdered, or arrested. 6. Preparation. Everything is ready for genocide, final steps are taken to single out those to be killed. They are segregated, made to wear identifying clothing or symbols. Outgroups may be deprived by law, and those that could lead any resistance, like young males, are arrested, conscripted into the army, or executed. 7. Genocide. Whatever the motive, the final decision is made to destroy the out-group, justified as a righteous campaign to exterminate the ‘vermin’ or to cleanse society, or to revenge past wrongs. 8. Denial. The final stage is the perpetrator’s denial of the killing. Destruction of the evidence: documents, bodies, unmarked graves. They invent stories like ‘they were rebels’, ‘killed during civil war’. The perpetrators may well harass those who claim that the genocide occurred.

According to Staub, group violence originates from ‘difficult life conditions’. These conditions can be poverty, unstable political climate, social or political changes, disorganisation in the society. Lumping all of the above conditions under the term socio-political - one, or a combination of these conditions, lead a group to feelings of insecurity, loss of control over their day to day lives, weakening of their identity, loss of connection with other people; their view of the world becomes distorted. All of these have important psychological consequences and often lead one group to turn against another, blaming them for their ongoing problems, turning them into ‘scapegoats’. Subordinate groups can be based on religion, class, ethnicity, caste, politics, and so on. Difficult life conditions, scape-goating, differing ideologies, tend to turn one group against another, the dominant group devalues the subordinate group more and more as time progresses, in what Staub terms “a continuum of destruction”. In other words violence and killing evolve. The gap between “us and them” is a strong feeling in most societies and becomes embedded, leading to the pre-selection of scapegoats, and those with a ‘different’ ideology can lead eventually to violence. A strong respect or fear of authority in a society can also lead to violence. In monolithic rather than pluralistic societies people are less likely to oppose leaders who promote violence. They have a limited range of values and participation in what goes on in these regimes.

Fundamentally, genocide is a product of the type of government a country has. There is a high correlation between the degree of democratic freedom a people enjoy and the likelihood that the government will commit democide. Modern democratic governments have committed virtually no domestic genocide. Those

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governments that commit the most genocide have been totalitarian governments, while those that committed lesser genocide have been partially or wholly authoritarian and dictatorial. 15

The following table is an adaptation from Staub E (1989) “The Roots of Evil: The origins of genocide and other group violence.” New York: Cambridge. 16 • Table 2 Origins of violence: Staub

Environmental and cultural origins that lead to the consequences and means on the right: A. Difficult life conditions

Economic problems (inflation, depression, etc.); political, criminal, or other widespread violence, including war; rapid changes in technology, social institutions, values, ways of life; social disorganization.

Experience of attack on or threat to life, physical safety, material wellbeing; to the fulfilment of goals and expectations; to the psychological self, ways of life, and values; to

Motivational consequences

Psychological and behavioural means of fulfilling motives

Retaliation and harm doing (hostile aggression)

Mistreatment, aggression

Defence of the physical self

Escape, nonaggressive self-defence, aggression; submission or giving up Instrumental aggression, constructive (individual and/or communal) actions Devaluating, scapegoating; diminishing others by mistreatment or aggression; giving up self to new group or leader; adopting an ideology; acting constructively for change.

Motivation to overcome obstacles, to fulfil expectations and goals

Defence or elevation of psychological self (self-concept, values, ways of life); desire to relinquish burdensome identity

15

Rummel R. J. Genocide, 2002 http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/GENOCIDE.ENCY.HTM Visited 22 Dec. 09 Staub E. (1989) “The Roots of Evil: The Origins of genocide and other group violence. New York: Cambridge. http://frontpage.uwsuper.edu/psychology/317/staub.htm Visited 13 December 2009

16

25

world view and comprehension of reality

Desire for a feeling of efficacy, control, power

B. Cultural and

Motivation to protect and elevate social identity (societal self-concept)

personal preconditions

Self-concept, goals and aims, value orientations; ingroupoutgroup differentiation, devaluation; orientation to authority; monolithic (vs. pluralistic) culture; emerging ideology; cultural aggressiveness; and others C. Societalpolitical organization

Authoritarian or tolitarian system; social institutions discriminating (vs. promoting harmony, cooperation, and altruism); institutions capable of carrying out mistreatment

Motivation to gain renewed comprehension of the world and of the self in the world

Motivation to regain hope

Need for feeling connected to other human beings

Obedience to authority

Devaluating, scapegoating; diminishing others by mistreatment or aggression; giving up self to new group or leader; adopting an ideology; acting constructively for change. Protecting and elevating one's group, partly by diminishing other groups; adopting new group; see also the means listed under number 4. Adopting ideology; joining new group; acting to elevate and protect old group

Giving up self to new group or leader; adopting an ideology; acting constructively for change Joining group; promoting joint cause; creating strong ingroup by scapegoating; creating an experience of threat to the group Submission to authority, an agentic state

* Adapted from Staub (1989) Table 1

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Genocide throughout history

27

• Figure 1 20th Century Democides

This table shows the numbers of people killed before the 20th century. It is an abbreviated version of the full table in Rummel’s Death by Government, 17 Statistics of Democide. There are other estimates in which the numbers vary either up or down, but overall, they agree that throughout history countless millions of people have been killed because of, societal changes, colonisation, slavery, economic greed, and, not least, in the pursuit of religious domination.

Biblical Genocide • Figure 2 Ancient Israel

17

Rummel R. J. Death by Government, 1994. http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM Visited 13 December 2009

28

In the book of Genesis is described a flood, brought on by God because he had decided that man had become too wicked; with the exception of Noah and his family, most of the world was destroyed :

“5: And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6: And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7: And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” 18

In Exodus God decides to kill off the entire first born in Egypt, both human and animal. The children of Israel were not affected; they were protected by the blood from sacrificial lambs.

29: And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. 30: And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead 19

In Deuteronomy God tells Moses that he should destroy all the people in the land that the Hebrews are about to enter - the ‘Promised Land’ of Canaan. Close to the end of their 40 years in the wilderness the Israelites were given a lecture to encourage them into battle, they were told what cities must or must not be destroyed; the cities accepting peace offerings were to be spared; those that did not were to be killed.

10: When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 11: And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. 12: And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: 13: And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: 14: But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 15: Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. 16: But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: 17: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. 20

The above examples should suffice to illustrate Biblical genocide. But, the big problem with them, or any others from the bible, is did they in fact occur at all? Written evidence for these periods does not exist, and archaeological evidence is sparse. Whether the Bible is a collection of stories passed down by word of mouth before being written up at a much later date, or the word of God, is a much-debated subject.

18 19 20

Genesis 6, 5-8 KJV http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html Visited 13 December 2009 Exodus 12, 29-30.KJV http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html Visited 13 December 2009 Deuteronomy 20, 12-17 KJV http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html Visited 13 December 2009

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The Punic Wars and the Destruction of Carthage

• Figure 3 Routes of Hannibal

The greatest power in the Mediterranean in the third century BCE was Carthage. Located on the North African coast near present day Tunis, it was founded by the Phoenicians in the ninth century. The Carthaginians ruled most of the North African coast and nearly all of southern Spain, and controlled trade in the Mediterraneanat this time Rome controlled the entire Italian mainland. Great wealth was gained from Spanish gold and silver, supplies, and army recruits were had from its subjected territories. Carthage also controlled the western part of Sicily - for the Romans this was too close to the mainland of Italy. When the city of Messana revolted against Carthaginian rule the Romans stepped in to help; this was the beginning of the First Punic War, 264 BCE; the Romans won the battle and removed the Carthaginians from their back door. Following this defeat, Carthage expanded its influence in Spain eventually crossing north of the River Ebro In 221 BCE, the young Carthagnian Hannibal took command of Spain. His first task was the siege of Saguntum, a large and commercially prosperous town on the east coast of Spain. Saguntum sided with the local Greek colonists and Rome against Carthage, this siege was the opening move of the Second Punic War. The long resistance of Saguntum, which was related by the Roman historian Livy, comprises the city’s one brief flash of historic glory. Finally in 218 BCE Hannibal took the city and passed on to conquer Italy.

30

• Figure 4 Roman and Carthage wars

Whilst Hannibal was invading Italy Rome saw an opportunity to deprive him of essential reinforcements from Spain - they sent one of their best generals, Scipio, to take Spain for Rome. By 206 BCE Scipio had conquered the whole of Spain leaving Hannibal cut off in Italy. Scipio then crossed over to Africa (204 BCE) and forced the Carthaginians to seek a treaty with Rome; a condition of which was that Hannibal should leave Italy. When Hannibal returned home in 202 BCE the Carthaginians rebelled against the Romans and fought Scipio’s army at Zama in North Africa; the battle at Zama was Hannibal’s first ever defeat; now, Rome had control of almost all of the Mediterranean and the coast of North Africa Carthage was reduced to a dependent state.

During the first half of the 2nd century BCE, Carthage recovered much of its prosperity through its sea trade. Rome began to be concerned with this growth, and saw it as a threat to their authority - they demanded that the Carthaginians abandon their city and move inland the Roman demand was refused; and so began the Third Punic War, 149-146 BCE, which led to the destruction of the city of Carthage, when terrible atrocities were committed by the Roman army.

Rome attacked the city itself. After a siege, the Romans stormed the town and the army went from house to house slaughtering the inhabitants in what is perhaps the greatest systematic execution of non-combatants before World War II. Carthaginians who weren't killed were sold into slavery. The harbour and the city was demolished, and all the surrounding countryside was sown with salt in order to render it uninhabitable. 21

The following is an extract from Appian’s Libyca “The Destruction of Carthage”

Then came new scenes of horror. The fire spread and carried everything down, and the soldiers did not wait to destroy the buildings little by little, but pulled them all down together. So the crashing grew louder, and many fell with the stones into the midst of the dead. Others were seen still living, especially old men, women 21

Hooker R. Rome The Punic Wars,1996. Washingto State University. http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ROME/PUNICWAR.HTM Visited 13 December 2009

31

and young children who had hidden in the inmost nooks of the houses, some of them wounded, some more or less burned, and uttering horrible cries. Stll others, thrust out and falling from such a height with the stones, timbers, and fire, were torn asunder into all kinds of horrible shapes, crushed and mangled. Nor was this the end of their miseries, for the street cleaners who were removing the rubbish with axes, mattocks, and boathooks, and making the roads passable, tossed with these instruments the dead and living together into holes in the ground, sweeping them along like sticks and stones or turning them over with their iron tools, and man was used for filling up a ditch. . . . Horses ran over them, crushing their faces and skulls, not purposely on the part of the riders, but in their headlong haste . . . all together made everybody frantic and heedless of the spectacle before their eyes. Six days and nights were consumed in this kind of turmoil, the soldiers being changed so that they might not be worn out with toil, slaughter, want of sleep, and these horrid sights. 22

22

The Destruction of Carthage http://hannibalbarca.webspace.virginmedia.com/carthage-destruction.htm visited 10 Oct 2011

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Destruction of Melos

• Figure 5 Ancient Greece

Melos is one of a number of small islands in the Aegean Sea, which in the 5th Cent. BCE was surrounded by other islands that were part of the Delian League led by the Athenians. Melos was officially allied to Sparta, the enemy of Athens in the Peloponnesian war, but the island had remained neutral during that war. In 416 BCE the Athenians demanded that Melos join the league and become a tribute state, the Melians refused.

Delian League The Delian League was an association of Greek city-states started in 477 BCE as an alliance against Persia, Athens led the league from the start, but the treasury and administration was on the island of Delos. Each member state had an equal vote and was expected to pay tribute in the form of money, supplies, soldiers, and ships; the tribute to levied by each member was assessed by the Athenian leader Aristide the Just. All the member cities met regularly at Delos, and the league was willing to force other cities to join them - the Athenians were particularly aggressive in this respect.

Genocide Melos, a small island with a small population, was surrounded by islands that were already members of the league. The Melians had been a neutral ally of Sparta during the Peloponnesian war and preferred to remain so when the war ended. When Athens decided to recruit Melos into the league they arrived off the coast of the island and began talks that were reported by the historian Thucydides in his “Melian Debate”. The debate continued for some considerable time, the Athenians laying out the advantages of league membership; but the Melians insisted that they were perfectly capable of governing themselves. The Athenians refused to discuss whether their demand was just or accept any argument from

33

Melos. The Athenian philosophy was: “the strong do what they want the weak suffer what they must.” Following long debate:

The Athenians left the conference: the Melians, after consulting among themselves, resolved to persevere in their refusal, and made answer as follows:, 'Men of Athens, our resolution is unchanged; and we will not in a moment surrender that liberty which our city, founded seven hundred years ago, still enjoys; we will trust to the good fortune which, by the favour of the Gods, has hitherto preserved us, and for human help to the Lacedaemonians, and endeavour to save ourselves. We are ready however to be your friends, and the enemies neither of you nor of the Lacedaemonians and we ask you to leave our country when you have made such a peace as may appear to be in the interest of both parties.' 23

When the league envoys returned to their generals and reported that the Melians would “not yield”, they immediately surrounded the town of Melos with a wall, left troops to blockade the town, and the main army withdrew. The Melians were eventually “starved into submission”. In the end the Athenians attacked and destroyed Melos killing all the males of military age and enslaving the women and children.

23

Hooker R. Ancient Greece, 1996. Washington State University. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/MELIAN.HTM Visited 13 December 2009

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Anti-Semitism Writing about genocide must include anti-Semitism, which from ancient times contains all the elements: massacre, murder, discrimination, slavery, pillage, and rape. Robert S. Wistrich has called it The Longest Hatred in his book - Anti-Semitism: The Longest Hatred, Thames Methuen, 1991. Some historical background is necessary to understand why the phenomenon arose and is relevant to the present day. We need to look at where the Jews came from, who they are, and their early history to enable us to understand the reasons for the long antagonism against them.

Jew The word Jew generally refers to followers of the Jewish faith. According to traditional Jewish law (halakha) they must be born of a Jewish mother or a member of the Jewish culture, a member of the ethnic group. Most Jewish people regard themselves as part of a nation whose identity goes back to the time of Abraham and the ‘founding’ of monotheism, the belief in one God. The term derives from the time of the two kingdoms when Israel was split, Judah in the South and Israel in the North. The Assyrians destroyed the Israelites; Judah survived, and became synonymous with Jew. Over time, the word Jew has come to mean members of the Jewish faith rather than being ‘from’ the land of Judah.

History of ancient Israel and Judah The earliest known inhabitants of the ‘promised land’ were the Canaanites around the third millennium BCE; it was a battleground for the dominant powers of the time - Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. The traditional history starts with God’s promise to Abraham, believed to be about 1800 BCE, that he would be the father of a great nation. The next big event occurred in Egypt around 1300 BCE when Moses was born, and who eventually lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land in Canaan. The ‘tribes’ that Moses led settled in the invaded territory about 1030 BCE, where Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem sometime around 950 BCE. After the death of Solomon in 926 BCE the kingdom split following a revolt of the northern tribes lead by Jeroboam, who established the Kingdom of Israel, the southern part became the Kingdom of Judah. The Assyrians conquered Israel in 721 BCE and later, the Babylonians conquered Judah. Following the Assyrian victory over Israel the population was sent into exile when many of the nine tribes of the Northern Kingdom became lost “for ever”. In 587 BCE, Babylon conquered Judah and the first temple of Solomon was destroyed, much of Judah’s population was exiled to Babylon, beginning the period which became known as the Diaspora. The Jews were either enslaved or they fled to diverse countries in the region - Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia and Syria. In 539 BCE the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Persians who ruled Judah in their turn. Soon after, the Persian king, Cyrus the Great, allowed the Jews back into the country where they began the repair of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Greeks came next, in the form of Alexander the Great in 333 BCE. The country became part of his Empire when he defeated the Persians. After a period of about 200 years of Hellenistic rule the Romans invaded in 63 BCE, and were there until about 400 AD. During Roman rule the Jews revolted and were killed mercilessly, the Temple in Jerusalem was again destroyed, and Jesus was born. Judaism was banned and Judea is wiped off the map leaving the Jews dispersed and stateless. They were accused of killing God, of being impure and unclean; and by the time Jesus was born the Jews were to be found in all parts of the known world.

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"It is not easy to find a place on earth," says Strabo, "which has not received that race." 1

These people, who were ‘scattered’ throughout the world, began to expand their influence wherever they settled; their influence, customs, and religion was the start of the hostility shown towards them; the beginning of “anti-Semitism”. 2

Causes of Anti-Semitism Throughout history conquered peoples have usually submitted to the rule of the conqueror, not so the Jews. The Jewish people had their own God given laws; their God was the only God: “ye shall believe in the one God and ye shall worship no idols”. They had rules of hygiene, and of morality - none of this could be changed, nothing taken away for fear of being sacrilegious; the Jew lived under the rule of the Lord, written down in the book of law, the Torah. (Essentially the first 5 books of the Old Testament). These laws were given exclusively by God to the Jewish people and could not be abandoned; therefore, they could not follow the laws and customs of a foreign country; wherever they stayed they wished to remain Jews.

Thus, wherever colonies were founded by the Jews, to whatever land they were deported, they insisted, not only upon permission to follow their religion, but also upon exemption from the customs of the people amidst whom they were to live, and the privileges to govern themselves by their own laws. 3

Wherever they were allowed to form their own ‘State’ within the existing regime they were able to rise above the people where they lived, creating better opportunities for trade and so accumulating more wealth. In Alexandria for instance they had their own leaders, their own Jewish senate and were free from interference from the ‘local’ government, not subject to their taxes. They wanted to be on their own; shunning the customs and practices of the society in which they found themselves; they were unsociable. Added to this was the strict adherence to the Talmud, the authority of the Rabbi’s ‘rules’ of tradition and law, there must be strict observance of these laws given by God, laws given to the chosen people. The fear of being contaminated was another reason for being separated from others. They regarded contact with strangers as abhorrent, and this gave rise to many rules that governed their lives - dress, food, and their houses. Reading the Bible, or other books, was considered less beneficial than reading the Talmud, the Rabbi’s encouraged the study of the law above all things. Jealousies arose because of the economic success of the Jew; in Alexandria for instance they were ship owners, traders, and farmers, but what created the greatest hatred they were given the job of tax collection.

… they separated themselves from other inhabitants by their rites and their customs; they considered the soil of foreign nations impure and sought to constitute themselves in every city into a sort of a sacred territory. They lived apart, in special quarters, secluded among themselves, isolated, governing themselves by virtue of privileges which were jealously guarded by them, and excited the envy of their neighbours. They 1

Lazare B. The Jewish History source Book:Antisemitism: Its history and Causes: 1894. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/lazare-anti.html#Chapter%20Two Visited 13 December 2009 2 anti-semitism was not a known term until the German Marr coined it in 1873 (Antisemitismus) 3 Lazare B. The Jewish History source Book:Antisemitism: Its history and Causes: 1894. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/lazare-anti.html#Chapter%20Two Visited 13 December 2009

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intermarried amongst themselves and entertained no strangers, for fear of pollution. The mystery with which they surrounded themselves excited curiosity as well as aversion. Their rites appeared strange and gave occasion for ridicule;… 1

Chronology Following is a partial chronology of hostility and discrimination against the Jews: rd

3 century BCE: Manetho, a Hellenistic Egyptian chronicler and priest, alleges that Moses was not a Jew, but an Egyptian renegade priest, and portrays the Exodus as the expulsion of a leper colony. 175 -165 BCE: Antiochus Epiphanes sacks Jerusalem, calls Judaism “inimical to humanity”, prohibits brit milah, confiscates copies of Torah and erects an altar to Zeus in the Second Temple after plundering it. 66-73: Great Jewish Revolt against the Romans is crushed by Vespasian and Titus Flavius. Titus refuses to accept a wreath of victory, as there is “no merit in vanquishing people forsaken by their own God”. (Philostratus, Vita Apollonii). Late 1st–early 2nd century: Tacitus writes anti-Jewish polemic in his Historia, book 5. He picks apart and rejects several myths of ancient anti-Semitism (including that of the donkey’s head in the Holy of Holies); instead, his explanation for his view that Jews “regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies” turns on an analysis of the extreme differences between monotheistic Judaism and the polytheism common throughout the Roman world. 117-138: Roman emperor Hadrian bans Judaism and crushes the revolt lead by Bar Kokhba. Judea is wiped off the map; Jews are left dispersed and stateless. c. 170: Melito of Sardis accuses the Jews of deicide, publishing a sermon On the Passion, in which he blames the Jews for the persecution and death of Jesus, 325: First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. The Christian Church separates Easter from Passover: “We desire, dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews... 439 Jan 31. Code of Theodosius: the first imperial compilation of anti-Jewish laws after Constantine. Jews are prohibited from holding important positions involving money, including judicial and executive offices. The ban against building new synagogues is reinstated. The anti-Jewish statutes apply to the Samaritans. The Code is also accepted by Western Roman Emperor, Valentinian III. 529-559: Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great revolutionizes judicial system in his novellae Corpus Juris Civilis (imperial instructions). New laws unite Church and state, making anyone who was not connected to the Christian church a non-citizen. These regulations determined the status of Jews throughout the Empire for hundreds of years. Jewish civil and religious rights restricted “they shall enjoy no honours”. 610-620: Visigothic Spain. After many of his anti-Jewish edicts were ignored, king Sisebut prohibits Judaism. Those not baptized fled. This was the first incidence where a prohibition of Judaism affected an entire country.

1

Lazare B. The Jewish History source Book:Antisemitism: Its history and Causes: 1894. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/lazare-anti.html#Chapter%20One Visited 13 December 2009

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629 Mar. 21: Byzantine Emperor Heraclius with his army marches into Jerusalem. Jewish inhabitants support him after his promise of amnesty. Upon his entry into Jerusalem the local priests convince him that killing Jews is a good deed. Hundreds of Jews are massacred, thousands flee to Egypt. 682: Visigothic king Erwig begins his reign by enacting 28 anti-Jewish laws. He presses for the “utter extirpation of the pest of the Jews”. 1008-1013: Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah issues severe restrictions against Jews in the Land of Israel. All Jews are forced to wear a “golden calf” (made of wood) around their necks. On Oct. 18 1009 he destroys the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but the French “historian” Raoul Glaber blames the Jews. As a result, Jews were expelled from Limoges and other French towns. 1032: Abul Kamal Tumin conquers Fez, Morocco and decimates the Jewish community, killing 6,000 Jews. 1066: Dec 30. The entire Jewish community of Granada came under the riotous siege resulting in 4,000 deaths and the destruction of most property. The community quickly recovered, only to fall again at the hands of the Almoravides lead by Iban Iashufin in 1090, bringing the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain to end. 1096: The First Crusade. The Crusaders massacre Jews in several Central European cities, most notably in Rhineland (over 5,000 Jews murdered). 1143: 150 Jews killed in Ham, France. 1144: March 20 (Passover), the first blood libel. Jews of Norwich are accused with both ritual murder and blood libel after a boy (William of Norwich) is found dead with stab wounds. The Pogroms in London follow and spread around England. On Feb 6 1190 all the Norwich Jews found in their houses were slaughtered, except few who found refuge in the castle. 1171: Blois, France: 31 Jews burned at the stake for blood libel. 1190 Mar. 16 Mar. 16: 500 Jews of York massacred after 6-day siege by departing Crusaders, backed by a number of people indebted to Jewish money-lenders. NB: Some of the Jews were matyred by their own – “…Here Rabbi Yom-Tob stood and slaughtered sixty souls, and others also slaughtered. Some there were who commanded that they should slaughter their onlv sons…”. 1 1236: Crusaders attack Jewish communities of Anjou and Poitou and attempt to baptize all the Jews. Those who resisted (est. 3,000) were slaughtered. 1267: In a special session, the Vienna city council forces Jews to wear Pileum cornutum (a cone-shaped head dress, prevalent in many medieval illustrations of Jews). This distinctive dress is an addition to Yellow badge Jews were already forced to wear. 1275: King Edward I of England passes anti-Jewish statute forcing Jews over the age of seven to wear an identifying Yellow badge, and making usury illegal (linked to blasphemy), in order to seize their assets. Scores of English Jews are arrested, 300 hanged. 1290: July 18: King Edward I of England expels all Jews from England, allowing them to take only what they could carry, all the other property became the Crown’s. Official reason: continued practice of usury.

1

Medieval Sourcebook: Ephraim of Bonn: The York Massacre 1189-90. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ephr-bonn1.html Visited 13 December 2009

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1298: German knight Rindfleisch leads massacres of thousands of Jews in 146 localities. 1321: Jews in central France falsely charged of their supposed collusion with lepers to poison wells. After massacre of est. 5,000 Jews, King Philip V of France admits they were innocent. 1348: European Jews are blamed for the Black Death. Charge laid to the Jews that they poisoned the wells. Massacres spread throughout Spain, France, Germany and Austria. More than 200 Jewish communities destroyed by violence. Many communities have been expelled and settle down in Poland. On March 18, 1389, a Jewish boy is accused of plotting against a priest. The mob slaughters approx. 3,000 of Prague Jews, destroys the city’s synagogue and Jewish cemetery. Wenceslaus insists that the responsibility lay with the Jews for going outside during the Holy Week. 1391: Violence incited by Archdeacon of Ecija Ferrand Martinez, results in over 10,000 murdered Jews. The Jewish quarter in Barcelona is destroyed. The campaign quickly spreads throughout Spain (except for Granada) and destroys Jewish communities in Valencia and Palma De Majorca. 1473-1474: Spain. Massacres of Marranos of Valladolid, Cordoba, Segovia, Ciudad Real. 1481: The Spanish Inquisition instituted. 1492 Mar 31: Ferdinand II and Isabella issue General Edict on the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain: approx. 200,000. Some return to the Land of Israel. As many localities and entire countries expel their Jewish citizens (after robbing them), and others deny them entrance, the legend of the Wandering Jew, a condemned harbinger of calamity gains popularity. 1506 Apr. 19: A marrano expresses his doubts about miracle visions at St. Dominics Church in Lisbon, Portugal. The crowd, led by Dominican monks, kills him, then ransacks Jewish houses and slaughter any Jew they could find. The countrymen hear about the massacre and join in. Over 2,000 marranos killed in three days. 1519-1546: Martin Luther, His sermon Admonition against the Jews, 1546 contains accusations of ritual murder, black magic, and poisoning of wells. Luther recognized no obligation to protect the Jews. 1555: In Papal Bull Cum Nimis Absurdum, Pope Paul IV writes: “It appears utterly absurd and impermissible that the Jews, whom God has condemned to eternal slavery for their guilt, should enjoy our Christian love.” He renews anti-Jewish legislation and installs a locked nightly ghetto in Rome. The Bull also forces Jewish males to wear a yellow hat, females - yellow kerchief. Owning real estate or practicing medicine on Christians is forbidden. It also limits Jewish communities to only one synagogue. The Talmud is confiscated and publicly burned in Rome on Rosh Hashanah, starting a wave of Talmud burning throughout Italy. 1624: Ghetto established in Ferrara, Italy. 1648-1655: The Ukrainian Cossacks lead by Bohdan Chmielnicki massacre about 100,000 Jews and similar number of Polish nobles, 300 Jewish communities destroyed. 1742: Dec. Elizabeth of Russia issues a decree of expulsion of all the Jews out of Russian Empire. 1768: Haidamaks massacre the Jews of Uman, Poland.

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1790-1792: Destruction of most of the Jewish communities of Morocco. 1805: Massacre of Jews in Algeria. 1878: Adolf Stoecker, German anti-Semitic preacher and politician, founds the Social Workers’ Party, which marks the beginning of the political anti-Semitic movement in Germany. 1879: Wilhelm Marr coins the term Anti-Semitism, a misnomer. 1881-1884: Pogroms sweep southern Russia, propelling mass Jewish emigration: about 2 million Russian Jews emigrated in period 1880-1920. The Russian word “pogrom” becomes international. 1899: Houston Stewart Chamberlain, racist and anti-Semitic author, publishes his Die Grundlagen des 19 Jahrhunderts which later became a basis of National-Socialist ideology. 1917-1921: Attacked for being revolutionaries or counter-revolutionaries, unpatriotic pacifists or warmongers, religious zealots or godless atheists, capitalist exploiters or bourgeois profiteers, masses of Jewish civilians (by various estimates 70,000 to 250,000, the number of orphans exceeded 300,000) were murdered in pogroms in the course of Russian Civil War. Out of estimated 900 mass pogroms: 1921-1925: Outbreak of Anti-Semitism in USA, lead by Ku Klux Klan. 1925: Adolph Hitler publishes Mien Kampf. 1929 Aug. 23: The ancient Jewish community of Hebron destroyed in the Hebron massacre. 1933-1941: Persecution of Jews in Germany rises until they are stripped of their rights not only as citizens, but also as human beings. 1938: Anschluss, pogroms in Vienna, anti-Jewish legislation, deportations to concentration camps. 1938: Kristallnacht (Night of The Broken Glass). In one night most German synagogues and hundreds of Jewish-owned German businesses are destroyed. Almost 100 Jews are killed, and 10,000 are sent to concentration camps. 1939-1945: The Holocaust (ha-Shoah). About 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children, systematically killed by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (3 million), Soviet Union (2 million) and other countries of Europe (1 million). 1946 Nikita Khrushchev, then the first secretary of Communist party of Ukraine, closes many synagogues (the number declines from 450 to 60) and prevents Jewish refugees from returning to their homes: “It is not in our interests that the Ukrainians should associate the return of the Soviet power with the return of the Jews.” (Joseph Schechtmann, Star in Eclipse: Russian Jewry Revisited). 1964: The Catholic Church under Pope Paul VI issues the document Nostra Aetate as part of Vatican II, repudiating the doctrine of Jewish guilt for the Crucifixion. 2004: September. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, a part of the Council of Europe, called on its member nations to “ensure that criminal law in the field of combating racism covers anti-Semitism” and to penalize intentional acts of public incitement to violence, hatred or discrimination, public insults and defamation, threats against a person or group, and the expression of anti-Semitic ideologies. It urged member nations to

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“prosecute people who deny, trivialize or justify the Holocaust”. The report was drawn up in wake of a rise in attacks on Jews in Europe. The report said it was Europe’s “duty to remember the past by remaining vigilant and actively opposing any manifestations of racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance... Anti- Semitism is not a phenomenon of the past and... the slogan ‘never again’ is as relevant today as it was 60 years ago.” We will now follow this timeline and illustrate the genocide of the Jews from the sack of Jerusalem in the first century, to the Holocaust in the twentieth century.

The Great Jewish Revolt Map of Ancient Israel: see page 28

At the beginning of the Common Era, a new group arose among the Jews: the Zealots (in Hebrew, Ka-naim). These anti-Roman rebels were active for more than six decades, and later instigated the Great Revolt. Their most basic belief was that all means were justified to attain political and religious liberty. 1

From about 6 CAD Judea came under the administration of Rome who were responsible for keeping the peace and collecting taxes, the Romans also appointed the high priest. Objections to Roman rule were increased when the Emperor Caligula (39 AD) declared himself a god, and ordered the erection of statues of himself, he even replaced the heads of existing statues with that of his own head; the people of Rome, including the Jews, were ordered to worship Caligula as a living God. The Jews defied this attempt to make them worship this self-imposed deity; and so began the Jewish resistance to Rome. When Caligula died in 43 AD the unrest quieted. The revolt proper began in 66 AD following the desecration of a local Jewish synagogue, which was ignored by the Roman garrison. Eliezar ben Hanania then led a successful attack on the Roman garrison in Jerusalem; and the Jews routed the reinforcements brought from Syria by Cestus Gallus. The new Emperor at that time, Nero, gave Vespasian the job of quashing the rebellion; from Rome he took with him 60,000 soldiers and set up his headquarters at Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. Two years later the coastal areas and the north of Judea had been cleared of rebels, Jerusalem and its surrounding areas were left to Vespasian’s son Titus Flavius; Vespasian had gone back to Rome as Emperor (69 AD) and Titus led the final assault on Jerusalem. During the siege many soldiers and citizens died of starvation. According to Josephus, “the number was prodigious, and the miseries they underwent were unspeakable”, Josephus relates the story of a woman who killed and ate her own son, “This is mine own son, and what hath been done was my own doing! Come; eat this food; for I have eaten of it myself!” The Romans successfully broached the wall of the city in the summer of 70 AD, ransacking and burning the whole city including the rebuilt Solomon Temple. They killed as they went along everyone in their path, the streets ran with blood; those that were not killed were sent to Rome as slaves; some were sent to Caesarea to fight wild beasts in the amphitheatre:

1

Telushkin J. Jewish Literacy. NY: William Morrow and Co., 1991. Jewish Virtual Library ; The Great Jewish Revolt http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/revolt.html Visited 13 December 2009

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While Titus was at Cesarea, he solemnized the birthday of his brother Domitian after a splendid manner, and inflicted a great deal of the punishment intended for the Jews in honour of him; for the number of those that were now slain in fighting with the beasts, and were burnt, and fought with one another, exceeded two thousand five hundred. 1

Again, according to Josephus, the destruction and massacres in Jerusalem were, in part, due to the actions of the rebels in refusing to accept several offers from Titus to surrender. The following is an extract from “The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem” By Flavius Josephus Translated by William Whiston: •

CHAPTER 9. Book 6 What Injunctions Caesar Gave When He Was Come Within The City. The Number Of The Captives And Of Those That Perished In The Siege; As Also Concerning Those That Had Escaped Into The Subterranean Caverns, Among Whom Were The Tyrants Simon And John Themselves. Now when Titus was come into this [upper] city, he admired not only some other places of strength in it, but particularly those strong towers which the tyrants in their mad conduct had relinquished; for when he saw their solid altitude, and the largeness of their several stones, and the exactness of their joints, as also how great was their breadth, and how extensive their length, he expressed himself after the manner following: "We have certainly had God for our assistant in this war, and it was no other than God who ejected the Jews out of these fortifications; for what could the hands of men or any machines do towards overthrowing these towers?" At which time he had many such discourses to his friends; he also let such go free as had been bound by the tyrants, and were left in the prisons. To conclude, when he entirely demolished the rest of the city, and overthrew its walls, he left these towers as a monument of his good fortune, which had proved his auxiliaries, and enabled him to take what could not otherwise have been taken by him. 2. And now, since his soldiers were already quite tired with killing men, and yet there appeared to be a vast multitude still remaining alive, Caesar gave orders that they should kill none but those that were in arms, and opposed them, but should take the rest alive. But, together with those whom they had orders to slay, they slew the aged and the infirm; but for those that were in their flourishing age, and who might be useful to them, they drove them together into the temple, and shut them up within the walls of the court of the women; over which Caesar set one of his freed-men, as also Fronto, one of his own friends; which last was to determine every one's fate, according to his merits. So this Fronto slew all those that had been seditious and robbers, who were impeached one by another; but of the young men he chose out the tallest and most beautiful, and reserved them for the triumph; and as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines (31) Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. Now during the days wherein Fronto was distinguishing these men, there perished, for want of food, eleven thousand; some of whom did not taste any food, through the hatred their guards bore to them; and others would not take in any when it was given them. The multitude also was so very great, that they were in want even of corn for their sustenance. 3. Now the number (32) of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, 2 the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army, which, at the very first, occasioned so great a straitness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly. And that this city could contain so many people in it, is manifest by that number of them which was taken under Cestius, who being desirous of informing Nero of the power 1

Flavius Josephus, The wars of the Jews or The Destruction of Jerusalem; Translated by Whiston W. Gutenberg.org EBook http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext01/warje10.txt Visited 13 December 2009 2 My emphasis

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of the city, who otherwise was disposed to contemn that nation, entreated the high priests, if the thing were possible, to take the number of their whole multitude. So these high priests, upon the coming of that feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour till the eleventh, but so that a company not less than ten (33) belong to every sacrifice, (for it is not lawful for them to feast singly by themselves,) and many of us are twenty in a company, found the number of sacrifices was two hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred; which, upon the allowance of no more than ten that feast together, amounts to two millions seven hundred thousand and two hundred persons that were pure and holy; for as to those that have the leprosy, or the gonorrhoea, or women that have their monthly courses, or such as are otherwise polluted, it is not lawful for them to be partakers of this sacrifice; nor indeed for any foreigners neither, who come hither to worship. 4. Now this vast multitude is indeed collected out of remote places, but the entire nation was now shut up by fate as in prison, and the Roman army encompassed the city when it was crowded with inhabitants. Accordingly, the multitude of those that therein perished exceeded all the destructions that either men or God ever brought upon the world; for, to speak only of what was publicly known, the Romans slew some of them, some they carried captives, and others they made a search for under ground, and when they found where they were, they broke up the ground and slew all they met with. There were also found slain there above two thousand persons, partly by their own hands, and partly by one another, but chiefly destroyed by the famine; but then the ill savour of the dead bodies was most offensive to those that lighted upon them, insomuch that some were obliged to get away immediately, while others were so greedy of gain, that they would go in among the dead bodies that lay on heaps, and tread upon them; for a great deal of treasure was found in these caverns, and the hope of gain made every way of getting it to be esteemed lawful. Many also of those that had been put in prison by the tyrants were now brought out; for they did not leave off their barbarous cruelty at the very last: yet did God avenge himself upon them both, in a manner agreeable to justice. As for John, he wanted food, together with his brethren, in these caverns, and begged that the Romans would now give him their right hand for his security, which he had often proudly rejected before; but for Simon, he struggled hard with the distress he was in, fill he was forced to surrender himself, as we shall relate hereafter; so he was reserved for the triumph, and be then slain; as was John condemned to perpetual imprisonment. And now the Romans set fire to the extreme parts of the city, and burnt them down, and entirely demolished its walls. 1

1

Flavius Josephus, The wars of the Jews or The Destruction of Jerusalem; Translated by Whiston W. Gutenberg.org, EBook.http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext01/warje10.txt Visited 13 December 2009

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Deus vult - The First Crusade

• Figure 6 Route of First Crusade

In the first millennium AD, Europe, being divided into many separate kingdoms, was occupied fighting internal wars or warding off the invading Vikings and Magyars (Hungarians). These heathens were converted to Christianity by the end of the first millennium, or early in the second millennium, leaving the warriors (knights) of the various factions in Europe with time to spare - they began to attack other non-Christians, the Muslims. In Spain they fought the Moors; others were fighting for control of Islamic strongholds in Majorca, Sardinia, and Sicily. In 1095 Pope Urban II called for the Christian world to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims, the response was overwhelming; all non-Christians were purged. A speech given by the Pope in the French city of Clermont in 1095 was in response to a request for help from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I to fight the Turks at Constantinople. Urban saw this as an opportunity to reverse the split of the Western and Eastern Christian churches and become the chief bishop of the Christian world. His agreement to help was followed by his speech to a large audience, when as well as stating that ‘God wills it’, he also gave absolution to all those taking part.

"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian religion! Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago. Let those who for a long time, have been robbers, now become knights. Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives now fight in a proper way against the barbarians. Let those who have been serving as mercenaries for small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let those who have been wearing themselves out in both body and soul now work for a double honour. Behold! on this side will be the sorrowful and poor, on that, the rich; on this side,

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the enemies of the Lord, on that, his friends. Let those who go not put off the journey, but rent their lands and collect money for their expenses; and as soon as winter is over and spring comes, let them eagerly set out on the way with God as their guide." 1

The crusade was planned to depart in the middle of August 1096, but months before this, thousands of peasants and “lesser knights”, eager to get on with it, set off for Jerusalem led by Peter the Hermit. When they arrived at Constantinople they were shipped across the Bosporus by Alexius and the inexperienced army was massacred by the Turks. Later in the same year the crusade proper set off, consisting off knights and nobles from all over Europe. Under the leadership of Adhemar of Le Puy, Raymond IV of Toulouse and Bohemund of Taranto, they arrived at Constantinople in December 1096, two months after the massacre of the ‘Peoples Crusade’. The armies by now reduced in numbers by hunger, and fighting on the journey to Constantinople; particularly the fighting at Nicaea and Antioch; reached Jerusalem on the 7th May 1099. Following a siege they entered Jerusalem on the 15th July killing everyone, Muslim, Christian, and Jew. The following is extracted from an account by Fulcher of Chartres: Crusades: Chapter 27: The Siege of the City of Jerusalem On the seventh of June the Franks besieged Jerusalem. The city is located in a mountainous region, which is lacking in rivers, woods, and springs, except the Fountain of Siloam, where there is plenty of water, but it empties forth only at certain intervals. This fountain empties into the valley, at the foot of Mount Zion, and flows into the course of the brook of Kedron, which, during the winter, flows through the valley of Jehosaphat. There are many cisterns, which furnish abundant water within the city. When filled by the winter rains and well cared for, they offer both men and beasts an unfailing supply at all times. Moreover, the city is laid out most beautifully, and cannot be criticized for too great length or as being disproportionately narrow. On the west is the tower of David, which is flanked on both sides by the broad wall of the city. The lower half of the wall is solid masonry, of square stones and mortar, sealed with molten lead. So strong is this wall that, if fifteen or twenty men should be well supplied with provisions, they would never be taken by any army. . . . When the Franks saw how difficult it would be to take the city, the leaders ordered scaling ladders to be made, hoping that by a brave assault it might be possible to surmount the walls by means 'of ladders and thus take the city, God helping. So the ladders were made, and on the day following the seventh, in the early morning, the leaders ordered the attack, and, with the trumpets sounding, a splendid assault was made on the city from all sides. The attack lasted till the sixth hour, but it was discovered that the city could not be entered by the use of ladders, which were few in number, and sadly we ceased the attack. Then a council was held, and it was ordered that siege machines should be constructed by the artisans, so that by moving them close to the wall we might accomplish our purpose, with the aid of God. This was done....... . . .When the tower had been put together and bad been covered with hides, it was moved nearer to the wall. Then knights, few in number, but brave, at the sound of the trumpet, took their places in the tower and began to shoot stones and arrows. The Saracens defended themselves vigorously, and, with slings, very skilfully hurled back burning firebrands, which had been dipped in oil and fresh fat. Many on both sides, fighting in this manner, often found themselves in the presence of death. . . . On the following day the work again began at the sound of the trumpet, and to such purpose that the rams, by continual pounding, made a hole through one part of the wall. The Saracens suspended two beams before the opening, supporting them by ropes, so that by piling stones behind them they would make an obstacle to the rams. However, what they did for their own protection became, through the providence of God, the cause of their own 1

Fulcher Gesta Francorum Jerusalem Expugnantium .Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html# Visited 13 Dec. 09

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destruction. For, when the tower was moved nearer to the wall, the ropes that supported the beams were cut; from these same beams the Franks constructed a bridge, which they cleverly extended from the tower to the wall. About this time one of the towers in the stone wall began to burn, for the men who worked our machines had been hurling firebrands upon it until the wooden beams within it caught fire. The flames and smoke soon became so bad that none of the defenders of this part of the wall were able to remain near this place. At the noon hour on Friday, with trumpets sounding, amid great commotion and shouting "God help us," the Franks entered the city. When the pagans saw one standard planted on the wall, they were completely demoralized, and all their former boldness vanished, and they turned to flee through the narrow streets of the city. Those who were already in rapid flight began to flee more rapidly. Count Raymond and his men, who were attacking the wall on the other side, did not yet know of all this, until they saw the Saracens leap from the wall in front of them. Forthwith, they joyfully rushed into the city to pursue and kill the nefarious enemies, as their comrades were already doing. Some Saracens, Arabs, and Ethiopians took refuge in the tower of David, others fled to the temples of the Lord and of Solomon. A great fight took place in the court and porch of the temples, where they were unable to escape from our gladiators. Many fled to the roof of the temple of Solomon, and were shot with arrows, so that they fell to the ground dead. In this temple almost ten thousand were killed. Indeed, if you had been there you would have seen our feet coloured to our ankles with the blood of the slain. But what more shall I relate? None of them were left alive; neither women nor children were spared. Chapter 28: The Spoils Taken By the Christians This may seem strange to you. Our squires and poorer footmen discovered a trick of the Saracens, for they learned that they could find byzants [note: a gold coin] in the stomachs and intestines of the dead Saracens, who had swallowed them. Thus, after several days they burned a great heap of dead bodies, that they might more easily get the precious metal from the ashes. Moreover, Tancred broke into the temple of the Lord and most wrongfully stole much gold and silver, also precious stones, but later, repenting of his action, after everything had been accounted for, be restored all to its former place of sanctity. The carnage over, the crusaders entered the houses and took whatever they found in them. However, this was all done in such a sensible manner that whoever entered a house first received no injury from any one else, whether he was rich or poor. Even though the house was a palace, whatever he found there was his property. Thus many poor men became rich. Afterward, all, clergy and laymen, went to the Sepulchre of the Lord and His glorious temple, singing the ninth chant. With fitting humility, they repeated prayers and made their offering at the holy places that they had long desired to visit. . . . It was the eleven hundredth year of our Lord, if you subtract one, when the people of Gaul took the city. It was the 15th day of July when the Franks in their might captured the city. It was the eleven hundredth year minus one after the birth of our Lord, the 15th day of July in the two hundred and eighty-fifth years after the death of Charles the Great and the twelfth year after the death of William I of England. 1

Gibbon, in his Decline and fall of the Roman Empire, V 5, Ch 6, states that in 1098 at Antioch that 100,000 Moslems were massacred and at Jerusalem in 1099, 70,000 Moslems were massacred. He does not mention of the numbers of Jews and Christians killed. According to Edward Peters, in his book “The First Crusade: The chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres” p. 214 (and other source materials), Raymond d'Aguiliers, chaplain to Raymond de Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse, stated: Piles of heads, hands, and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of men and horses. But these were small matters compared 1

Fulcher of Chatres, Gesta Francorum Jerusalem Expugnantium. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cde-jlem.html#fulcher1 Visited 13 Dec. 09

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to what happened at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious ceremonies were ordinarily chanted. What happened there? If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief. So let it suffice to say this much, at least, that in the Temple and porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle-reins. Indeed, it was a just and splendid judgment of God that this place should be filled with the blood of unbelievers, since it had suffered so long from their blasphemies. The city was filled with corpses and blood. 1

The German Crusade 1096 This crusade was really part of the First Crusade that set off earlier to the Holy Land to free the Christians from the Moslems, instead of setting off eastwards, they moved north through the Rhine valley. The precarious toleration afforded the Jews of Europe quickly dissolved when Holy War was proclaimed against the Moslems in Asia. The abbot of Cluny, who advocated the crusade, said that if we are going to get rid of the enemies of Christianity, we should start with the Jews, not to kill them, but to convert them:

Of what use is it. (he wrote) to go forth to seek the enemies of Christendom in different lands. if the blasphemous Jews, who are much worse than the Saracens, are permitted in our very midst to scorn with impunity at Christ and the sacrament! The Saracen at least believes as we do that Christ was born of a virgin, and yet he is execrable. since he denies the incarnation. How much more these Jews who disbelieve everything. and mock at everything! Yet I do not require you to put to death these accursed beings.. because it is written, "Do not slay them." God does not wish to annihilate them. but like Cain, "the fratricide, they must be made to suffer fearful torments. and be preserved for greater ignominy, for an existence more bitter than death. They are dependent, miserable and terror-stricken, and must remain in that state until they are converted to the Savoir. You ought not to kill them, but to afflict them in a manner befitting their baseness. 2

A German army of about 10,000, under the leadership of Emich of Leiningen, and others; disregarding the words of the abbot; set off through the Rhine valley on the “first Holocaust”.

As they passed through Germany on their way to Jerusalem this motley crew killed thousands of "infidel" Jews in the larger cities such as Speyer, Worms, Mayence [Mainz], and Cologne. 3

Mainz The Jews of Mainz having heard of the slaughter in Cologne, and other places, were given shelter in the Bishops palace, He placed the Jews in the very spacious hall of his own house so that they might remain safe and sound in a very secure and strong place. However, Emich attacked the palace and killed about seven hundred men, women, and children. Adding to the death toll the Jews killed each other and committed suicide rather than be killed by the weapons of the uncircumcised. Solomon bar Samson wrote an account of the atrocities perpetrated by the ‘Crusaders’ on the Jews of Mainz, the following extracts should show how the Jews felt about being desecrated:

Now we must delay no longer for the enemy are already upon us. Let us hasten and offer ourselves as a sacrifice to the Lord. Let him who has a knife examine it that it not be nicked, and let him come and 1

Raymond de Aguiliers, The Fall of Jerusalem. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cdejlem.html#raymond2 Visited 13 Dec. 09 2 Carrie Books, Created by- Prof. Nelson L., Kansas University. The Chosen People. http://www.ku.edu/carrie/texts/carrie_books/longhurst2/01.html Visited 13 Dec. 09 3 Jacob Marcus, The Jew in the Medieval World: A Sourcebook, 315-1791, (New York: JPS, 1938), 115-120. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1096jews-mainz.html Visited 13 Dec. 09

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slaughter us for the sanctification of the Only One, the Everlasting and then let him cut his own throat or plunge the knife into his own body." [A nick in the slaughterer's knife would make it ritually unfit. 1 The women there girded their loins with strength and slew their sons and their daughters and then themselves. Many men, too, plucked up courage and killed their wives, their sons, their infants. The tender and delicate mother slaughtered the babe she had played with, all of them, men and women arose and slaughtered one another. The maidens and the young brides and grooms looked out of the Windows and in a loud voice cried: "Look and see, O our God, what w e do for the sanctification of Thy great name in order not to exchange you for a hanged and crucified one. 2 A father turning to his son or brother, a brother to his sister, a woman to her son or daughter neighbour to a neighbour or a friend, a groom to a bride, a fiancé to fiancée, would kill and would be killed, and blood touched blood, The blood of the men mingled with their wives', the blood of the fathers with their children's, the blood of the brothers with the sisters, the blood of the teachers with their disciples', the blood z the grooms with their brides', the blood of the leaders with the cantors', the blood of the judges with their scribes', and the blood of infants and sucklings with their mothers'. For the unity of d honoured and aweinspiring Name were they killed and slaughtered. 3 Why did not the moon and the sun grow dark in their heavens when on one day, on the third of Siwan, on a Tuesday eleven hundred souls were killed and slaughtered, among them many infants and sucklings who had not transgressed nor sinned, many poor, innocent souls? 4 Then the crusaders began to give thanks in the name of "the hanged one" because they had done what they wanted with all those in the room of the bishop so that not a soul escaped. [The crusaders now held a 5 thanksgiving service in the archbishop's palace where the massacre took place.]

In two months it was estimated that 12,000 Jews were killed, thousands more saved themselves by being baptised as Christians.

Rindfleisch Massacres 1298 The German Knight Rindfleisch, on the pretext of Host Desecration by the Jewish community of Rottingen, had them rounded up and burnt; the Knight and his followers marched on other towns; killing more Jews as they went. At Nuremberg the Jews took refuge in the town fortress, but they were eventually overcome and butchered on the spot. The killing went on for more than six months throughout Germany, Austria, and Bavaria.

By the time it spent itself, more than one hundred and forty Jewish congregations, comprising one hundred thousand persons, had been swept away. 6

The Black Death 1348 In the middle of the 12th Century a new disaster was to descend on the Jews. In between crusades to the Holy Land, trading ships from the Far East brought the plague to Europe in 1348. Within two years the disease had killed nearly a quarter of the population, and 1

Jacob Marcus, The Jew in the Medieval World: A Sourcebook, 315-1791, (New York: JPS, 1938), 115-120. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1096jews-mainz.html Visited 13 Dec. 09 2

Ibid. ibid. 4 ibid. 5 ibid. 6 Carrie Books, Created by- Prof. Nelson L., Kansas University. The Chosen People. http://www.ku.edu/carrie/texts/carrie_books/longhurst2/01.html Visited 13 Dec. 09 3

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disrupted every phase of life. Rumours spread that the deaths were due to a Jewish conspiracy to kill off the Christian population. The initiators of this conspiracy were allegedly centred in the Spanish City of Toledo under Rabbi Peyret, who had sent out his followers to poison wells and water supplies around Europe. Reports from the confessions obtained from tortured Jews were sent around Europe; resulting in widespread massacre, especially in Germany. Thousands of Jews were butchered and burnt, and about two hundred Jewish communities were destroyed. Strasbourg 1349. Blaming the Jews for a fall in the price of corn, the people of Strasbourg asked the deputies of the city what they were going to do about the Jews of the city, and were told - “they new of no evil of them”. But, after much protesting from the citizens, the Bishop and the Lords agreed to do away with the Jews.

The town-council of Strasbourg which wanted to save the Jews was deposed on the 9th-10th of February, and the new council gave in to the mob, who then arrested the Jews on Friday, the 13th. 1 On the 14th February, St. Valentine’s Day, two thousand Jews were burnt in their cemetery. About one thousand accepted baptism to avoid the fire; children were dragged from the flames and forcibly baptised. Debts were wiped out and the money of the Jews taken by the city council.

Thus were the Jews burnt at Strasbourg, and in the same year in all the cities of the Rhine, whether Free Cities or Imperial Cities or cities belonging to the lords. In some towns they burnt the Jews after a trial, in others, without a trial. In some cities the Jews themselves set fire to their houses and cremated themselves 2

Spain Granada The earliest reference to the Jews of Granada is in 711 AD when they assisted in the construction of a garrison for the victorious Moors. The Jewish community in Granada prospered under Moslem rule, and in 1038, a Jewish refugee, Samuel Ha’Nagid, became vizier to the Moslem ruler, and was later promoted to chief minister, and as a result the Jewish community of Granada grew in stature. When Samuel died in 1055, the Jews suffered a steep decline, unfortunately, Samuel’s son Joseph, was ostentatious and arrogant, and alienated the Moslem rulers:

On a Shabbat in 1066, Joseph's palace was stormed and he was murdered, crucified on a cross. The entire Jewish community came under the riotous siege (December 30th) resulting in 4,000 deaths and the destruction of most property 3

In the cities of Spain the Jews were usually confined to the Juderia, the Jewish Quarter, and for the most part coexisted peacefully with Christians and Moslems. But unfortunately the Spanish clergy, especially the Archdeacon of Ecija, Ferrand Martinez in Seville, had for some 1

Marcus J, The Jew in the Medeival World: A Sourcebook, 315-1791, (NY: JPS, 1938) , 43-48. Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1348-jewsblackdeath.html Visited 13 Dec. 09 2 Ibid. 3 Jewish Virtual Library. Granada. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Granada.html Visited 14 Dec. 09

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time been stirring up anti Jewish feelings in the cities of Seville and Cordoba. In his sermons and public discourses he continually fanned the hatred of the Christian population against the Jews, to whom he ascribed all sorts of vices. Martinez was warned several times by the royal household not to incite the people against the Jews; however, nothing could keep him from pursuing his goal to exterminate the Jews. In June 1391, massacre of the Jews spread throughout Spain.

Cordoba Houses, storerooms, and factories were burnt down, maidens raped, men, women and children were killed. They were killed in their houses, in the synagogues; more than two thousand corpses lay in the streets. Many converted to Christianity to avoid being murdered; the Jewish community was in effect wiped out.

Seville Following several earlier attacks on the Juderia in Seville, which had been held in check by Guzman, the Constable of the city, a mob entered the quarter on the 6th July 1391, and did not stop at damaging property, but went after the Jews with knives and daggers, pursuing them like wild beasts through the Jewish quarter’s narrow streets. Again, many converted, women and children were sold as slaves to the Moslems, and many died a martyr’s death. About 4000 Jews were massacred. According to Rabbi Hasdai Crescas, (1340-1412), “From there the fire spread…”, and “…the number of communities struck came to about 70 cities…” In Toledo, 4000 were killed, Palma, Lerida, Gerona, Barcelona, many more.

Barcelona On the Feast Day of St. Dominic, crowds of workers, peasants, and sailors, just returned from the crusade, set fire to the Jewish ghetto. Throughout that day and the night the crowds murdered and plundered the Jews. Many Jews took refuge in the city castle where the local governor gave them some protection, which further inflamed the peasants. Some of the peasant ringleaders were arrested and sentenced to death for the massacre. The peasant’s reaction was to storm the jail and release the “martyrs”; they went on to storm the city hall and burn all the town records. They then went on to storm the castle where the Jews had taken refuge, demanding their death or baptism into the Catholic Church. The Jews tried to fight off the peasant onslaught but were eventually overwhelmed. Some then killed themselves rather than convert to Christianity; those who refused immediate baptism were killed on the spot:

…their corpses dragged about the city streets; the rest were hustled off to the baptismal font and purified. The Jews who had somehow escaped were rooted out of their hiding places and destroyed without mercy. 1

About 4000 Jews were massacred in Barcelona.

Conversos The conversos, or, Maranos, were Jews who had converted to Christianity at the time when there had been pogroms against their faith. They became just as hated, if not more so, than the Jews themselves. From about 1470 they were subjected to persecution and massacre in Cordoba, Valencia, and Segovia, and in Portugal. 1

Longhurst E. J., The Age of Torquemada. The Library of Iberian Resources Online. http://libro.uca.edu/torquemada/torquemada3.htm Visited 14 Dec. 09

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Lisbon 1506 The Portuguese disliked the Marano more than the Jew, they were considered to be neither Christian nor Jew. Stirred up by the Dominicans, Maranos were murdered in the streets; more than 500 Maranos were slain and burned on the first day. Young and old were dragged from their houses and burned, in two days 2000 perished.

The Chmielnicki Massacres 1648-49 The Jews of Central and Eastern Europe suffered terribly in the 1600’s, not least during the thirty years war, 1618-48. Although this conflict was primarily between the protestant and the catholic, Jews were killed in their thousands; they served the landowners as tax collectors and were perceived as being party to the misery of the peasant farmers. In 1648 when the war ended, the peasants of the Ukraine were stirred up by Bogdan Chmielnicki to avenge the high taxes and poverty, he told the peasants that they had been - “sold as slaves into the hands of the accursed Jews.” Chmielnicki and his followers were to fight the landowners until 1654 devastating the Jews of Poland - the greater part of the killing went on in 1648. Early on, the uprising destroyed the Jewish communities to the east of the river Dnieper. Those that survived the massacres preferred to convert to Christianity or become slaves of the Tartars to avoid being killed. The western bank of the Dnieper was attacked next; by the middle of June there were no more Jews in the villages and in the open cities. The large peasant armies soon overwhelmed the fortified cities where the fleeing Jews had taken refuge, where most of the Jews were then butchered. The following are eyewitness accounts of some the atrocities:

In the city of Mogila they slaughtered 800 nobles together with their wives and children as well as 700 Jews, also with wives and children. Some were cut into pieces, others were ordered to dig graves into which Jewish women and children were thrown and buried alive. Jews were given rifles and ordered to kill each other...They surround young women and, as they struggled to escape, cut their clothes from their bodies. Then they performed abominations on them until they died screaming.... They arrived... (disguised) as if they had come with the Poles... in order that he open the gates of the fortress... and they succeeded... and they massacred about 6,000 souls in the town... and they drowned several hundreds in the water and by all kinds of cruel torments. In the synagogue, before the Holy Ark, they slaughtered with butchers' knives... after which they destroyed the synagogue and took out all the Torah books... they tore them up... and they laid them out... for men and animals to trample on... they also made sandals of them... and several other garments". Some were skinned alive and their flesh was thrown to the dogs; some had their hands and limbs chopped off and their bodies thrown on the highway to be trampled by wagons and crushed by horses; some had wounds inflicted upon them and were then thrown on the street to die a slow death. They tore open women and then whipped them forcing them to crawl to their deaths.... others were buried alive. The enemy slaughtered infants in their mothers' laps. They were sliced into pieces like fish.... The infants were hung on the breasts of their mothers. Some children were pierced with spears. 1

Many Jews fled the country, but most of them were massacred. Jewish sources estimate the number of dead as 100,000, and almost 300 Jewish communities were destroyed.

1

Rosen R, Ukraine, Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/ukraine.html#c Visited 14 Dec. 09

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• Figure 7 Incidents against Jews

Haidamaka Uprisings - 1734 Abuse of power by the Polish ruling classes and their Jewish stewards in the Ukraine caused increasing dissatisfaction among the common people. The peasantry, poor Cossacks, artisans, minor burghers and others fled to the forest and steppe to avoid the oppression; there they formed themselves into bands of haidamaks attacking the nobility and the Jews. The Zaporozhian Cossacks supplied the leaders of the rebels who attacked and plundered towns and estates belonging to the nobility. As well as Jewish moneylenders and stewards, they also killed Roman Catholics, the nobility and their clerics; causing immense economic loss. Despite attempts to suppress the uprisings, which began in 1734, the haidamaka raids covered the entire breadth of Right Bank Ukraine; eventually Polish forces put down the rebellion, but only temporarily. Uman By 1768 a Cossack, Maksym Zalizniak, lead the haidamaks, and another rebellion broke out in the Kyev region killing Poles and Jews. The rebellion spread through several towns, one of them being Uman; which had taken in thousands of Jewish refugees. A captain of the Uman militia, Ivan Gonta, changed his allegiance to the Haidamaks and helped in the massacre:

Heeding neither age nor sex, they killed the Jews in the streets, threw them from the roofs of tall buildings, speared them, and rode them down with their horses. When the streets were so filled with corpses that it was difficult to pass, Gonta ordered them collected into heaps and thrown outside the city gates to the dogs and pigs. Three thousand Jews fled to the synagogue and made a stand there. Armed with knives, a number of them attacked the Cossacks. Gonta blew in the door of the synagogue with a cannon; the Haidamacks rushed into the building and showed no mercy. 1

1

Rosenthal and Lipman, Haidamacks. The Jewish Encyclopedia. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=88&letter=H Visited 14 Dec. 09

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It is estimated that 20,000 Poles and Jews were killed in Uman.

Russia

• Figure 8 Russia The Pale of Settlement

Persecution of the Jews in Russia began in earnest during the Communist revolution in 1917; the revolutionists represented the Jews as the source of all the evils with which Russia is afflicted, they were also blamed for the assassination of the royal family; but, there were earlier ‘pogroms’ against them under the Czars. The Jews had been tolerated for a long time in Russia and had to some extent become assimilated into their culture. Eventually, under the oppression of Czarist rule, they were blamed for the economic and social ills of the peasants; outbreaks of racial hatred suddenly occurred.

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In 1791, Catherine the Great limited the Jews to an area in the west of Russia known as The Pale of Settlement; (see map); the area included Poland which had been partitioned by the Russians in 1793. The Pale became the largest concentration of Jews in the world, with a population of over 4,000,000. Catherine’s predecessor, Elizabeth, had wanted to expel all Jews who would not convert to the Orthodox Church, the Pale was Catherine’s compromise; but there was still great animosity towards the Jews. The pogroms against the Jews were at their worst at the end of the 19th century, and the beginning of the 20th century:

… waves of pogroms had started after 1880, organized and sponsored by the Russian government and with police encouragement. The perpetrators and hooligans raped and murdered their Jewish victims while pillaging and looting their personal properties. Tens of thousands of Jews were killed through governmentsponsored pogrom violence in the Ukraine region and other parts of Eastern Europe. 1

The continuing violence against the Jews led to hundreds of thousands moving to other countries, two million went to America, the UK, South America, and Palestine. The following are extracts from an Australian broadsheet newspaper of 1905, titled “Jewish Slaughters”:

POSITION AT ODESSA FRESH OUTBREAK FEARED LONDON, 9th November. Reports from Odessa state that the police, many of whom took a leading part in the late atrocious outrages on the Jewish population, are organising a fresh massacre. The Odessa Barristers' Union has forwarded to Count de Witte a memorial imploring him to prevent a second outbreak of murder and pillage. The municipal council of Odessa, regarding the prefect of police with profound distrust, have begged General Kaulbars, the military governor, to post strong guards over the part of the city in which the Jews who survived the massacre are now sheltering. General Kaulbars, who is endeavouring to shield himself from the responsibility of not having prevented or stopped the late anti-Semitic outbreak, has promised to comply with the request. MASSACRE AT KIEFF. WHOLESALE ATROCITIES. It now transpires that at Kieff, an important city in southern Russia, where a few days ago it was officially reported that there had been collisions between the troops and revolutionaries, with a few casualties, there has been a massacre of Jews on the same extensive scale, and of the same atrocious character, as that at Odessa. A letter from a medical practitioner at Kieff which has obtained publicity states that 2,000 Jews were killed or wounded in that city, and that 1000 women and children were outraged or strangled. The massacres were, this letter declares, not the mere result of mob outbreaks, but were organised by the Government and one of the Grand Dukes of the Russian imperial family. A SIBERIAN OUTBREAK. At Tomsk, an important town in western Siberia, an anti-Semitic outbreak has also occurred. It is reported that 600 Jews were slaughtered. 2

1

Levi N. Anti-Semitism: Origins and Background. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2003/1/03.01.09.x.html#b Visited 14 Dec. 09 2 Soloman M. Soloman, The Age, 1905. ,http://150.theage.com.au/view_bestofarticle.asp?straction=update&inttype=1&intid=1002 Visited 14 Dec. 09

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Morocco Jews have been indigenous to Morocco for about 2000 years, and by the eleventh century the cities of Marrakech and Fez were densely Jewish, for three hundred years, Fez attracted Jewish intellectuals. As in Spain, the Almoravides, and Almohades sects caused destruction and suffering to the Jewish community. In 1032, the Moslems massacred 6000 Jews; in 1146, 120,000 were killed in Fez, many Jews then went to Egypt or hid themselves in the th Moroccan mountains, integrating themselves with the Berbers. By the end of the 14 century the Jews were again populating the cities of Morocco, mainly from Spain, and by 1438, Fez again had a large Jewish population, and anti Jewish violence recurred. Because of the animosity between Jew and Moslem, the Jews were confined to special quarters, the Mellah; allegedly for their protection; but this did not prevent more killing:

…in 1465, Arab mobs in Fez slaughtered thousands of Jews, leaving only 11 alive, after a Jewish deputy vizier treated a Muslim woman in "an offensive manner." The killings touched off a wave of similar massacres throughout Morocco. 1

1

Jews kicked out of Arab countries: Part 2. Historical Society for Jews in Egypt, http://www.hsje.org/Jews%20Kicked%20out%20of%20Arab%20Lands%20Part%202.htm Visited 14 Dec. 09

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The Holocaust Long before Adolph Hitler, the animosity towards the Jews was widespread in Europe and many other parts of the world. As previously stated, the Jews were a race apart; they had separate religious beliefs and distinct cultural practises. Klaus Fischer, a German historian, stressed:

…that the Jews were "an ancient cultured people" who practiced a reverence for learning and philosophical thinking centuries before the existence of the early Greek city-states or the Roman republic. When Jews entered into Europe in large numbers during the Middle Ages, "they found themselves living among primitive Western people who were repelled by their superior intelligence and their clever business acumen. There was mutual contempt and hate …1

Seeds of the Holocaust. Adolph Hitler had much to ‘draw on’ - the writings of Martin Luther, Heinrich Treitschke, Arthur de Gobineau, Houston Stewart Chamberlain and others, provided Hitler with fuel to feed his own growing hatred of the Jews. Martin Luther did not like the Jews:

"Let the magistrates burn their synagogues and let whatever escapes be covered with sand and mud. Let them be forced to work, and if this avails nothing, we will be compelled to expel them like dogs . . .Luther 2

Wilhelm Marr in his pamphlet “The Victory of Judaism over Germandom” was the first to use the term “anti-Semitism”. He stated that the Jews who had had to adopt the German culture would eventually undermine it; they would “dominate commerce, push themselves ever more into state services.” In the poor economic climate of the 1870’s Marr’s pamphlet had business and workers worried. Another German historian, Heinrich Treitschke, wrote: the Jews had "usurped too large a place in our life” and “the Jews are our misfortune”. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, the survival of the fittest, gave rise to the movement of “Social Darwinism”, whose doctrines expounded the idea of “racial purity” - Arthur de Gobineau, a French aristocrat, argued that "all civilizations derive from the White race". "There is no true civilization, among the European peoples, where the Aryan branch is not predominant . . . and when the Aryan blood is exhausted stagnation supervenes.” 3

Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Richard Wagner’s son in law, had similar thoughts about racial purity:

…by warning that before the "pure" Germans could become "lords of the world" they must defeat and suppress the German Jews. 4

From the above radical views we can see that Hitler had plenty of ammunition by the time he became disillusioned with the German defeat in World War one. After the war he joined the 1

Anti-Semitism in Germany: Historical Background. Minnesota State University. http://www.mnstate.edu/shoptaug/Anti-Semitism.htm Visited 14 Dec. 09 ibid. 3 ibid. 4 ibid. 2

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German Workers Party, and was soon to become its leader, he encouraged national pride, racial purity, and, he condemned the Jews; fostering anti-Semitism. In 1924 Hitler was in jail for his participation in the unsuccessful Beer Hall Putsch in prison he wrote his book Mien Kampf (My Struggle), setting in print his ideas about anti-Semitism, anti-Bolshevism, and his thoughts on German nationalism; the book became the ideological base for the Nazi Party’s racist beliefs, and “murderous practices”.

Hitler possessed a consistent ideology: his “thought comprised a patchwork of 19th century antisemitic, Volkish, Social Darwinist, antidemocratic, anti-marxist/anti-communist ideas, & pan-German ideas. He constructed a world-view rooted in myth & ritual. 1

In the book he “reserved the brunt of his vituperation for the Jews”, he said they had caused the German defeat in WW1 that they had no culture of their own, they were nonhuman, they were parasites, and they were trying to take over the world. One of the most significant of his ideas was that the Jews were ‘impure’, an “anti-race”, Germans on the other hand were of the highest racial purity and were to be the master race.

To maintain that purity, it was necessary to avoid intermarriage with subhuman races such as Jews & Slavs. Germany could stop the Jews from conquering the world only by eliminating them. 2

Eliminating the Jews would give Germany Lebensraum (living space), so preventing the decay of the “superior German culture”, this living space would come by expanding Germanys borders eastwards, particularly to Russia. In Mien Kampf, Hitler set out his political theory - what he believed to be the “twin evils of the world” - Communism and Judaism, and that his aim was to eradicate both of them. Though his rise to power was not without its problems, through his political manoeuvrings Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. His National Socialist German Workers Party, the Nazi Party, which he joined in 1919 grew and grew and was chosen by the German people to lead the country, providing Hitler the authority to carry out his policies against the Jews and other ‘untermenchen’. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were introduced, they stripped the Jews of their civil rights, and they were defined as a separate race. Being Jewish was defined by ancestry, marriage and sexual relationships were forbidden between Jew and German.

More than 120 laws, decrees, and ordinances were enacted after the Nuremburg Laws and before the outbreak of World War II, further eroding the rights of German Jews. Many thousands of Germans who had not previously considered themselves Jews found themselves defined as "non-Aryans." 3 Three years later, open anti-Semitism became increasingly accepted. On November 9th 1938, the most serious pre-war demonstration of anti-Semitism took place, Kristalnacht. Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister, initiated a free for all against the Jews:

…during which nearly 1,000 synagogues were set on fire and 76 were destroyed. More than 7,000 Jewish businesses and homes were looted, about one hundred Jews were killed and as many as 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps… 1

1

Historical Roots of Nazism. University of Arizona. http://www.u.arizona.edu/~shaked/Holocaust/lectures/lec6.html Visited 14 Dec. 09 2 ibid. 3 A Teachers Guide to the Holocaust: The Nazification of Germany. College of Education, University of South Florida http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/timeline/nazifica.htm. Visited 14 Dec. 09

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On September 1st 1939, Germany invaded Poland, four weeks later, Poland was conquered, and the Second World War was now underway. The conquest of Poland put Germany in a position to impose the “New Order”, the plan to eliminate the undesirables, Jews and Slavs. The Jewish population of Poland was confined to ghettos, which became not just areas where they were isolated from the rest of the population, but, the ghetto was the first step on the route to the death camps. The Germans built six camps for the extermination of the Jews and other undesirables, Auschwitz-Birkenau Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor, Lublin (Majdank) and Chelmo; the first, Chelmo, began operating in late 1941. But before these new camps were built, extermination was carried out on a smaller scale.

Einsatzgruppen

• Figure 9 Einsatzgruppen locations

Firing Squads Immediately following the occupation of Poland in 1939, Heinrich Himmler was given the job of strengthening German ethnicity in the occupied territories and to create the living room set out by Hitler in Mien Kampf. Himmler created special task forces from the SS called Einsatzgruppen. Under the command of Reinhardt Heydrich, these task forces became “mobile killing units”, with orders to kill all political enemies of the Reich; their method of killing was by shooting. When Russia was invaded in 1941, the focus and function of the Einsatzgruppen had changed significantly. Separate groups, there were four of them, followed the invading armies and eliminated the undesirables:

political "criminals," Polish governmental officials, gypsies and, mostly, Jews. Jews were rounded up in every village, transported to a wooded area, or a ravine (either natural or constructed by Jewish labour). They (men, women and children) were stripped, shot and buried. 2

1

A Teachers Guide to the Holocaust: The Nazification of Germany. College of Education, University of South Florida http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/timeline/nazifica.htm. Visited 14 Dec. 09 2

The Einsatzgruppen-Mobile Killing Units. MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY, http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/einsatz.html Visited 14 Dec. 09

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The Einsatzgruppen following the German army into the Soviet Union were composed of four battalionsized operational groups. Einsatzgruppe A fanned out from East Prussia across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia toward Leningrad. It massacred Jews in Kovno, Riga, and Vilna. Einsatzgruppe B started from Warsaw in occupied Poland, and fanned out across Belorussia toward Smolensk, massacring Jews in Grodno, Minsk, Brest-Litovsk, Slonim, Gomel, and Mogilev, among other places. Einsatzgruppe C began operations from Krakow (Cracow) and Rzeszow (in occupied Poland and fanned out across the Ukraine toward Kharkov and Rostov-on-Don. Its personnel directed massacres in Lvov, Tarnopol, Zolochev, Kremenets, Kharkov, Kiev, and elsewhere. Of the four units, Einsatzgruppe D operated farthest south. Its personnel carried out massacres in the southern Ukraine and the Crimea, especially in Nikolayev, Kherson, Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Feodosiya. 1

Babi Yar - Ukraine One of the most brutal massacres was carried out at a ravine near the city of Kiev, called Babi Yar. Following the capture of the city by the Germans, 34,000 Jews were taken to the ravine and systematically shot over a period of two days.

The Jews in their thousands, with such pathetic belongings as they could carry, were herded into barbedwire areas at the top of the ravine, guarded by Ukrainian collaborators. There they were stripped of their clothes and beaten, then led in irregular squads down the side of the ravine. The first groups were forced to lie on the ground, face down, and were machine-gunned by the Germans who kept up a steady volley 2

This first ‘layer’ was covered with earth and the next victims forced to lie on the top and were shot in turn, and so on until they were all killed.3 The site was eventually converted into a more permanent place for extermination called Syrets. Rumbula - Latvia Einsatzgruppen at Rumbula carried out another massacre; the victims were from the Jewish ghetto at Riga. SS General Friedrich Jeckeln, who had obtained his experience of killing in the Ukraine, was given the job of the liquidation of the Riga Jews. Like the Jews of Kiev, those of Riga were told to pack their bags in preparation to be relocated; but instead of marching to another ghetto or camp they were heading for the killing ground at Rumbula. They were divided into small groups and spaced along the road so that they would not reach their destination at the same time. On arriving at Rumbula they were herded down a funnel shaped path, beaten on the way, made to strip, and were then shot:

In the pits the Jews had to lie flat, side by side, face down. They were killed with a single bullet in the neck, the marksmen standing at close range-at the smaller pits, on the perimeter; at the large pit, inside the pit itself-their semi-automatic pistols set for single fire. To make the best of available space, and particularly of the gaps between bodies, the victims next in line had to lie down on top of those who had been shot immediately before them. 4

1

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Holocaust. Einsatzgruppen http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?ModuleId=10005130&Type=normal+article Visited 14 Dec. 09 2 Jewish Virtual Library, Babi Yar. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/babiyar.html Visited 14 Dec. 09 3 There were some survivors who managed to crawl away and hide. 4 Fleming G. Hitler and the Final Solution, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. http://www2.ca.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/places/latvia/riga-shootings.1241 Visited 14 Dec. 09

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The killing lasted for twelve hours, a thousand deaths an hour, sixteen per minute. In two days - November 30th and December 8th 1941 - 25,000 Jews were massacred. SS officers later bragged that they had used just 25,000 bullets. Although not the full extent of the killing by the Einsatzgruppen, the following extract from General Jeckeln’s interrogation in 1945 will show how many were killed under his command: Schröder reported to me that over and above those Jews who had been exterminated in the ghetto in Riga an additional 70,000 to 100,000 Jews were exterminated in Latvia. Dr. Lange directly oversaw these shootings. Möller reported that in Estonia everything was in order as far as the Jewish question was concerned. The Estonian Jewish population was insignificant, all in all about 3,000 to 5,000 and this was reduced to nil. The greater part, were exterminated in Reval. Wysocki reported that 100,000 to 200,000 Jews were exterminated shot - in Lithuania, on Stahlecker's orders. In Lithuania, the Jewish exterminations were overseen by the commander of the SD and Gestapo, Lieutenant Colonel of Police Jäger. Later Jäger told me that he had become neurotic because of these shootings. Jäger was pensioned off and left his post for treatment. All told, the number of Jews exterminated in the actions in the Baltic East reached somewhere in the vicinity of 190,500 to 253,000. Minutes from Jeckeln's interrogation on 14 December 1945 (Major Zwetajew, interrogator; Sergeant Suur, interpreter), pp. 8 - 13, Historical State Archives, Riga 1

• Figure 10 Eisatzgruppen shooting

Gas Vans There was a change made to the extermination technique in August 1941. Because of the stress on the soldiers of the Einsatzgruppen, caused by the face to face shooting, Himmler decided that he wanted a more “humane” method. It was decided to make use of the experience gained in the euthanasia programme - a method developed for killing the infirm, the insane, and the aged, was the mobile gas van. The vehicles were made airtight and the exhaust fumes (mainly carbon monoxide) were fed into this sealed compartment. Victims could be loaded into the van and gassed on the way to the ‘burial ground’, then unloaded and the vehicle returned for another load.

1

Fleming, Gerald. Hitler and the Final Solution. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1984. pp. 95 - 98 http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/orgs/german/einsatzgruppen/esg/jeckeln.htmlVisited 14 Dec. 09

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After these experimental executions, Nebe came up with the idea of constructing a car with a hermetically sealed cabin for killing purposes. The carbon monoxide from the car's exhaust would be channelled into the sealed cabin, in which the victims stood. Nebe discussed the technical aspects of the idea with Dr. Hess and together they brought the proposal before Heydrich who adopted it. 1

The vehicles were made by a car manufacturers in Berlin, two sizes were made - one carrying 80-100 people, the bigger one could accommodate between 130 and 150 people, when densely packed. The first vans were delivered to the Einsatzgruppen and to Chelmo (the first of the extermination camps) in late 1941; by the middle of 1942 they had about thirty vehicles. The following are extracts from a secret report to SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Rauff in Berlin from a Dr. Becker regarding gas vans: 2 “ I have had the vans of [Einsatz] Gruppe D disguised as house-trailers” “I also gave instructions that all personnel should stay as far away as possible from the vans when the gassing is in progress to prevent damage to their health in the event of gas leaking out.” “I pointed out to the commanders of the Sonderkommando (Special Unit) concerned with the enormous psychological and physical harm this may cause the men” “The gassing is generally not carried out correctly. In order to get the Aktion finished as quickly as possible the driver presses down on the accelerator as far as it will go. As a result the persons to be executed die of suffocation and do not doze off as was planned. It has proved that if my instructions are followed and the levers are properly adjusted death comes faster and the prisoners fall asleep peacefully. Distorted faces and excretions, such as were observed before, no longer occur.” According to Raul Hildberg, an historian, the Einsatzgruppen killed 1,400,000 Jews.

The Final Solution On the 20th January 1942, at a suburban villa by Lake Wannsee in Berlin, a meeting was convened that had far reaching consequences for the Jews of Europe. This meeting, of highranking Nazis and key members of the German government, discussed the co-ordination and implementation of the Final Solution, which was to determine the way in which the Jews were to be eliminated.

The "Final Solution" was the code name for the systematic, deliberate, physical annihilation of the European Jews. At some still undetermined time in 1941, Hitler authorized this European-wide scheme for mass murder…3

Reinhardt Heydrich, deputy chief of the SS, informed the meeting that there would be about 11,000,000 Jews for the Final Solution. He listed the number of Jews from each country involved, including those from Germany itself; he said that they should be “taken to the East” and given “appropriate work”. A large part, he said, would “doubtlessly be lost through natural attrition”, and the survivors should be treated “appropriately”. 1

Jewish Virtual Library, From Shooting to Gas Vans. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/shootingstovans.html Visited 14 Dec. 09 (See this page for the preliminary experiments.) 2 Jewish virtual Library, Extermination in Gas Vans in the Ukraine. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Ukraine1.html Visited 14 Dec. 09 3 USHMM, Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005477 Visited 14 Dec. 09

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Despite the euphemisms which appeared in the protocols of the meeting, the aim of the Wannsee Conference was clear: the coordination of a policy of genocide of European Jews. 1

An important precursor to the Final Solution was the Evian conference, convened in 1938 to discuss the problem of Jewish refugees. Thirty-two countries were at the meeting in Evianles-Bains, France, but not much was accomplished. Most western countries were reluctant to accept any refugees, and the conference failed to pass a resolution condemning the treatment of the Jews. Hitler’s Germany wanted rid of the Jews and first tried to get them to emigrate, when this failed, they were deported eastwards into the occupied countries.

…that the "Final Solution" was decided upon only after many failed attempts to force Jews to emigrate from Germany and that the closure of possible destinations by the rest of the world combined with the logistical problems of such a massive deportation "forced" the "Final Solution" into existence. 2

It has been argued by various sociologists that it was Hitler’s “intention” to exterminate the Jews all along, taking into account his earliest statements, and later reinforced by his writings in Mien Kampf. Others argue that it was only after the complications that arose when he tried to move the Jews out of the German held territories, that is, when they began to ‘accumulate’ and the numbers became unmanageable, that he decided to kill them.

Hitler's words to Major Hell in 1922 were, "Once the hatred and the battle against the Jews are really stirred up, their resistance will inevitably break down in short order. They cannot protect themselves and no one will stand forth as their defenders." became ominously true. 3

Operation Reinhardt Aktion Reinhardt, as it became known, was set up following the conference at Wannsee; it was the culmination of the plan to exterminate the Jews in the area of the General Government in Poland. The area consisted of the districts of Warsaw, Cracow, Lublin, Radom, and Lvov; estimated to hold more than 2,250,000 Jews. The killing was to be carried out at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka; three death camps constructed on the eastern border of the General Government. Dr. Buhler, Secretary of State in the General Government, stated at the Wannsee conference – “that the Jews could be moved to the camps quickly because transport was no problem”. SS Brigadefuhrer Otto Globocnik was in charge of the Action, he was responsible for:

…the overall planning of the deportations and of the extermination operations; the construction of extermination camps; to coordinate the deportation of Jews from the different administrative districts to the extermination camps; the killing of the Jews in the camps; to secure their belongings and valuables and transfer them to the appropriate German authority. 4

1

USHMM, Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005477 Visited 14 Dec. 09 2

The Final Solution. http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/finlsol.html Visited 14 Dec. 09 Shaw A. The Evian Conference: Hitler’s Green Light for Genocide 2001. http://christianactionforisrael.org/antiholo/evian/conclusion.html Visited 14 Dec. 09 4 Jewish Virtual Library: Operation Reinhard http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/reinhard.html#1 Visited 14 Dec. 09 3

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Timeline of main Extermination Camps. Beginning of the killing.1 Chelmo

Auschwitz

Belzek

Sobibor

Treblinka

Majdanek

December 1941 Gas Vans

September 1941 Zyklon-B

March 1942 Carbon monoxide

March 1942 Carbon monoxide

July 1942 Carbon monoxide

October 1942 CO and Zyklon-B

250,000

700,000 (850,000 Yitzhak Arad)

1,380,000

320,000

1,200,000

600,000

Belzec The camp was located at a railway siding off the Lublin-Lvov mainline, half a kilometre from the Belzec railway station. The building was started in October 1941; at the end of February 1942 the installations for mass extermination were completed; the buildings were wooden sheds. Christian Wirth was given command of the camp and decided, based on his experience in the euthanasia program - killing off the sick and old - to gas the Jews using the exhaust fumes from internal combustion engines. The first few hundred Jews delivered to Belzec were used to test the capacity and efficiency and to develop a suitable technique. Wirth also experimented to develop the most efficient way to get the Jews from the trains to the gas chamber, to prevent panic; he also pioneered the best way to remove and bury the corpses.

…everything was to proceed at top speed so that the victims would have no chance to grasp what was going on. Their reactions were to be paralyzed to prevent escape attempts or acts of resistance. 2

Sobibor The construction of Sobibor was started in March 1942 on a main railway line with a siding running into the camp. The first ‘tests’ were carried out in mid April 1942. SS Obersturmfuhrer Franz Stangl was appointed commandant, he was first sent to Belzec to learn his ‘trade’ from Wirth. The gas chambers were brick built on concrete foundations, consisting of three chambers each 4x4 Mtrs. holding up to 200 people each. Gassing, as at Belzec, was by exhaust fumes piped into each chamber. A test was carried out under the supervision of a chemist who advised on the correct setting of the engine; 30 Jewish women were used for the test; after approximately 10 minutes the women were dead; the bodies were carried on a rail-trolley to the burial pits. The test confirmed the “smooth running” of the gas chambers, and following a little more construction work, Sobibor extermination camp was ready to operate. The following is a statement made by Stangl at his trial:

1

The Holocaust: The Camps http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/holocamp.html Visited 14 Dec. 09 Jewish Virtual Library, Operation Reinhard: Extermination Camps http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/reinhard.html#3 Visited 14 Dec. 09

2

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"Regarding the question of what was the optimum amount of people gassed in one day, I can state: according to my estimation a transport of thirty freight cars with 3,000 people was liquidated in three hours. When the work lasted for about fourteen hours, 12,000 to 15,000 people were annihilated. There were many days that the work lasted from the early morning until the evening." (Arad, Belzec) 1

At the end of August 1942 Stangl was transferred to the new camp at Treblinka. Treblinka The construction of Treblinka was carried out after Belzec and Sobibor became operational. Experience gained in the other camps was used to make Treblinka the most perfect; it was built on the main railway line between Warsaw and Bialystok. Again, exhaust fumes were used, fed into what appeared to be shower heads, where the incoming Jews were told they needed to bathe before moving on to work camps. The camp was completed in mid June 1942; the exterminations began on July 23rd 1942; the corpses were buried in large ditches. At each camp the Jews arrived in over loaded rail cars, some unable to walk. They were unloaded and given reassurance that they were going on to other camps where they would be given work. At Treblinka new arrivals were greeted by a notice printed in German and Polish:

Attention Warsaw Jews! You are in a transit camp from which the transport will continue to labor camps. To prevent epidemics, clothing as well as pieces of baggage are to be handed over for disinfection. Gold, money, foreign currency, and jewellery are to be deposited at the "Cash Office" against a receipt. They will be returned later on presentation of the receipt. For physical cleanliness, all arrivals must have a bath before travelling on.(Verdict of LG Dusseldorf AZ 81 Ks 2/64, p. 81.) 2

Those who were unable to walk were put on carts, and taken directly to the burial pits and shot. There are some terrible first hand accounts of these camps. One from Abraham Goldfarb, who arrived at Treblinka on August 25th 1942, describes what he found:

When we arrived in Treblinka and the Germans opened the freight cars we beheld a horrible sight. The car was full of corpses. The bodies were partly decomposed by chlorine. The stench in the cars made those still alive choke. The Germans ordered everyone to get out; those still able to do so were half dead. Waiting SS and Ukrainians beat us and shot at us... On the way to the gas chambers Germans with dogs stood along the fence on both sides. The dogs had been trained to attack people; they bit the men's genitals and the women's breasts, ripping off pieces of flesh. The Germans hit the people with whips and iron bars to spur them on so that they pressed forward into the "showers" as quickly as possible. The screams of the women could be heard far away, even in the other parts of the camp. The Germans drove the running victims on with shouts of: "Faster, faster, the water will get cold, others still have to go under the showers!" To escape from the blows, the victims ran to the gas chambers as quickly as they could, the stronger ones pushing the weaker aside. At the entrance to the gas chambers stood the two Ukrainians, Ivan Demaniuk and Nikolai, one of them armed with an iron bar, the other with a sword. They drove the people inside with blows... As soon as the gas chambers were full, the Ukrainians closed the doors and started the engine. Some 20-25 minutes later an SS-man or a Ukrainian looked through a window in the door. When they had ascertained that everyone had been asphyxiated, the

1

Operation Reinhardt, Command Staff-Sobibor. http://www.nizkor.org/faqs/reinhard/reinhard-faq-18.html Visited 14 Dec. 09 2 Operation Reinhard: Extermination Camps http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/reinhard.html#2 Visited 14 Dec. 09

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Jewish prisoners had to open the doors and remove the corpses. Since the chambers were overcrowded and the victims held on to one another, they all stood upright and were like one single block of flesh. (Yad Vashem Archives 0-3/2140) 1

New gas chambers were built at all three camps in response to an order from Himmler on July 19th 1942, “that all the Jews in the General Government, with a few exceptions, were to be eradicated by the end of the year.” The capacity of Belzec was increased to 1500 at one time, Treblinka to 4,000 and Sobibor to 1,200-1,300; another improvement at Sobibor was the installation of a narrow gauge diesel locomotive with several wagons to transport the bodies to the ‘pits’. Sonderaktion 1005 This was a top secret order to get rid of the ‘evidence’ by burning corpses. Orders from Himmler had been passed to the commanders of the Einsatzgruppen in occupied Russia to dig up the bodies of the murdered Jews and burn them. The exhumation and burning of bodies was also adopted at Sobibor, Belzec and then Treblinka. The testimony of SS Oberscharfuhrer Heinrich Matthes, responsible for the extermination sector in Treblinka 2 illustrates the technique: ` An SS-Oberscharfu"hrer or Hauptsch~rfuflrer Floss arrived at this time, who, so I presume, must previously have been in another camp. He then had the installation built for burning the corpses. The incineration was carried out by placing railroad rails on blocks of concrete. The corpses were then piled up on these rails. Brush wood was placed under the rails. The wood was drenched with gasoline. Not only the newly obtained corpses were burnt in this way, but also those exhumed from the ditches. (StA Dusseldorf, AZ:8 Js 10904/59 The burning of corpses proceeded day and night. When the fire had died down, whole skeletons or single bones remained behind on the grating. Mounds of ash had accumulated underneath it. A different prisoner commando, the "Ashes Gang," had to sweep up the ashes, place the remaining bones on thin metal sheets, pound them with round wooden dowels, and then shake them through a narrow-mesh metal sieve; whatever remained in the sieve was crushed once more. Bones not burnt and which could not easily be split were again thrown into the fire. 2

End of Aktion Reinhardt Himmler ordered that the deportations from the General Government had to be concluded by the 31st December 1942. Although exterminations carried on into 1943 in the three camps:

By the end of 1942, the overwhelming majority of the Jewish population in the General Government had been annihilated. The continued operation of the three special extermination camps was therefore no longer required. 3

At the end of August 1943, Globocnik was moved to Trieste, along with most of the personnel from the three camps, and Operation Reinhardt ended, as Globocnik’s letter to Himmler shows:

1

Operation Reinhard: Extermination Camps http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/reinhard.html#2 Visited 14 Dec. 09 2

Jewish Virtual Library, Operation Reinhard, Extermination Camps http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/reinhard.html#10 Visited 14 Dec. 09 ibid.

3

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I concluded Operation Reinhardt which I had conducted in the General Goverment and have liquidated all camps. (Nuremberg Document 4042-PS.) A few SS-men and Ukrainians remained in the extermination camps. In Treblinka even a group of Jewish prisoners was left behind in order to dismantle the huts, fences, and other camp installations. After completion of this work, on November 17, 1943, the last group of Jewish prisoners was shot in Treblinka. 1

Auschwitz

The main camp. The town of Auschwitz (Polish: Oswiecim) is located approximately 37 miles west of Krakow, in Eastern Upper Silesia, which was annexed to Nazi Germany following the defeat of Poland, in September, 1939 and the site of the most notorious Nazi death camp. Auschwitz was at the center of several major Polish cities, and was, therefore, ideal for the shipping of prisoners from German occupied Europe. 2

In early 1940, Himmler ordered the building of a large new concentration camp near Oswiecim in eastern Poland; Auschwitz I, at first it was to hold political prisoners; by March 1941 100,900 were held there; it was even then known to be the harshest of the concentration camps. Early in 1941 a second, much larger section was built about 2 miles from the original camp, this was known as Auschwitz II-Birkenau; this was to become the death camp. Auschwitz III, near Monowice, was the site of the Buna rubber works; another forty-five sub-camps were eventually built; these were to house forced labour used in the production of important war supplies. Large German manufacturing firms: I. G. Farben, Oberschlesische Hydriewerke, Deutsche Gasrusswerke, and Erbol Raffinerie, and others, worked the Jewish labour to death. Auschwitz-Birkenau held the most prisoners, mainly Jews; Poles, Germans and Gypsies were also held there. This was the extermination camp, the gas chambers and the crematoria were built there. From March 1942 special trains arrived from the occupied countries of Europe. Several times a day they would arrive, the closed wagons packed with dead and half-dead people, they were unloaded as quickly as possible in a siding built within the camp. Made to leave all their personal belongings they were formed into two lines, men in one, women in the other, they were then selected to go directly to the gas chambers, or chosen to become ‘slave’ labour for the German factories within the complex of ‘camps’ around Auschwitz. Those that were not killed on arrival were tattooed on the arm with a camp number. The Jews that were not immediately gassed were sent into quarantine, their hair was cut off, and they were dressed in striped “uniforms”. If they were not soon transferred to forced labour, they usually only survived for a few weeks; in the factory they could expect to survive for a few months. The first gas chamber was a converted crematorium, which was attached to the camp mortuary; two others were adapted from huts, known as the bunkers. The first of these was used from early 1942 for about one year, the second, became redundant in the spring of 1943; 175,000 Jews were gassed to death here. In August 1942, plans were being made for the construction of four large gas chambers, two of them were to be converted mortuaries, initially intended to cope with large numbers of slave labourers worked to death in the factories.

1

Operation Reinhard: Extermination Camps http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/reinhard.html#2 Visited 14 Dec. 09 2

The Holocaust: Camps http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/holocamp.html Visited 14 Dec. 09

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… from the autumn of 1942, it seems clear that the SS planners and civilian contractors were intending to build a mass-murder plant. 1

The capacity of the four gas chambers was 4,420. Before the bodies were burnt in the ‘ovens’, rings, gold teeth, and any other valuables were removed. From April 1943 to March 1944 160,000 were gassed, but from then:

Birkenau surpassed all previous records for mass killing. The Hungarian deportations and the liquidation of the remaining Polish ghettos, such as Lodz, resulted in the gassing of 585,000 Jews. This period made Auschwitz-Birkenau into the most notorious killing site of all time… 2

The following illustrates the ‘efficiency’ of the extermination process; or as the Germans preferred - “resettlement action”:

Report entitled "Resettlement of Jews" written by SS-Sturmbannführer Gricksch for SS-Col. von Herff and Reichsführer-SS Himmler, after inspection of Auschwitz camp on 14-16 May 1943. Hitler and the Final Solution - G. Fleming, University of California Press, 1984, p. 142-143: The Auschwitz camp plays a special role in the resolution of the Jewish question. The most advanced methods permit the execution of the Führer-order in the shortest possible time and without arousing much attention. The so-called "resettlement action" runs the following course: The Jews arrive in special trains (freight cars) toward evening and are driven on special tracks to areas of the camp specifically set aside for this purpose. There the Jews are unloaded and examined for their fitness to work by a team of doctors, in the presence of the camp commandant and several SS officers. At this point anyone who can somehow be incorporated into the work program is put in a special camp. The curably ill are sent straight to a medical camp and are restored to health through a special diet. The basic principle behind everything is: conserve all manpower for work. The previous type of "resettlement action" has been thoroughly rejected, since it is too costly to destroy precious work energy on a continual basis. The unfit go to cellars in a large house which are entered from outside. They go down five or six steps into a fairly long, well-constructed and well-ventilated cellar area, which is lined with benches to the left and right. It is brightly lit, and the benches are numbered. The prisoners are told that they are to be cleansed and disinfected for their new assignments. They must therefore completely undress to be bathed. To avoid panic and to prevent disturbances of any kind, they are instructed to arrange their clothing neatly under their respective numbers, so that they will be able to find their things again after their bath. Everything proceeds in a perfectly orderly fashion. Then they pass through a small corridor and enter a large cellar room which resembles a shower bath. In this room are three large pillars, into which certain materials can be lowered from outside the cellar room. When three- to four-hundred people have been herded into this room, the doors are shut, and containers filled with the substances are dropped down into the pillars. As soon as the containers touch the base of the pillars, they release particular substances that put the people to sleep in one minute. A few minutes later, the door opens on the other side, where the elevator is located. The hair of the corpses is cut off, and their teeth are extracted (gold-filled teeth) by specialists (Jews). It has been discovered that Jews were hiding pieces of Jewelry, gold, platinum etc., in hollow teeth. Then the corpses are loaded into elevators and brought up to the first floor, where ten large crematoria are located. (Because fresh corpses burn particularly well, only 50-100 lbs. of coke are needed for the whole process.) The job

1

Jewish Virtual Library, Auschwitz-Birkenau http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/auschbirk.html Visited 14 Dec. 09 2 ibid.

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itself is performed by Jewish prisoners, who never step outside this camp again. The results of this "resettlement action" to date: 500,000 Jews. Current capacity of the "resettlement action" ovens: 10,000 in 24 hours. 1

• Figure 11 Extermination camps in Poland

Some images of the extermination camps.

1

Diary of SS Dr. Kremer, Jewish virtual Library http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/source/Holocaust/auschwitzdocs.html visited 14 Dec 09

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• Figure 12 Entrance to Auschwitz

• Figure 13 Last journey to gas the chamber

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• Figure 14 Auschwitz furnace

• Figure 15 Children used in medical experiments

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• Figure 16 a burning pit

Estimated Number of Jews Killed in The Final Solution Estimated Pre-Final Solution Populatio n

Estimated Jewish Population Annihilate d

Percent

3,300,000

3,000,000

90

Baltic Countries

253,000

228,000

90

Germany/Austria

240,000

210,000

88

Protectorate

90,000

80,000

89

Slovakia

90,000

75,000

83

Greece

70,000

54,000

77

The Netherlands

140,000

105,000

75

Hungary

650,000

450,000

70

SSR White Russia

375,000

245,000

65

1,500,000

900,000

60

Country

Poland

SSR Ukraine*

71

Belgium

65,000

40,000

60

Yugoslavia

43,000

26,000

60

600,000

300,000

50

Norway

1,800

900

50

France

350,000

90,000

26

Bulgaria

64,000

14,000

22

Italy

40,000

8,000

20

5,000

1,000

20

975,000

107,000

11

Denmark

8,000

--

--

Finland

2,000

--

--

8,861,800

5,933,900

67

Romania

Luxembourg Russia (RSFSR)*

Total

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/killedtable.html Visited 17Jan 2010

• Table 3 Jews killed in Final Solution

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The Albigensian Crusade

• Figure 17 Cathar country

We are in the early part of the thirteenth century in the southern part of France, now known as the Languedoc, peopled by what are known today as Cathars. The Cathar professed a religion based on Gnosticism, they did not believe in the priesthood, marriage, or baptism; bringing more ‘souls’ into the evil world was frowned upon. They believed in reincarnation and that God was either a Good God or a Bad God, the Bad God being the Devil, and they believed that taking oaths was a sin. Their extremely complex belief systems were anathema to the predominant Roman Catholic Church, and were regarded as heresy which had to be stopped, and in 1208 CE the Roman church began a ‘crusade’ against these ‘heretics’. The Cathars probably originated in the Middle East around 100 CE where Gnosticism flourished as one of three strands of Christianity, the others being Judaism and Orthodox Christianity. In about 925 CE they were in the Balkans, spreading to Northern Italy and by the eleventh century were to be found in Western Europe, a large part of them in the Languedoc region of present day France. They have been variously called - Bogomili because of their Balkan connection; Manichaean for their dualist belief of good and evil, and Albigensian because it was thought that they were concentrated in the town of Albi, in fact they were centred in Toulouse and surrounding areas. For about a hundred years the Roman Catholic Church convened numerous Councils proposing various means for dealing with these heretics, but without much success. In 1147 Pope Eugene III sent a number of papal legates to the Languedoc in an attempt to suppress

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their progress by negotiation, this was followed by numerous other unsuccessful legations and councils against the Cathars. Pope Innocent III, who came to power in 1198, sent his representative Peter of Castelnau in 1207; and he excommunicated the Count of Toulouse for siding with the Cathars. On his way back to Rome in 1208, Peter was murdered, his murder precipitated the crusade. For about one hundred years there had been many burnings of Cathars because they chose not to convert to the Catholic Church. In 1209 the crusade was preached throughout Europe and by June of that year about 10,000 had gathered in Lyon ready to march south into the Languedoc. The Pope promised remission of sins, and that all the land captured would be theirs to keep.

Innocent III. at first employed against the Albigenses only spiritual and legitimate weapons; before proscribing he tried to convert them, but when they murdered his emissary, Peter de Castelnau, in 1208, he proclaimed a Holy War against them. 1

The massacre at Bezieres nd

On July the 22 , the Popes army reached Bezieres. In the town there were thought to be about 500 Cathars living among the rest of the citizens. A request b y the army to hand them over was refused, the town was surrounded, and was entered the following day. The crusading army sacked and looted the town and slaughtered the population. About 7000 people took refuge in the church of St. Mary Magdalene and died when the church was burnt down. Many thousands were mutilated and killed; the decision of the leaders, including the clerics - “not even a new-born baby would be left alive” - was fulfilled. It is reputed that the papal legate, Abbot Arnuad-Amaury, when asked who should be killed, replied - “slay them all! God will know his own”. After the killing Arnaud wrote to the Pope - “today your Holiness, twenty thousand citizens were put to the sword, regardless of rank, age, or sex. The killing of Cathars went on for another twenty years, but in spite of wholesale massacre the Cathar religion was still alive, so in 1229, Pope Gregory IX established the Medieval Inquisition to root them out once and for all.

1

Baring-Gould, In Troubadour Land, 2005 http://library.beau.org/gutenberg/etext05/7trln10.txt Visited 14 Dec. 09

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The Mongols

• Figure 18 Origin of Mongols

The Mongol Hordes were the most successful and bloodiest fighters the world has ever known. Although small in numbers; 700,000 according to some historians; they created the largest Empire in history, from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the River Danube in the west, and from the Siberian Steppe to the south of China. They were merciless in their campaigns, killing millions, not just in battle, where they were supreme, but also non combatants in the towns and cities that they conquered. R.J. Rummel, estimates that 30,000,000 were killed th th between the 13 and 15 centuries.

Origin The Mongol homeland was in a strip of fertile land between the river Onon and the river Kerulon, tributaries of the Amour, (see map) the area was selected by Budanstar, first chief of the Mongols, because it was protected by these rivers from attack by the Chinese; at that time called Kin. Later, Mongol leaders made incursions into Kin territory, sometimes with mixed success. Kabul Khan defeated the Kin on two occasions and his successors carried on the power struggle with the Kin Empire. Yissugei, the father of Temujin, eventually to become Genghis Khan, extended the power of his family among the neighbouring tribes and the Mongols became an expanding confederacy, even taking in some members of the Kin. When his father died Temujin was thirteen years old, but he was not accepted as hereditary leader until he had proved himself as a warrior. In 1206 he became Genghis Khan, Universal Ruler of the Mongol. His wars began in the Northwest of China.

China Tanguts Over several years Genghis attacked the Tangut of the Xia Empire in north-western China six times. Marching through the land of the Xia the Mongol army destroyed towns and slaughtered the population, finally, in 1210, the Tangut recognised Genghis as their overlord, but not before the Mongols had slaughtered around 600,000 Tanguts. Soon after this, Genghis was to invade eastern China.

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The Jin The rulers of the Jin Empire in eastern China controlled the flow of goods along the Silk Road stretching from Changan in China to Constantinople - sent a delegation to Genghis demanding he submit to their rule. Submitting to the Jin demands would mean loss of access to the goods on which the Mongol tribes were dependent to supplement their agriculture; Genghis invaded the Jin Empire. The Mongols devastated the provinces and massacred millions as they advanced on the capital Zhongdu, now Beijing. In 1215 the Mongols laid siege to Zhongdu and massacred the population. About 60,000 women are reported to have jumped from the high walls of the city. The population suffered famine and disease during the siege, and when the Mongols entered the city tens of thousands were massacred. It is reported that the disruption to the life in China caused by the Mongol wars; first by Genghis Khan and later when Kublai Khan formed the Yuan Dynasty; that there was massive depopulation. Colin McEvedy, “Atlas of World Population History” (1978): states that the population declined by 35 million as the Mongols reduced the country to subjugation during the 13th Century. Alan McFarlane, “The Savage Wars of Peace: England, Japan, and the Malthusian Trap” (2003), states that the population of China was reduced in 50 years – “by over 60 million people dying or failing to be replaced”.

Khwarizm Empire In his need for trade Genghis sent his representatives to the Islamic Empire of Khwarizm in central Asia that is now Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Khazakstan, his delegates were killed on the orders of the Shah - Genghis marched his armies westward.

The one name which Muslims hate and fear most is that of Chengiz Khan. He is a spectre which has haunted Muslim historians for centuries. He swept like a tornado over the then most powerful and extensive Islamic empire of Khwarazm. In a short span of five years (1219-1224 CE), he slaughtered millions of Muslims, forced many others including women and children into slavery, and razed to the ground quite a few of the most populous and prosperous cities of the Muslim world at that time. 1

Sughnaq Muslim merchant Haji Hasan, who had long been in Chengiz’s service, was sent to ask the citizens of Sughnaq to submit; but some persons attacked Haji with cries of Allah-O-Akbar (God is great) and put him to death. In retaliation, the Mongols slaughtered the whole population in seven days. Bukhara The whole city was burnt to the ground. All male children who stood “higher than the butt of a whip” were put to death, in excess of 30,000 bodies were counted, and those that survived were taken as slaves. Samarquand The population of this city fared better than most, only about 50,000 were put to death, 50,000 were unmolested. Thirty thousand artisans were spared and another 30,000 were enslaved.

1

Sita Ram Goel, The Calcutta Quran Petition http://voi.org/books/tcqp/chi10.htm#12a Visited 15 Dec. 09

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Khwarzizm The citizens of Khwarzizm put up a strong resistance to the Mongols but in the end the city was destroyed:

…the houses with their goods and treasures were but mounds of earth and the Mongols despaired of benefiting from the stores of their wealth. 1

The people were driven out of what remained of the city - 100,000 craftsmen were sent back east, women and children were enslaved, and the rest killed. Every Mongol soldier had to kill twenty-four people, 160,000 were killed. Merv Following the capture of Merv all the inhabitants were taken out of the city onto open ground, kept there for four days and then massacred on the orders of the Mongol commander Tului. 1,300,000 bodies were counted by the few who had escaped earlier; they spent thirteen days counting the corpses. Sabzwar Whilst waiting for Tului to reinforce them, an army sent to deal with Naishapur decided to attack some smaller towns. Sabzwar was taken after three days fighting and the son in law of Genghis, Toghachar, ordered all to be massacred, 70,000 were counted. Nuquan and Qar were also conquered and all the inhabitants killed. Naishapur When Tului arrived at Naishapur he refused to accept their surrender and attacked the city. All the inhabitants were killed. The wife of Toghachar and her escort went into the city and finished off any who had survived; even cats and dogs were not spared. The killing was done by decapitation; heads were piled into pyramids, men in one, women and children in another – no body retained its head, every person was killed. Herat Ilchikdai besieged Herat for six months before he was able to enter the city, and for seven days the Mongol army set about killing, and burning the buildings. 1,600,000 were massacred. The army then marched away and attacked the fort of Kaliwayan, but on hearing that Muslims were again collecting at Herat, Ilchikdai sent part of his army back to Herat and they killed about 100,000.

Europe Whilst the battles continued in the Muslim Empire another Mongol army marched to the north of the Caspian Sea into Georgia through the Caucasus Mountains and across the Volga River towards the Black Sea, and then went north into the Ukraine. Kiev, the capital of Russia, was attacked and then the Mongol army invaded Poland and Hungary, when Ogodai, the successor of Chenghiz, died in 1241 the Mongols retreated from Europe. During their campaign through Europe they destroyed cities and towns and massacred the population. At the Battle of Legnica in Silesia, April 1241, Henry II was killed and his head was paraded round the town. It is alleged that sacks full of ears were gathered to show the number of 1

Sita Ram Goel, The Calcutta Quran Petition http://voi.org/books/tcqp/chi10.htm#12a Visited 15 Dec. 09

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dead. King Bela IV of Hungary was defeated at the Battle of Mohi, 100,000 soldiers were killed and the Mongols went on through Hungary and – “half Hungary’s population perished in months”.

The tartar army…depopulated all of Transylvania by killing and putting to flight the Hungarians from beyond the Danube. 1

Kiev

Five years after the fall of Kiev, Papal envoy Giovanni di Plano Carpini wrote: "They destroyed cities and castles and killed men and Kiev, which is the greatest Russian city they besieged; and when they had besieged it a long while they took it and killed the people of the city. So when we went through that country we found countless human skulls and bones from the dead scattered over the field. Indeed it had been a very great and populous city and now is reduced almost to nothing. In fact there are hardly two hundred houses there now and the people are held in the strictest servitude." 2

Armenia

Once again, receiving a command from the Khan, three chiefs, named Ch'awrman, Benal, and Mular, came against the Aghuans and Georgians and took many cities and fortresses. The three chiefs--whom we mentioned as having taken the lands of the Georgians and Aghuanians-returned to the Mughan country, where the grass is always green summer and winter because of the fertility of the place and the goodness of the climate. After staying there for some days they again planned to come against the Christians, regarding as nothing the destruction and slave-taking of Christians already accomplished from the lands of the Georgians and Aghuanians. They also took the renowned rock of lling myriads upon myriads there, such that there was no number to the slain. They took a countless multitude of children captive from all the lands, yet were not satisfied with this. So they planned to come again and universally destroy the entire country… 3

Hungary Thomas, archdeacon of Spalato, in his “Historia Pontificum Salonitanorum atque Spalatensium”, tells us that the Mongols who invaded Hungary “were a pestilential nation”, and they “fattened solely on the blood of human victims.” Following the battle of Mohi the exhausted Hungarians put down their weapons, and the Mongols slaughtered everyone. According to Thomas - “The miserable country, stained by the blood of its sons, was dyed red throughout its length and breadth”. Thomas is generally shocked by the Mongols lack of compassion; and gives several examples of the atrocities committed by the Mongols. The Russian town of Suzdal was destroyed; a captured Prince was put to death with a great number of his people; at Mohi captives were slaughtered. In 1241, large numbers of Hungarians were victims of mass killings; the population of Pest was killed, the Mongols “rode up and down the banks of the Danube with the corpses of children on their lances”. Thomas also reported mass killings in Bulgaria and Croatia in 1242. Thomas states that the “Mongols were devoid of all compassion and humanity…not to be men but devils”. 1

Sweeny J. R., Refugees and displaced Populations during the Mongol Invasion Of Hungary http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/pdfs/tscia1.pdf Visited 15 Dec. 09 2 Papal envoy Giovanni di Plano Carpini http://home.swipnet.se/roland/mongols.html Visited 15 Dec. 09 3 Grigor of Akner’s History of the Nation of Archers http://rbedrosian.com/ga1.htm Visited 15 Dec. 09

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Invasion of the Middle East Hulagu was sent to accomplish the destruction of the remaining Muslim states in the Middle East. Along the way his armies would destroy the Lurs in southern Iran, the Assassins at Alamut, the Abbasid caliphate, and then lastly, the Ayyubid states in Syria; in Egypt he was defeated by the Mamluks and went home. Baghdad The caliph of Baghdad refused Hulagu’s offer to surrender and asked him to turn the Mongol armies away from his city, following more pleas from the Mongols and refusals from the caliph Hulagu decided to attack.

In reply Qara Sonqor wrote, "How dare the Mongols attack the House of Abbas, for that family has seen as much good fortune as Genghis Khan's, and their foundations are too firm to quake with every passing breeze. They have been ruling for more than five hundred years…1

On the 30th January 1258 the Mongol armies encircled Baghdad and attacked from all directions, for six days the battle continued around the walls, and then Hulagu sent six decrees to the city saying:

The lives of cadis, scholars, shaykhs, Alids, and Nestorian priests, and persons who do not combat against us are safe from us. 2

Hulagu had asked that the caliph come out of the city, but he refused. Later his army came out:

…as did an innumerable host, hoping to find safety, but they were divided into units of thousands, hundreds, and tens and killed to the last. Those who remained in the city fled into nooks and crannies. 3

On the 10th February 1258, the caliph and his three sons came out of the city and with them were three thousand dignitaries. Hulagu asked the caliph to tell the people to throw down their arms and come out of the city, and when the people came out the Mongols killed them all. The Mongols entered Baghdad on the 13th of February and massacred most of those that remained; they burned everything except some Nestorian houses.

Thus, Baghdad, the proud capital of the Abbasids, was razed to dust, groaning under the pagan heels of the Mongols. Diyarbakri (d. 982/1574) writes in "Tarikh-i Khamis" that, "The massacre continued in Baghdad for 34 days during which 1,80,000 4 persons were put to the sword. For four days, the blood ran freely in the streets and the water of Tigris was dyed red for miles. 5

Hulagu divided the caliph’s treasure among his commanders, and the following day he ordered that the rest of the caliph’s possessions be sent out of the city – accumulated over six hundred years of the Abbasayid dynasty – most of the holy places and mosques were 1

The Mongols Besiege Bahdad http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/baghdad.htm Visited 15 Dec. 09 Ibid. ibid. 4 this must be a typing error, most reports give a figure of 80,000 5 Shamsuddin Muhammad, 1257-1310 http://ismaili.net/histoire/history07/history701.html Visited 15 Dec. 09 2 3

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destroyed. By the 22nd of February 1258 the caliph and all his sons were put to death, and the House of Abbas came to an end.

During the siege of Baghdad Hulagu sent part of his army to test the people of several cities around the capital, some surrendered without fighting, welcoming the Mongols, but the city of Wasit decided to fight. On the 23rd of February it was taken, the Mongol army under Buqa Temi plundered the city and massacred nearly 40,000 people. Buqa Temi arrived at Najaf at the end of March and received a delegation from Aleppo, he sent them home asking the City to obey us, Aleppo refused, and the Mongol armies marched on Syria. Aleppo The Mongol armies set out for Aleppo on the 12th September 1259 conquering towns and cities on the way, these towns were plundered, and all the people massacred. The armies crossed the Euphrates and surrounded Aleppo; the inhabitants thinking their city was impregnable refused to surrender and decided to fight, the battle lasted about a week, and the Mongol army entered the city and for a full week massacred and pillaged. The citadel was besieged for forty days and nights, in the end the defenders asked for quarter: They came out of the city under amnesty, but, Haluga Khan had them all killed; men, women, and children. Damascus The people of Damascus knowing that the rest of Syria was under the control of Hulagu sent emissaries to his court with the keys to the city as a show of surrender. The Mongols entered Damascus without having to do battle, and now Syria was completely under the control of Hulagu Khans deputies.

…If a balance sheet of the merciless massacres is drawn up, the most modest estimate reveals that the Mongols during the period between 1228 and 1260 had slaughtered at least eight million Muslims in cold blood for the establishment of their political authority over the Muslim lands. 1

Tamerlane Central Asia Central Asia was to see another reign of terror in the form of Timur Lenk Born in a village to the south of Samarqand in 1336, he came to model himself on Genghis Khan and proclaimed the restoration of the Mongol Empire; he was to become one of the most successful warriors the world has known. By the middle of the 14th century Mongol Khanates had divided into two separate factions. The eastern part, still mainly pagan, and ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan, and the western part in Transoxonia - broadly Uzbekistan – which in the main followed the Islamic faith; Timur was born into this Moslem society. From being a bandit he rose eventually to rule the whole of Transoxonia and over the next 35 years spent his time in endless military campaigns of expansion and plunder.

In a series of military campaigns, Timur conquered all of Asia from the Great Wall of China to the Urals and made Samarkand his capital …1

1

Shamsuddin Muhammad, 1257-1310 http://ismaili.net/histoire/history07/history701.html Visited 15 Dec. 09

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Marching west his army attacked Zaranj in Afghanistan, and razed it to the ground, and killed everyone from the old to the young; the city is still deserted 600 years later. At Sabzavar he massacred 2000 slaves and used their bodies with bricks and mortar to build a wall as a warning to others who may revolt against his authority. He went on to sack Van in Persia. In 1387 at Isfahan in central Persia, the Malik surrendered and Timur occupied the city. During the occupation some of Timur’s tax collectors were murdered, Timur immediately ordered the depopulation of the whole city. Each of his 70,000 soldiers was ordered to cut off a head; children under the age of seven were trampled to death under his warrior’s horses. Five years later Timur attacked Iraq again. After massacring the occupants of Qala-I-Sefid, a fort protecting the city of Shiraz, he entered the city and put to death all the remaining Muzaffarids, once and for all ending this Arab dynasty in 1393. Timur ended his conquest of Iraq when he sacked Baghdad in June 1401. When the city was taken Timur again demanded that his soldiers bring him a head. It is reported that: they brought them singly and in crowds and made the river Tigris flow with the torrent of their blood, throwing the corpses on to the plains, and built towers of their heads. Timur spared the lives of scholars and artisans and sent them to Samarqand. Upwards of 90,000 were massacred in Baghdad. In 1402 Timur fought, and defeated, the Ottoman army of sultan Bayezid at Angora. He then sent a delegation to the port of Smyrna, ruled by the Christian Knights of Rhodes demanding that they convert to Islam, of course they refused. Timur attacked and conquered the city and ordered that the population be killed.

In 1402 Tamerlaine butchered the inhabitants and razed the buildings in an orgy of cruelty that would become legendary. While the inhabitants slept, his men stealthily undermined the city's wall and propped them up with timber smeared with pitch. Then he applied the torch, the walls sank into ditches prepared to receive them, and the city lay open to the invader. Smyrna's would be defenders, the Knights of Saint John, escaped to their ships by fighting their way through a mob of panic-stricken inhabitants. They escaped just in time, for Tamerlaine ordered a thousand prisoners beheaded and used their skulls to raise a monument in his honour He did not linger over his victory - it was his custom to ravage and ride on. He rode on to Ephesus, where the city's children were sent out to greet and appease him with song. 'What is this noise?' he roared, and ordered his horsemen to trample the children to death. 2

India In 1397 Timur received information that the Tughlaq Sultanate in India was in decline. A Quriltai (meeting) was held to discus plans to invade India, his youngest son, Shah Rukh, gave his opinion:

The conquest of India, it is said is a higher honour than bearing titles like Kha’Khan, Caesar, Shahinshah, Sultan or Faghfur. So it would be a pity if we were not to exterminate the Indians… 3

His grandson, Pir Mohamed said they should grab the land that is full of gold, silver, and diamonds. Timur’s mind was made up, he decided to rid India of the filth of the Hindus who make offerings in fire called Yazad, to destroy their temples and idols, and become ghazis and mujahids before Allah.

1

Lawton J. From Xerxes to Gorbachev http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199001/from.xerxes.to.gorbachev.htm Visited 15 Dec. 09 2 Dobkin M. H. The Smyrna Affair http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16611 Visited 15 Dec. 09 3 The Invasion of India http://www.indhistory.com/timur-invasion.html Visited 15 Dec. 09

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In January 1398, Timur sent Pir Mohamed to attack Multan. Following a six months siege, the city was taken and looted. Mirza Iskander, another grandson of Timur, attacked Lahore, paving the way for Timur, who at that time was laying waste to cities in Afghanistan before going southwards towards India. Timur crossed the Sindu River in September 1398 and sacked and obliterated the city of Lahore, he then joined up with his grandson’s army at Multan and they crossed the River Shutudri and secured the road to Delhi. On the march to Delhi numerous towns were destroyed and the inhabitants killed - at Loni 100,000 Hindus were slaughtered. On December 17th he defeated the army of the Tughlaq outside Delhi, and then marched into the city. Fierce fighting broke out on the streets, the Hindus were slaughtered, pyramids of heads were built in the four corners of the city; inhabitants who refused to feed Timur’s army were roasted alive. On the 1st of January 1399 Timur left the city because of the stench of rotting corpses and ordered his army to burn the Hindu quarters. After more killing south of Delhi; skinning alive the inhabitants of Meerut and killing several thousand Mela pilgrims heading for the river Ganges; he withdrew before crossing the river and returned to Samarqand. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India has written:

Late in the fourteenth century, Timur, the Turk or Turco-Mongol, came down from the north in India; he came to Delhi and went back. But all along his route he created a wilderness adorned with pyramids of skulls of those he had slain; and Delhi itself became a city of the dead. Fortunately he did not go far and only some parts of the Punjab and Delhi had to suffer this terrible affliction." wrote Nehru in his "Discovery Of India… 1

So when Timur came with an army of Mongols there was not much resistance and he went on gaily with his massacres and pyramids. Both Hindus and Muslims were slain. No distinction seems to have been made. The prisoners becoming a burden, he ordered all of them killed and 100,000 were massacred. …wherever he went he spread desolation and pestilence and utter misery. His chief pleasure was the erection of enormous pyramids of skulls. … But Timur was much worse. He stands apart for wanton and fiendish cruelty. In one place, it is said, he erected a tower of 2000 live men and covered them up with brick and mortar "Glimpses of World History" Nehru.

2

R.J.Rummel, in “Death by Government” Ch.3, Pre 20th C Democide, has this to say about the Mongol slaughter:

As best I can figure from such accounts, and recognizing that at best they all are the roughest approximations, the Mongol khans and their successors and pretenders possibly slaughtered around 30,000,000 Persian, Arab, Hindu, Russian, Chinese, European, and other men, women, and children 3

1 2 3

The Invasion of India http://www.indhistory.com/timur-invasion.html Visited 15 Dec. 09 ibid. Rummel R. J. Death By Government http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DBG.CHAP3.HTM Visited 15 Dec. 09

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• Figure 19 Mongol Empire 1294

• Figure 20 Mongol invasions of Europe

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• Figure 21 Genghis Khan invasions

The Moslem Conquest of India

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• Figure 22 India before Moslem conquest

The conquest of India by Islam is one of the most bloody in history. India (Hindustan) contained a multitude of warring sultanates and kingdoms, and riches beyond imagination, but the country was weakened by internal strife, and their borders were not protected from invasion by the Islamic armies. For four hundred years India had invited conquest. The first attack came from the north-west by the Arabs in 711 CE and resulted in the conquest of Sind; west of the Indus delta. The occupation was not permanent, by the middle of the 9th century the Moslems returned to Baghdad. Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, (Ghazni being in present day Afghanistan, began the real destruction of Hindu society in 1000 CE.

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Mahmud of Ghazni

• Figure 23 Ghaznavid expansion in India

Mahmud on the pretext of ridding the country of infidels took his armies across the frontier of India; sacked, pillaged and murdered in all the Hindu cities he came across. He campaigned in India seventeen times - each winter Mahmud descended into India, filled his treasure chest with spoils, and amused his men with full freedom to pillage and kill. By 1008 he had conquered most of the Punjab between the Indus and the Ganges, his destruction and massacres in the ‘temple towns’ were the most horrific. Thanesar 1011 CE In Thanesar Mahmud destroyed hundreds of temples and idols, according to Mahmud’s secretary, Tarikh-I-Yamini:

The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously [at Thanesar] that the stream was discoloured, notwithstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultan returned with plunder which is impossible to count. Praise he to Allah for the honour he bestows on Islam and Muslims. 1

Nandana 1013 CE Nandana was the new capital of the Shahiya king, Anandapal; the temples were destroyed and innocent citizens slaughtered, Tarikh-I-Yamini relates:

The Sultan returned in the rear of immense booty, and slaves were so plentiful that they became very cheap and men of respectability in their native land were degraded by becoming slaves of common shopkeepers. But this is the goodness of Allah, who bestows honour on his own religion and degrades infidelity. 2

1

Varma R. The Magnitude of Muslim Attrocities http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/modern/moghal_atro.html Visited 15 d 2

Ibid.

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Mathura 1018 CE Having crossed the river Jumna Mahmud attacked Mathura, he burnt all its temples, and killed nearly fifty thousand men - the pillage went on for 20 days. Asi

The fate of Asi was sealed when its ruler took fright and fled. According to Utbi, ".... the Sultan ordered that his five forts should be demolished from their foundations, the inhabitants buried in their ruins, and the soldiers of the garrison plundered, slain, and captured. 1

Shrawa The soldiers of Mahmud first slaughtered most of the population before turning their efforts to gathering booty; they spent three days searching the dead for gold and silver. The number of prisoners taken as slaves can be conceived from the following writings of Tarikh-I-Yamini:

These were afterwards taken to Ghazni and merchants came from distant cities to purchase them, so that the countries of Mawaraun-Nahr, Iraq and Khurasan were filled with them, and the fair and the dark, the rich and the poor, were commingled in one common slavery.

Somnath 1026 Mahmud had vowed that he would wage holy war against the infidels of Hindustan and would not rest until the temple at Somnath was destroyed, he marched his army from Multan to the coast until he saw the last famous temple. Mahmud killed 50,000 inhabitants of the city and destroyed all its temples. The son of Mahmud carried on the looting and killing for a while but could not emulate his father. Moslem influence waned until the latter part of the 10th Century, when the Ghorids invaded India.

Muhammad Ghori Invasion of India by Islamic imperialism was renewed by Muhmmad Ghori in the last quarter of the 12th century. After Prithiviraj Chauhan had been defeated in 1192 AD, Ghori took Ajmer by assault. Kanauj 1193 There was general massacre, rapine, and pillage. Varanasi According to Kamil-ut-Tawarikh: “the slaughter of Hindus was immense none were spared except women and children, and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary.” The women and children were sold as slaves all over the Islamic world.

1

Varma R. The Magnitude of Muslim Atrocities http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/modern/moghal_atro.html Visited 15 Dec. 09

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Kol 1193 The Hindus of Kol rebelled against Moslem oppression, and Qutbuddin Aibak, one of Muhammad’s most trusted generals, raised three bastions as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcasses became food for beasts of prey. Anahilwar Patan 1196 Anahilwar was the capital city of Gujarat, where, according to Nizami, “fifty thousand infidels were dispatched to hell by the sword” and, “more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors”. Kalinjar 1202 The sack of Kalinjar was the crowning glory of Aibaks career, Nizami states:

Fifty thousand men came under the collar of slavery and the plain became black as pitch with Hindus

1

All the temples were converted into mosques. In 1206 when Muhammad died, Qutbuddin Aibak declared himself first Sultan of Delhi; he was later succeeded by Shamsuddin Iltutmish.

1

Varma R. The Magnitude of Muslim Atrocities http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/modern/moghal_atro.html Visited 15 Dec. 09

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The Delhi Sultanate

• Figure 24 Map of the Delhi Sultanate: Khalji

In 1211, Shamsuddin Iltutmish was established as Sultan of Delhi, from then on, the Sultanate expanded; it went east to the Bengal region and south to the Decan. The Sultanate was plagued by repeated internal revolts - five separate dynasties were formed as each was usurped by the next stronger leader. 1206-90 was the Mamluk dynasty, 1290-1320 the Khalji dynasty, 1320-1413 the Tughlaq dynasty, 1414—51 the Sayyid dynasty, 1451-1526 the Lodi dynasty. The leadership in Delhi was exchanged by violence; nineteen of the thirty-five sultans were assassinated.

The Khaljiks After murdering his uncle, Jalaluddin Kalji Alau-d-din Khaljik became Sultan in 1296. His armies plundered the ports of Cambay and Surat in Gujarat; they also plundered and murdered in the rebuilt city of Somnath, the whole region was subjected to fire and sword, and Hindus were slaughtered en masse. Alau-d-din conquered Chitior, and according to Will Durant in “The Story of Civilisation” - “had thirty thousand males slaughtered in one day”. Once again, the influence of the Moslems waned after the death of Alau-d-din Khaljik.

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The Tughlaqs

• Figure 25 Map of Delhi sultanate: Tughlaq

Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq became the Sultan of Delhi in 1325 when he overthrew an ambitious governor Bahadur. Tughlaq had Bahadur skinned alive, the skin stuffed with straw, and the carcass was paraded through the provinces as a warning to other ambitious governors. According to the Persian historian Firishta, Muhammad was devoid of mercy and frequently unjust, and did little to avoid spilling the blood of Gods creatures. He gave large sums of money to his nobles, spent an enormous sum in buying off the Mongol armies, and raised his own large armies to conquer Persia and China; he then tried to refill his treasury with a depreciated currency and levied large taxes on agriculture.

Muhammad exterminated whole tribes as if they had been vermin. Incensed at the refusal of the inhabitants of a certain harassed tract to pay the inordinate demands of his subordinates, he ordered out his army as if for a hunt, surrounded an extensive tract of country, closed the circle towards the centre, and slaughtered every living soul found therein. 1

1

Sewell R. …A Contribution to the History of India http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext02/fevch10.txt Visited 15 Dec. 09

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Ibn Batuta, a historian at the court of Muhammad, states - “At his gate one sees always some fakir who has become rich, or some living being who is put to death.” Batuta states further:

It rarely happened that the corpse of some one who had been killed was not to be seen at the gate of his palace. I have often seen men killed and their bodies left there. One day I went to his palace and my horse shied. I looked before me and I saw a white heap on the ground, and when I asked what it was one of my companions said it was the trunk of a man cut into three pieces.... 1

Probably the most inhuman of his eccentricities was moving his capital to Devagiri, Changing its name to Doulatabad, 600 miles from Delhi; he ordered the whole population to move; thousands of men women and children died by the wayside. Ibn Batuta recalls: two men who refused to move, one bedridden and the other blind, “the bedridden man was projected from a balista and the blind one dragged by his feet to Dalutabad”, the new capital. When he, Batuta, entered Delhi “it was almost a desert. Most of the famous Hindu temples by the time of the Tughlaq rise to power had been destroyed; the states of Orissa and Rhajasthan had, so far, remained independent; Sultan Firuz Shah III, aimed to put this right Puri Firoz Shah led an expedition into the state of Orissa on the east coast of India in 1360, destroying temples as his armies past through. At Puri he destroyed the Jajnagar temple then pursued the Rani of Jajnagar to an island in the river where he had fled with his subjects. The swordsmen of Firoz turned the Island into a bloody mess by the massacre of the unbelievers; the women and children were enslaved: On another occasion Firoz offered a reward for every Hindu head, he paid for 180,000 of them.

Vijayanagar

• Figure 26 Map showing Vijayanagar

In 1334 Muhammad Tughlaq marched southwards against his rebel nephew, Baha-ud-Din Gushtasp, who had taken refuge near Anegundi with the local Rahja; the armies of the Rahja were defeated and the rebel Baha captured. He was skinned alive, the skin stuffed with straw and exhibited through the country. Following the capture of Anegundi Muhammad appointed a governor and retired northwards. The Hindus rose up against the Moslems and 1

Sewell R. …A Contribution to the History of India http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext02/fevch10.txt Visited 16 Dec. 09

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Muhammad eventually restored the principality to their rule in 1336; the Hindu king, Bellala Deva, built a new city; the first Vijayanagar Dynasty:

…sprung into existence the great city which afterwards became so magnificent and of such wide-spread fame. 1

The city of Vijayanagar quickly grew in importance and became the refuge of Hindus fleeing from the Moslems. The dynasties first ‘chief’ was Bukka, who conquered most of Southern India:

…seized the whole of the Dakhan and expelled the Muhammadans there, "so that within a few months Muhammad Taghlak had no possessions in that quarter except Daulatabad." 2

The Hindu population preferred Bukka’s rule to that of being under the yoke of the Moslems, but Bukka died in 1380, and was followed by Harihara I. For nearly two hundred years the Vijayanagar dynasty was attacked by the Moslems, and the countryside around was the scene of many massacres, both by the Moslem and the Hindu. Mudkal One such massacre by the Hindu was at Mudkal near the junction of the rivers Krishna and Tunghabhadra. The city was captured and all the inhabitants men, women, and children, were put to the sword, one man escaped and took the news to Gulbarga, the capital of Muhammad Shah, that same day Muhammad marched southward, promissing:

…that till he should have put to death one hundred thousand infidels, as expiation for the massacre of the faithful, he would never sheathe the sword of holy war nor refrain from slaughter… 3

Muhammad took the Hindu camp and put all to death without any distinction; it is said that the slaughter amounted to seventy thousand men, women, and children. Adoni 1366 Following a long hard battle, the Moslem army eventually overcame the army of the Hindu, much of which fled with their Raya. There was much slaughter on the battlefield and when the Sultan arrived he gave orders to carry on the massacre of the unbelievers; they were executed with such strictness that pregnant women, and even children at the breast, did not escape execution. Muhammad then pursued the rest of the Hindu force for some months and eventually faced them outside their capital, Vijayanagar. Vijayanagar

The Muhammadansmade a sudden and unexpected night-attack. Bukka (called, as before, "Kishen") was off his guard, having indulged in wine and the amusements provided by a band of dancing-women. The

1 2 3

Sewell R. …A Contribution to the History of India http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext02/fevch10.txt visited 16 Dec. 09 ibid. ibid.

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slaughter was terrible, and the Raya fled to Vijayanagar, ten thousand of his troops being slain; -- "But this did not satisfy the rage of the sultan, who commanded the inhabitants of every place round Beejanuggur to be massacred without mercy." 1

Ambassadors from the Raya of Vijayanagar went to the court of Muhammad Shah to urge him to cease the killing, saying that if they were to be neighbours it would be better if they avoided unnecessary cruelty.

Mahummud Shaw was struck by their remarks, and took an oath that he would not in future put to death a single enemy after victory, and would bind his successors to observe the same lenity 2

For some years after, the promise of Muhammad Shah was kept, but history tells of massacres carried out by rulers at a later date. Firishtah tells us that Shah “had slaughtered 500,000 Hindus, and so wasted districts of the Carnatic, that for several decades they did not recover their natural population”. Gulbarga 1419 Another instance of massacre by the Hindu was at the battle around Gulbarga, the capital of the Bahmani Sultanate. The Moslem forces had attacked the Hindu fortress of Warangal; and Deva Raya II sent the army from Vijayanagar against the Moslems and massacred the Moslems.

…and erected a platform with their heads on the field of battle.

3

The Hindu army followed the sultan to his own country and laid it waste; they slaughtered the people without mercy. About four years later, Sultan Ahmed Shah II, who was now in power, attacked the Hindu outside their capital city of Vijayanagar; he put to death men, women, and children wherever he came across them:

…whenever the number of the slain amounted to twenty thousand, he halted three days, and made a festival in celebration of the bloody work… 4

The city of Vijayanagar was besieged and the inhabitants reduced to starvation, Deva Raya II sued for peace, which was accepted by the sultan. West Coast (Goa) 1469 In 1469, the west coast of India was in the hands of the Moslems who controlled trade, part of that trade was the import large numbers of horses for their armies. The king of Vijayanagar ordered his subordinates to kill all the Moslems, and frighten the rest away. The result was a terrible massacre of 10,000 Moslems.

1

Sewell R. …A Contribution to the History of India http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext02/fevch10.txt visited 16 Dec. 09

2

Ibid. ibid. ibid.

3 4

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Rajahmundry About 1482, the Moslem forces of Melikh Khan Khoda, besieged Rajahmundry for days, and lost 5000 of his best soldiers, when the town was captured, 20,000 inhabitant’s men and women, had their heads cut off, 20,000 young and old were made prisoners and sold as slaves.

Timur Timur, who claimed to be a descendent of Chenghiz Khan, invaded India in 1399. In his Tuzk-I-Timuri, (autobiography) he says: “My great object in invading Hindustan had been to wage a religious war against the infidel…”. Kator He built piles of skulls of unbelievers when he sacked Kator in Kashmir after ordering his soldiers to “kill all the men, make prisoners of women and children”. Bhatnir When besieged, the Rajputs of Bhatnir surrendered, but Timur had them killed anyway. In about one hour 10,000 heads were cut off. Sarsuti This was the next city to be sacked by Timur’s soldiers, all the Hindus were slain; the women and children were enslaved. Timur then marched his army towards Delhi, and on the way plundered every village, killed the men, and carried with him a number of Hindu prisoners, both male and female. Loni This town was captured and more Hindus put to the sword, more prisoners were taken, and by now they numbered about 100,000. Before attacking Delhi his Amirs advised that he could not leave the prisoners with the baggage, and that it would be unwise to let them free; Timur ordered them all to be killed, in his autobiography he continues:

I proclaimed throughout the camp that every man who had infidel prisoners should put them to death, and whoever neglected to do so should himself be executed and his property given to the informer. When this order became known to the ghazis of Islam, they drew their swords and put their prisoners to death. One hundred thousand infidels, impious idolators, were on that day slain. Maulana Nasiruddin Umar, a counselor and man of learning, who, in all his life, had never killed a sparrow, now, in execution of my order, slew with his sword fifteen idolatrous Hindus, who were his captives… 1

Delhi The next day the Tughlaq army of Delhi was defeated and Timur entered the city. There were by then a great number of people inside the city from the surrounding country, Timur ordered his soldiers to seize the Hindus and their property; his Tuzk-i-Timuri concludes:

1

The Magnitude of Moslem Attrocities in India. http://www.sitaram.0catch.com/page266.htm visited 16th Oct 2011

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Many of them (Hindus) drew their swords and resisted...The flames of strife were thus lighted and spread through the whole city from Jahanpanah and Siri to Old Delhi, burning up all it reached. The Hindus set fire to their houses with their own hands, burned their wives and children in them and rushed into the fight and were killed...On that day, Thursday, and all the night of Friday, nearly 15,000 Turks were engaged in slaying, plundering and destroying. When morning broke on Friday, all my army ...went off to the city and thought of nothing but killing, plundering and making prisoners....The following day, Saturday the 17th, all passed in the same way, and the spoil was so great .that each man secured from fifty to a hundred prisoners, men, women, and children. There was no man who took less than twenty. The other booty was immense in rubies, diamonds, garnets, pearls, and other gems and jewels; ashrafis, tankas of gold and silver of the celebrated Alai coinage: vessels of gold and silver; and brocades and silks of great value. Gold and silver ornaments of Hindu women were obtained in such quantities as to exceed all account. Excepting the quarter of the Saiyids, the Ulama and the other Musulmans, the whole city was sacked. 1

Europeans In about 1500 CE the Portuguese arrived on the west coast of India, first, Vasco da Gama, then Almeida and then Alfonso d’Albuquerque. They fought both the Moslems and the Hindu to establish what was to become the state of Goa.

Throughout the whole of their dealings with the Portuguese I find not a single instance where the Hindu kings broke faith with the intruders, but as much cannot, I fear, be said on the other side. The Europeans seemed to think that they had a divine right to the pillage, robbery, and massacre of the natives of India. Not to mince matters, their whole record is one of a series of atrocities. 2

1 2

The Magnitude of Moslem Attrocities in India. http://www.sitaram.0catch.com/page266.htm visited 16th Oct 2011 Sewell R. …A Contribution to the History of India http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext02/fevch10.txt visited 16 Dec. 09

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The Mughal Empire • Figure 27 The Mughal Empire

Zahir-ud-din-Mohammad Babur, descended from Timur, founded the Mughal Empire in 1502. Born in Uzbekistan in 1483, he succeeded his father and became King of Ferghana when he was 12 years old; two years later he gained possession of Samarqand. He lost and regained this city several times, crossed the Hindu Kush and captured Kabul, lost this city to the Mongols, and in 1511 re-entered Samarqand but was defeated by the Uzbeks in 1514 and went back to Kabul. Resigning all hope of regaining his homeland of Ferghana, he turned his attention to India in 1519.

Babur Babur’s first contact with the Hindus of India was in the North-West province of Bajaur, in his memoirs, Babur-Nama he says:

As the Bajauris were rebels and at enmity with the people of Islam, and as, by reason of the heathenish and hostile customs prevailing in their midst, the very name of Islam was rooted out from their tribe, they were put to general massacre and their wives and children were made captive. At a guess more than 3000 men went to their death. 1

Babur later ordered that a tower of heads should be built on rising ground. Panipat 1527 On his march to Delhi the armies of Babur and the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, met at Panipat, the Sultan was killed, and his army was routed. The Babu-Nama said - “Mounds were made of the bodies of the slain, pillars of their heads”. Babur was proclaimed Emperor of Hindustan; beginning the Mughal Empire. When Babur died in 1530 he was followed by his son Humayun, Sher Shah was the next in line followed by his son, also Humayan, who was succeeded in 1556 by Akbar.

1

Jihad in India’s History http://voi.org/books/tcqp/chi6.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09

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Akbar At the second battle of Panipat, Akbar, although only thirteen years old, became a Ghazi - a killer of infidels. The wounded leader of the Hindu army was brought to Akbar, and Akbar beheaded the unfortunate Hemu with his own sword.

When ShAh KulI Beg was told of what had occurred, he came up to the elephant, and brought it into the presence of Bairam KhAn. Bairam KhAn, after prostrating himself, and returning thanks, caused HImUn to descend from the elephant, after which he bound his hands, and took him before the young and fortunate Prince, and said, As this is our first success, let Your Highness’s own august hand smite this infidel with the sword. The Prince, accordingly, struck him, and divided his head from his unclean body (Nov. 5, AD 1556).” 1

Chitor 1567/8 By the latter part of the16th century many Rhajas had submitted to Mughal rule and become subjects. Rana Udi Singh of Malwar State was confident he had the strength to oppose the Mughals, but Akbar decided otherwise, Chitor was besieged. When it was subdued Akbar entered the fortress on his elephant and ordered a general massacre.

An order for a general massacre was issued, and more than 8,000 Rajputs who were in the place received the reward of their deeds.10 After noon the slaughter was stayed, and the Emperor returned to his camp, where he remained three days. Asaf Khan was appointed to rule this country, and His Majesty started for the capital on Tuesday, the 25th Sha ‘ban. 2

Abul Fazl, in his Akbar-Nama (biography of Akbar) says that: “there were more than 40,000 peasants who took part in watching and serving…nearly 30,000 men were killed”. The period of the Mughal Empire ended with the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, but the killing of the Infidel went on with later Moslim rulers.

Ahmad Shah Mathura In February 1756 Ahmad Shah, an Afhgan, attacked the city of Mathura to the north of Agra. On the 1st of March his army entered the city, and because of the hard fighting during the battle they were in no mood to show mercy.

For four hours there was an indiscriminate massacre and rape of the unresisting Hindu population - all of them non-combatants and many of them priests…3

Several days after the massacre an eyewitness described the scene; “Everywhere in the lanes and bazaars lay the headless trunks of the slain…The water of the Jamuna flowing past was of a yellowish colour, as if polluted by blood”. Hindu ascetics had been beheaded, their heads tied to a slaughtered cow. “Glutted with the blood of three thousand men”, the

1

Jihad in India’s History http://voi.org/books/tcqp/chi6.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09

2

Bahkshi, The Annals of Akbar http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/h_es/h_es_tabakat4.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09 Jihad in India’s History http://voi.org/books/tcqp/chi6.htm#68a Visited 16 Dec. 09

3

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conquering army marched away; but not before imposing a levy on what remained of the population.

Vrindavan The army of Ahmad Shah carried out another general massacre at Vrindavan, north of Mathura, the same eye witness that had been at Mathura had this to say:

Wherever you gazed you beheld heaps of the slain; you could only pick your way with difficulty, owing to the quantity of bodies lying about and the amount of blood spilt. At one place that we reached we saw about two hundred dead children lying in a heap. Not one of the dead bodies had a head… The stench and effluvium in the air were such that it was painful to open your mouth or even to draw breath… 1

The Third Battle of Panipat This battle took place on January 14th 1761, about 80 miles north of Delhi. It was fought between the Maratha and the Afghans of Ahmad Shah Abdali; it is reported that more than 100,000 people died in one day. Thousands of surrendered Maratha soldiers were tied up and had their heads chopped off. On the battle field more than 30 heaps of the slain were counted…a rough total of 28,000. By the side of roads and in ditches were the remains of those killed in the battle and those who had succumbed to famine and disease; three-quarters of them were non-combatants. When the battle was won, Ahmad’s soldiers went through Panipat killing and plundering. After the battle followed massacre in cold blood. The leaders of Abdalis army were given permission to massacre the Marathas for one-day, nearly 9,000 were killed. About 20,000 women and children were taken as slaves; children over 14 were beheaded in front of their families, their heads had to be taken by their mothers to be counted by the Afghan accountants. The day after the battle, many women drowned themselves in the river to avoid being raped. An eyewitness, Kashiraj Pandit, described the scene:

Every DurrAni soldier brought away a hundred or two of prisoners and slew them in the outskirts of their camp, crying out, When I started from our country, my mother, father, sister and wife told me to slay so may kAfirs for their sake after we had gained the victory in this holy war, so that the religious merit of this act [of infidel slaying] might accrue to them. In this way, thousands of soldiers and other persons were massacred. In the Shah’s camp, except the quarters of himself and his nobles, every tent had a heap of severed heads before it. One may say that it was verily doomsday for the MarAtha people… 2

A conservative estimate places Maratha losses at 45,000 on the Panipat battlefield itself, and another 20,000 or more in surrounding areas, besides at least 22,000 women and children taken as prisoners and slaves. According to Mr. Hamilton of Bombay Gazette about half a million people were present there in Panipat town from Maharashtra, he gives a figure of 40, 000 prisoners executed. The Afghans are thought to have lost some 30,000.

Just how disastrous Muslim conquest was for India and how much resistance had been offered to preserve its heritage by Hindu rulers are controversial subjects. Much of the history was written by Muslim historians and could be biased. The little history documented by Indians was also written with an eye towards

1

Jihad in India’s History http://voi.org/books/tcqp/chi6.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09

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ibid

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glorifying their kings. These as well could be simply exaggerations. Hindu writers write about countless accounts of heroism by their warrior, some of them mere boys in their teens. Some of the fiercest resistance probably came from lesser tribes and simply went undocumented. However, it is clear that the Muslim conquest of India took several centuries. Idolatry was condemned but many sultans simply ignored the practice by the Hindus and did not impose Islam on them forcibly. Better results were obtained by imposing taxes on non-Muslims, although the Brahmins and some Buddhists were exempt form it until the rule of Feroz Shah Tughlaq in the latter half of 14th century. When the Mughals established their empire, the whole of India was almost completely under the Muslim rule, especially during the rule of Aurangazeb. Religious fanaticism of Aurangazeb, unlike his ancestor Mughals finally led to the cessation of Muslim control of India. As a consequence of his intolerance, the Mughal Empire weakened precipitously after his death and steadily shrank in size over the next century and a half, to finally be taken over by another foreign force in the nineteenth century, the British. What Akbar had achieved with tolerance and reconciliation was reversed by Aurangzeb’s zeal to force Islam on Hindus. 1

Negationism and the Muslim Conquests - by Francois Gautier "Muslims invaders did record with glee their genocide on Hindus, because they felt all along that they were doing their duty; that killing, plundering, enslaving and razing temples was the work of God, Mohammed. Indeed, whether it was Mahmud of Ghazni (997-1030), who was no barbarian, although a Turk, and patronised art and literature, would recite a verse of the Koran every night after having razed temples and killed his quota of unbelievers; or Firuz Shah Tughlak (1351-1388) who personally confirms that the destruction of Pagan temples was done out of piety and writes: "on the day of a Hindu festival, I went there myself, ordered the executions of all the leaders AND PRACTITIONERS of his abomination; I destroyed their idols temples and built mosques in their places". 2

1

Hebbar N. H. History of Islam in India http://www.boloji.com/history/002.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09 Gaitier F. Rewriting Indian History. http://www.nalanda.nitc.ac.in/resources/english/etext-project/history/gautier/ visited th 16 Oct 2011 2

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Constantinople

• Figure 28 Map of Constantinople

The Byzantine Empire during its existence of about 1000 years, its capital city, Constantinople, had only been conquered once - by the crusaders in 1204 - but it soon reestablished itself as the capital of the Empire. The following two hundred years saw the gradual decline of Byzantine influence as it was taken bit by bit by the Moslem Turks. The Turks had already built a fort on the Asian side of the Bosporus, and in 1453, sultan Mehmed II built another one on the European side, near to the city. Observing this preparation for hostilities by the Turks, the Emperor Constantine XI tried to buy off Mehmed; when this failed he appealed to the Pope for help. The Pope at that time, Nicholas V, refused to help unless the Byzantine Orthodox Church was willing to rejoin the Church of Rome, which it certainly was not; Ottoman sultan Mehmed II invaded the city in May 1453. Mehmed had a much larger army than that within the city, and a fleet of ships in the Bosporus. Although Constantinople had the strongest fortified walls in existence at the time, Mehmed thought that he would be able to wear out the defenders with his superior numbers. th The city withstood numerous assaults by the Turks, but on the 29 May the city fell, and the Turks went rushing about the City:

…and anyone they found they put to the scimitar, women and men, old and young, of any condition. This butchery lasted from sunrise, when the Turks entered the city, until midday, and anyone whom they found

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was put to the scimitar in their rage. Those of our merchants who escaped hid themselves in underground places, and when the first mad slaughter was over, they were found by the Turks and were all taken and sold as slaves. 1

Bands of Turkish soldiers began looting and killing. They entered houses, shops, and churches and massacred nearly everyone they found, those that were not massacred were enslaved. Nuns and young women killed themselves rather than face being raped by the Turkish soldiers. Those women who survived being raped were eventually sold at auction for slaves throughout Turkey. Through the rest of the day the:

Turks made a great slaughter of Christians through the city. The blood flowed in the city like rainwater in the gutters after a sudden storm, and the corpses of Turks and Christians were thrown into the Dardanelles, where they floated out to sea like melons along a canal. 2

When Mehmed finally entered the city he ordered the killing to stop. Seeing the destruction of the great city he was, apparently, moved to tears, and said: “What a city we have given over to plunder and destruction. The Emperor Constantine was killed fighting in the streets. Besides the number of dead combatants, 30,000 were massacred.

1

Barbaro N. The Siege of Constantinople (1453) http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/constantinople3.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09 2 ibid.

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Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre The events leading up to the massacre were the result of endless religious and political disputes between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants (Huguenots). Although earlier attempts had been made to ‘reform’ the Catholic Church; it was probably Martin Luther, who in 1517 published his 95 Theses, which sowed the seeds of the massacre in 1572. As well as disputing the nature of penance, and the usefulness of indulgences, he also challenged the authority of the Pope. John Calvin, another with fierce reformation beliefs followed Luther, decrying the corrupt priesthood, the sacraments, and the doctrines of the Catholic Church. The Huguenots became known for their strong criticism of the Roman Catholic form of worship which, according to the Huguenots, focused on ritual and death. They believed that ritual, prayers, images, and the form of the Catholic hierarchy did not help toward redemption. The reaction to the growing influence of the Huguenots was increasing Catholic violence towards them. Although there had been a decree that recognised them, and a later decree to end the violence against them, they were only measures that disguised the growing strain of relations between Protestant and Catholic. Between 1562 and 1598 there were eight civil wars involving Protestant and Catholic. The wars started following the massacre of 30 Huguenots at Vassy in March 1562. The Huguenots then began to form themselves into a definitive political movement and were able to rally a large army and cavalry under the leadership of Gaspard de Coligny; and Henry of Navarre allied the house of Bourbon with the Protestants. At its height, the movement had sixty fortified cities, which posed a very serious threat to the Catholic crown for the next thirty years. In the years leading up to the massacre there had been continuing debate within the monarchy and the leaders of the church as to what should be done about the Protestants. The king at the time was Charles IX, who leaned towards the Protestants, his mother, Catherine de Medici, was most certainly catholic. Catherine favoured the Guises and had on her side the king of Spain, Phillip II, who was of the opinion that - “the King of France should strike a decisive blow against the Protestants”. In a letter from the Papal nuncio in Spain to Cardinal Come, Secretary of State to Pope Gregory XIII, he says that:

The King (Philip II) bids me say that if his Most Christian Majesty means to purge his kingdom of its enemies, the time is now opportune, and that by coming to terms with him (Philip II) His Majesty could destroy those who are left. Now, especially as the Admiral is at Paris where the people are attached to the Catholic religion and to their king, it would be easy for him (Charles IX) to do away with him (Coligny) forever 1

Catherine and others in the court eventually persuaded her son Charles to take action against the Protestants. Charles is reputed to have said - “Good God! Since you deem it well to kill the Admiral, (Coligny) I agree, but all the Huguenots in France must likewise perish, so that none be left to later upbraid me.” In the early hours of the 24th August 1572 troops were sent to the house of Admiral de Coligny and killed him. The Duc de Guise reputedly mocked the body saying that it “was the Kings will.” Rumour quickly spread and the militia and the public went on the rampage.

1

New Advent Encyclopaedia, St. Bartholomew’s Day http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13333b.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09

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In Paris, about 2000 were killed. The King, being uncertain in his mind about doing the right thing, and also under the influence of his mother; issued many conflicting orders. Orders to stop the killing were ignored; he then sent messages to the Governors of several cities to kill all the Huguenots. He made it known that the killing was due to a conspiracy against the court, and not due to the religion of the Huguenots. In all parts of the country, bloodshed prevailed. Estimates of the numbers killed vary widely, according to M. White, in his “Selected Death Tolls for Wars” 1 the mean of several estimates is: Paris 3000, nation-wide 36,000.

The "Martyrologe des Huguenots", published in 1581, brings it up to 15,138, but mentions only 786 dead.

1

2

th

White M. Selected Death Tolls for Wars…Before 20 Century http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09 2 New Advent Encyclopaedia, St. Bartholomew’s Day http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13333b.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09

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The Shimabara Rebellion The Shimabara Rebellion was an uprising of Japanese peasants who rebelled against the Tokugawa Shogunate; many of the rebels were Japanese Christian converts. The Japanese had long practised the Buddhist religion and some were taking on elements of Confucianism from China. By the mid 16th century AD the Portuguese and Spanish traders had introduced the Roman Catholic religion, in 1598 AD there were over 100,000 Christians in Japan, mainly in the southwest around Kyushu. Hideyoshi, the last Shogun prior to the founding of the Tokugawa Shogunate, was already having doubts about the numbers of Christians and was worried that their close ties to countries with colonial ambitions - Portugal and Spain - were a threat to the continuing independence of Japan. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first of the Tokugawa dynasty, was certain that the Christian connection was dangerous. He banned Christianity outright in 1614, all missionaries were deported, and a brutal campaign of persecution followed, with thousands across Kyushu and other parts of Japan killed or tortured. Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third Shogun, became ruler in 1622 AD; he worked out the “final solution” for dealing with the Christians.

Large massacre of Christians began—in 1622 the bakufu burned or decapitated 55 Christians in Nagasaki—including women and children. Between 1614 and 1640 5,000-6,000 Christians were executed. The final blow came with the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637. 1

The Rebellion Before the main rebellion at Shimabara fighting broke out on the remote islands of Amakusa, a cradle for the forbidden Christian religion. According to the Portuguese sea captain Duarte Correa, in his published account of the rebellion, it is not certain that the problem was religious or one of economics; the daimyo (local governor) had long imposed heavy taxes on the population. An army sent from Nagasaki was routed by the rebels, who in turn were defeated when reinforcements were sent by the Shogun. Survivors from Amakusa fled and joined forces with the rebels at Shimabara. The rebel forces, numbering about 37,000, were farmers, ronin, (independent samurai sympathetic noblemen, and women and children; who defended Hara castle, which the rebels had captured earlier. They were surrounded by 200,000 government soldiers, and withstood three months of siege, the final assault began on the 12th April 1638, by the 15th April, the castle was retaken by the troops of the Shogun, and the massacre began.

According to Correa, after the victory by the government forces, some 35,000 to 37,000 men, women and children were decapitated, their heads placed around the field. Judging from the rich clothes and swords of many the victims they appeared to be of noble blood. The leader of the rebellion, Correa confirms, was the eighteen year old "Maxondanoxiro" (Masuda Shiro, a native of Higo, also going by the Christian name of Jerome. Shiro was captured and decapitated by a soldier of the lord of Higo and his head taken to Nagasaki and exhibited. 2

Others that have commented on the rebellion - Sansom writing in 1931, said that it is “sometimes difficult to disentangle the spiritual from the economic factor” – Murdoch and Boxer stated that “whatever the ostensible cause of the rising, it soon assumed a religious 1

Jidai S. Warring States Era (1467-1568) http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~copeland/sengoku.html Visited 16 Dec. 09

2

Gunn G. C. Duarte Correa Manuscript…Shimabara Rebellion http://www.uwosh.edu/home_pages/faculty_staff/earns/correa.html Visited 16 Dec. 09

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character.” Correa, who was on the spot, said the rebels had no alternative but to rise up against a “rapacious government”. Following the rebellion the Tokugawa government forbade Portuguese ships to enter Japanese ports and all Portuguese were ordered out of the country. This was the beginning of a long period of isolationism in Japan.

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The Armenian Genocide

• Figure 29 Map: sites of Armenian massacres and deportation routes

History Since the Middle Ages the Armenians, much like the Jews, have been forced to flee from their homeland because of persecution and murder. Modern scholars suggest that they are descendants of various indigenous people who migrated into Uartu, located in Mesopotamia; they emerged as one linguistic family around 600 BCE. The earliest record was by the Greek historian Hecataeus of Miletus c.550 BCE; they also appear in the Behistun inscription of Darius c. 520 BCE. At the dawn of Armenian history was the Kingdom of Uartu. Within 200 years the Uartan Kingdom was invaded by nomads from the Russian Steppes - they were defeated by the Medes - who in turn were vanquished by the Persians under Darius. The country, Armina on the Darius inscription, was divided into two governments (satrapies), Eastern and Western Armenia, and covered the upper valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In the second century BCE the Eastern and Western satrapies were in revolt against Persian supremacy and were brought together as one kingdom by Tigranes the Great, creating the first strong native sovereignty since the fall of Uartu five centuries before. The efforts of Tigranes to unite the two Persian satrapies were of great significance in the history of Armenia. Although the combination never became a great power, existing between the expanding Roman Empire in the West, and the Persians in the East, it retained its independence for nearly 500 years. The Armenian kingdom was eventually split between the Romans and the Persians, the larger part being ruled by the Persian Arsacid Dynasty; the King, Tiridates, accepted Christianity as the State religion in about 350 AD. The second quarter of the seventh century AD saw western Asia taken from the Persians by the Arabs. Two hundred years on, the influence of the Arab Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad declined, and three independent dynasties emerged in Armenia - two were Christian, who were bitter rivals, and the third was Kurdish and Moslem. In the eleventh century AD a new power was to emerge from the east – the Turks. The Turks Before going on to the main theme of this part of the essay a brief explanation is necessary to rd define the origin of the Turks. They were first mentioned in Chinese annals of the 3 Century

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BCE; according to the Chinese they had their home in the Altay Mountains of Outer Mongolia. Stone inscriptions at Orkhon confirm the existence of a Turkik Empire which was founded in 552 AD and lasted to about 752 AD when it was conquered by the Uighar, another Turkik tribe. The Uighar rising was the start of disunity between the Turkik tribes of Central Asia. In the following centuries the Turks moved into the Middle and Near East, overthrowing the indigenous population. They were the Uighars, the Seljuks, and the Mongols. The ultimate conquerors of the Middle East were the Osmanlis, who founded the far-reaching Ottoman Empire. The State of Turkey, as we know it today, was not founded until the early 1920’s; and is composed of the remnants of the Turks from Mongolia. By the eleventh century AD, a new a new power was taking over in the East. The Arab rulers had for a long time taken in Turks from Central Asia to use as slaves and professional soldiers, some of the soldiers were used in the bodyguard of the court. Eventually the professional bodyguard took over the control of politics in Baghdad, and they allowed whole tribes of Turks to enter the country; they were organised into a strong political entity by the Seljuk clan. The ruling Arabs were overtaken by the nomadic Turks.

The next four-and-a-half centuries were the most disastrous period in the whole political history of Armenia. during these centuries the Armenian tableland suffered almost ceaseless devastation. 1

Part of the Armenian population went south-west into the mountainous country of Cilicia, bordering on the Mediterranean Sea; there they founded the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia. Out of the main thrust of the Turkik invasions they survived for around three hundred years. In 1235 the Mongols swept across Persia and into Armenia and further west into Anatolia, part of present day Turkey. They had no religious sympathy with either Christian or Moslem and devastated the conquered countries and their populations, Armenia bore the brunt of the Mongol armies. The conquered territories were divided by the relations of Genghis Kahn; the western Mongol dynasty eventually converted to Islam; for the first time since Tigranes Armenia was once again under alien rule. The Mongol Empire eventually “fell to pieces”, and power was to fall into the hands of the Osmanli Turks.

Ottoman Empire • Figure 30 Map: Ottoman Empire

The Osmanlis were one of the Turkic tribes who fled the onslaught of the Mongols and settled under the Seljuk in central Anatolia. Their eventual leader converted to Islam and took the name Osman; the Osmanli founded the greatest State that has ever been seen in the Near East. Their first expansion was westward, where in 1453 Sultan Mohammed II conquered 1

Viscount Bryce, The Testament of Armenians http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/bryce/a17.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09

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th

Constantinople putting an end to the Byzantine Empire. By the early 16 century Armenia was under the rule of the Osmanli dynasty, and remained so until 1878 when the Russians took Kars. The Prophet Mohammed laid down Islamic policy towards the unbelievers; people that did not believe in Islam (the dhimmi), tolerated people) were to remain under the rule of the Islamic State; in return for payment of a tax (jizya) they would have protection for their lives, religion, and property. Mohammed II organised the conquered communities into millets, (religious sect) self-governing states under an appointed Sultan and his officials; the two main ones were the Greeks and the Armenians, but:

The Millets, in fact, are practically autonomous bodies in all that concerns religion, culture and social life ; but it is a maimed autonomy, for it is jealously debarred from any political expression. 1

Although the Armenians suffered periods of harsh treatment, the Ottoman State was reasonably tolerant towards them as long as they remained subservient. Following his conquest of Constantinople Mohammed II expanded the Armenian colony in the city, and other cities in his Empire where the Armenians did well; where much of trade and business was in the hands of the Armenian upper class. They were exporters, importers, merchants and bankers; and grew rich and influential within the Empire; they earned the title of “Milled Sadika (the Loyal Millet)”; they were valued citizens in the Empire, a relationship that was to last for over three hundred years; but, in the original areas of the Armenian settlement there was poverty and misrule. For about two hundred years the Eastern Parts of Armenia became a war zone once again, disputes between the Ottoman and Persian Empires meant that Armenia was constantly devastated.

…there is no splendid story to tell. Istanbul became the thriving center of Armenian social, economic, cultural, and religious life in the Empire, while the provinces suffered under grinding poverty and increasingly horrifying misrule. 2

The Ottoman Empire at its height was well governed; its minorities were treated as well as any place in the known world, but, during its decline, from about the middle of the 16th. Century, it became corrupt and badly ruled, the Armenians, as well as others, were subjected th to many persecutions. In the 19 Century, reforming Sultans, taking in the ideals of the French revolutionaries; liberty, equality, and fraternity; began a period of reorganisation Tanzimat. The Tanzimat was period of reform in the Ottoman Empire and lasted from 1839 to 1876. It was launched by Sultan Abdul Mejid I to combat the decline of the empire. The reforms were overseen by Europeans and were attempts to bring into the empire successful European practices – conscription, educational reform, and the elimination of corruption. A second decree was issued in 1856 guaranteeing equality for all Ottoman citizens irrespective of religion. By 1876 a new constitution was implemented that checked the autocratic powers of the Sultan. Tanzimat lasted for nearly 40 years, affecting all aspects of social and political life, during which time the Armenians - and the other minorities - were able to establish political movements which marked an unprecedented rise of the national-liberation movement. There were uprisings in the Balkans, Russia gained control of a large part of Armenia and obtained the independence of Serbia and Rumania from Ottoman rule; however, following pressure 1

Viscount Bryce, The Testament of Armenians http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/bryce/a17.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09

2

Prof. Papazian R. D. Armenians http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/papazian/armenia.html Visited 16 Dec. 09

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from England and Germany the Russians withdrew from the Armenian territories. But, the introduction of the reforms, begun by Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid, had given hope to Armenians that independence and equality were possible; unfortunately these hopes were crushed on the rise to power of Sultan Abdul Ahmid in 1876. As far as the Armenians are concerned, two points need mentioning with regard to Tanzimat: 1 Although it was a movement towards equality, in reality it was meant to preserve the Empire. 2 The ‘equality’ proclaimed for the millets was not practised.

In all, the failure to institutionalize the Tanzimat reforms revealed the incapacity of a traditional order, the millet system in particular, to deal with the disintegration of empire and the emergence of the nationality problem. 1

Abdul-Hamid Within a short period Abdul-Ahmid had shelved the reforms, he considered the Armenian population as an eternal excuse for Europeans and for the Russians to interfere, and stated:

I made a mistake when I wished to imitate my father, Abdulmecit, who sought to reform by persuasion and by liberal institutions. I shall follow in the footsteps of my grandfather, Sultan Mahmut. Like him, I now understand that it is only by force that one can move the people with whose protection God has entrusted me. 2

The Massacres-1894-1896 A precursor to the Genocide in 1915 was the organized massacre of Armenians in the years between 1894 and 1896. During the twenty years from Ahmid’s ascendancy to the start of the massacres, the Armenian political parties continued to pursue independence; Russia defeated parts of the Empire; Bulgaria and the Bosnian Serbs became independent; and there was ‘interference’ by the European Powers. The break up of his Empire; Bulgaria and Bosnia already, and potentially also the Armenians; was to Ahmid the root of the trouble; he must prevent any further break up. To him, his subjects were more likely to cause trouble than the foreign powers. His policy was not to bring all nationalities together; as proposed in earlier reforms; but to weaken them by setting them at each others throats. The Armenians were singled out for repression. During the Russian occupation of a large part of Armenia they acquired considerable influence over the Nation as a whole and the Armenians were gaining influence in Russia; in business and the army. Several Armenians had won distinction in the war of 1877, there were many in the ranks of the Russian army. The outcome of the war for the Russians was their frontier was now on the Armenian plateau, and included an important Armenian population.

1

Melson R. T., Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/readings/melson.htmlVisited 16 Dec. 09 2 Ibid.

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…important enough to make its mark on the general life of the Russian Empire and to serve as a national rallying-point for the Armenians who still remained on the Ottoman side of the line. 1

The Russians were eventually persuaded to partially retreat from their conquered territory; but not until it was agreed that the previous reforms regarding the Armenians; made by the Ottoman government, were put into force; the reforms were never carried out. The European powers reminded the Ottoman Government of the agreed terms but were ignored for more than two years; the agreement was shelved because only Great Britain was willing to press the case.

The seed of the "Armenian Reforms" had thus fallen upon stony ground, except in the mind of Abd-ulHamid, where it lodged and rankled till it bore the fruit of the "Armenian Massacres." 2

Abdul-Ahmid decided that the Armenians must be deprived of their formidable vitality; his means to this end was the re-arming of the Kurds. Kurdish chieftains were given Ottoman military rank; their tribes were enrolled into the Turkish army and given a free hand against the Armenians. At the same time as the Kurds were armed, the Armenians were systematically disarmed; the only retaliation open to them was the formation of secret revolutionary societies; racial conflict was inevitable. Disturbances began in 1893 when revolutionary notices were posted in several Armenian towns; this reactionary display played into Hamids hands.

From 1894 to 1896, the systematic massacres were organized by Abdul-Hamid in order to punish Armenians for their aspiration for freedom. The Sultan considered the Armenian population as an eternal excuse for Europeans and for Russians to interfere. The government instigated assaults on the Armenian villages, that quickly spread to all regions of Western Armenia. Despite the armed resistance in some places, particularly Zeytun, over 200 thousand of Armenians were killed as a result of these bloody pogroms. Historians named Abdul-Hamid "Red Sultan". 3

The first atrocity was committed at Sassoun in the summer of 1894. According to the Turks the community had taken up arms against the government; in reality the townspeople had been defending themselves from marauding Kurds. More massacres were carried out in the larger towns and villages throughout the Empire; the atrocities were instigated and controlled by the Central Government. In August 1896, the Capital of the Ottoman Empire was the scene of a great massacre. For two days Armenians were killed indiscriminately in the streets, the death toll has been estimated at 6,000. After the massacres in Constantinople, Hamid saw that he had gone far enough; for the time being he had sufficiently weakened the Armenians in his Empire; Hamid had no intention of total destruction of the Armenian race; it may be noted that once the massacres were over:

1

Viscount Bryce, The Testament of Armenians http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/bryce/a17.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09 Ibid. 3 Babayan Y. Armenian History http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:Wt4PjsA5H4QJ:www.armenianhistory.info/western.htm+&hl=en Visited 16 Dec. 09 2

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…relations between Muslims and Armenians in the empire for the most part returned to normal. Armenian officials again were appointed to high positions in the bureaucracy and Armenian merchants and cultivators resumed their activities. But the terrible events had taken their toll The harmony that had prevailed for centuries was gone… 1

1908 saw the overthrow of Ahmid by the Young Turks, revolutionaries who wanted the old order destroyed and replaced by a nationalistic government.

When the time came, for the sake of a homogeneous national state and a Pan-Turkish empire, they did not hesitate to annihilate the Armenian community. 2

The Genocide 1915 The Young Turk movement, (called so because it was made up of mainly young army officers) or, Committee of Union and Progress (CPU, were the perpetrators of the genocide. Their philosophy was one of strict Turkish nationalism, whose policies threatened to undo the tattered fabric of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society which existed at the time they overthrew the government of Abdul-Ahmid. Alliances with some of the European powers were broken off, but the CUP forged stronger co-operation with Germany.

By the time World War I broke out in August 1914, the CUP constituted a chauvinistic band which had subordinated the Ottoman state to its Turkist ideology. It also propelled the country into war against its better interests by entering into a secret accord with Germany. 3

Under cover of the war the Young Turks formed a general policy to exterminate the Armenian population. (see chronology

This fundamental uniformity of procedure is more sinister than the incidental aggravations of the crime by Kurds, peasants, gendarmes or local authorities. It is damning evidence that the procedure itself, which set in motion all the other forces of evil, was conceived and organised by the Central Government at Constantinople. 4

The early stages of the WW I brought some success for the army, but was soon followed by setbacks that found them defending their own borders, shattering the hopes that had lured them into the war; these setbacks precipitated a more positive phase against the Armenians. A decree was posted that all Armenians were to be disarmed; the army withdrew the Armenians and put them to building roads and fortifications. Similar events had preceded the massacres in 1895-6 and filled the Armenian population with a deep sense of foreboding. Preparations for the genocide had been made by February 1915; in April the first deportations occurred in Zeitoun. Around Van, the disarmament had been accompanied by violence, men were killed and women were raped and houses burnt down by the gendarmerie. The 1

Melson R. T., Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/readings/melson.html Visited 16 Dec. 09 2 ibid. 3 Adalian R. P. Young Turks and the Armenian Genocide. http://www.armeniangenocide.org/encyclopedia/young_turks.htm Visited 16 Dec. 09 4 Viscount Bryce, The Treatment of the Armenians http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/bryce/a18.htm#hist Visited 16 Dec. 09

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governor of Van, Djevet Bey ordered the murder of four city leaders on their way to seek peace in outlying villages , then sent his troops into the city and attacked the Armenian population. These events were only the beginning of the deportation and murder of the Armenian population throughout the length and breadth of the Ottoman Empire. Chronology The following chronology is from Armenian Genocide Institute-Museum

1

1914- Beginning of 1915 The Armenian Patriarchate in Constantinople estimates the Armenian population in Turkey at 2,100,000. World War I begins July 1914. Loyally, the Armenians participate in the war effort. Mobilization of the entire population, including Armenians, is decreed and the Armenians of Turkey take part in the war on the Caucasian and Western fronts. Immediately preceding the war, the Armenian population is neutral because a number of Armenians in Russia is mobilized on the Russian side, and a natural desire to avoid a fratricidal war. Some Armenian presence in the Russian Army will become an argument used by the Turkish authorities in their attempt to justify the measures they took later to destroy the Armenian people. 1915 January Enver is disastrously defeated in Sarikamish at the hands of Russian troops, marking a failure of his Pan-Turanian plans. The Turkish authorities decree the demobilization and disarmament of the Armenians. The Armenians are grouped into small work battalions used for garbage details and similar tasks. The Armenian soldiers in the Turkish army, under the pretext of work details, are marched and killed in cold blood or used for target practice. 1915 January 13 A.F. Kerensky, a member of the National Council of Russia and later briefly to be the leader of Russia, in a report, describes the astounding plight of Armenian refugees. He declares that when the Turkish attacks on Russian territory began, rivers of Armenian refugees stretched to the North… "That was not an escape; it was the great demise of a whole nation". 1915 February 13 Two Armenian deputies of the Ottoman Assembly submit a note concerning the massacres and executions of several such battalions. 1915 February 26 War Minister Enver convenes 75 top ranking Ittihadists. This secret meeting finalizes the details of the plan to carry out a genocide of the Armenians. Evidence indicates that the decision to carry out the Genocide was made some years earlier. (my emphasis) 1915 April 8 The process of removing the Armenian population of Zeitun commences. Taking advantage of the defence staged by a group of young Armenians, the Turkish army invades Zeitun, with the assistance of local Turks, to re-establish control. The mass deportation and massacres of Armenian inhabitants of the entire region is immediately organized. This mountainous region had always preserved a quasi-autonomy. 1915 April 15

1

Chronology http://www.armenocide.am/ Visited 16 Dec. 09

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Talaat, Enver and Nazem send a secret order to the local governments for the removal and extermination of Armenians in Turkey. 1915 April 15-18 While the Armenian population of Van is fleeing to Russia because of the evacuation of the Russian army, the Turkish forces attack villages of the vilayet. They destroy 80 villages and slay 24,000 Armenians in the vilayet and city of Van. The Turks accuse the Armenians of collaboration with the Russian troops. 1915 April 20 At the news of the massacres, the mostly Armenian population of Van takes to the barricades. The Turkish authorities will also use this incident on the Caucasian front and the resistance of the Armenians as a pretext to justify the measures of deportation (and massacre) they are about to inflict. 1915 April 20- May 19 The remaining Armenians of Van try to defend themselves from the overwhelming Turkish forces. 1915 April 24 800 Armenian leaders, writers and intellectuals are arrested in Constantinople and murdered. The barbaric Armenian genocide begins. This is a most important date for all Armenians today. It represents the date for commemorating the Armenian Genocide each year throughout the world. 1915 April 27-30 The forced removal and deportation of Dyurt Yol’s Armenian population begins. 1915 May 15 Turkish forces begin the process of removal and deportation of the Armenian population from villages in the vilayet of Erzerum. 1915 May 16 Law of May 16, 1915 is enacted with "instructions pertaining to property and real estate abandoned by the deported Armenians, consequences of the war and unusual political circumstances". This law provides for the installation of Turkish refugees in the homes and on the lands belonging to the Armenians. 1915 May 24 The governments of England, France and Russia jointly warn the Turkish government publicly that "They will hold personally responsible... all members of the Ottoman government and those of their agents who are implicated in such massacres". This is the first time in the international arena three large countries publicly characterize the Turkish actions against Armenians as crimes against "humanity and civilization" for which "personal responsibility is laid on every member of the Turkish government who participated in the carnages". The communiqué of the Allied Powers of the Entente, published by the Havas news agency, accuses the Ottoman Turkish government directly for the massacres against the Armenian population. 1915 May 27

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The law of May 27, 1915 is enacted concerning the "displacement of suspected persons." This law empowers army officers to relocate populations upon the simple suspicion of treason or for military reasons. 1915 June 1 12,000 Armenian soldiers in the Turkish army are massacred in Balu, vilayet of Diarbekir. 1915 June 10 A supplementary law is enacted regarding reporting property of deportees. See entry under September 26 as to supplementary law adopted September 26, 1915. 1915 June 12 – July 3 Turkish armies slay or remove Armenians of Shapin Garahisar, who tried to defend themselves. 1915 June 15 21 leaders of the Hnchukyan Party are hanged publicly in Constantinople. 1915 June 24 Massacres and deportations of the inhabitants of Shabin Karahissar begin. 1915 June 25 The removal and deportation of the Armenians of the city of Sivas begin. 1915 June 26 The removal of the Armenian population of Kharput and Trebizond vilayets are commenced by the Turkish army. Photocopy of the original deportation order (written in old Turkish with Arabic characters) is to be found in the Archives of the United States State Department in Washington, DC. 1915 June 27 Mass removals and deportations of Armenians begin in Samsun. 1915 July 1 Assyrians and Armenians are deported from Medzpin (Nisibe), Tel-Ermen (Hill of the Armenians), Bitlis, vilayet of Bitlis, Mardin and surrounding regions. 1915 July 3 The massacre begins of the Armenian population of Mush, Sassun and Bitlis vilayets begins. 1915 July 10 The Armenian population of Malatia is deported. 1915 July 13 Self-defense of Musa mountain begins. The heroic band of Armenians is later vividly depicted in the best-selling novel "Forty Days of Musa Dagh" by Franz Werfel. 1915 July 27

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The Armenian population of Cilicia and Antioch is deported. 1915 July 28 The removal of the Armenian population of the Cilician cities, Aintab and Qilise, is carried out. In Great Britain's House of Lords, in answer to Viscount James Bryce’s question concerning the slaughter of Christians in Armenia, the president of the Military Council, Lord Grew declares that the information received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows that the Turkish crimes are increasing both in numbers and in violence. Lord Grew declares that "all those mass carnages and violent removals are engaged under the pretext of forced transmigration". 1915 July 29 Deportations begin from Aintab and Kilisse, in Cilicia. 1915 July 30 Deportations begin from Suedia, in Cilicia. 1915 August 16 Deportations begin from Marash in Cilicia and Konia in western Asia Minor. 1915 August 10- 19 Removal and deportations begin of Armenians from Smyrna (Nikodemia), Brusa, Bartizak, Adabazar and surrounding areas. 1915 August 19 Removal and deportation begin of Armenian population of Urfa in Yedesia. 1915 September 15 Turkey’s Minister of Interior, Talaat Pasha, cables to the Aleppo Prefecture the confirmation of the previously transmitted order for removal of Armenians and their final elimination. The original of this cable is reproduced in the book of A. Andonian "The Memoirs of Naim Bey (The Genocide of the Armenians by the Turks). With a New Preface by the Armenian Historical Association", Documentary Series, Vol. I, Great Britain, Reprint 1964, 83 pp. Exhibit No. 3 at the trial of Soghomon Tehlirian, authenticated by the German Court. (At a trial before a Berlin court in 1921, following the assassination of Talaat by Tehlirian, Tehlirian was acquitted by the Court because of the circumstances. 1915 September 15 Rashid, Governor of Diarbekir, sends cable to Talaat, the Minister of the Interior, announcing that the number of Armenians "expelled" from Diarbekir has reached 120,000. 1915 September 26 "Provisional law concerning the property, debts and receivables of persons relocated elsewhere" is adopted. This law provides for the liquidation of debts and receivables of displaced persons (Armenians). A special commission is "charged" with holding the proceeds of sales in escrow. The German Foreign Office summarized this law as compressed to provide "1. All goods of the Armenians are confiscated. 2. The governments will cash in the credits of the deportees and will repay (will not repay) their debts. 1915 September 30 and October 7

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In Bern, Switzerland, at its Central Hall, public meetings are held deploring the ongoing Armenian tragedy. 1915 October 110 famous German and Italian civilians in Switzerland, including scientists, journalists, and public figures publish "The Call" both in French and German, in defence of the Armenian people. Note As in Switzerland, in many other places all over the world, there were many, many public meetings of protest and countless public statements by various heads of state and other officials condemning the Turkish massacres and deportations of the Armenians, threatening the Turks responsible with appropriate punishment and promising justice and territorial and/or monetary restitution for the Armenians. The statements and meetings referred to in this chronology are but a tiny sample. 1915 October 6 In Great Britain’s House of Lords, Lord James Bryce denounces the Turkish murderous campaign against the Armenians. He declares the time has passed when any harm could be caused by public statements and the more complete the statements, the more good it may bring, because it remains the only chance of preventing these carnages from continuing, if they are not over yet. It is a pity, he says, that his information from several sources indicates that the number of victims is very large. It is considered to be 800,000 as of then. He states that there is no commandment in Islam that can justify such slaughters. He urges every effort be made to send help for the poor, wretched survivors, hundreds of which are dying of starvation and disease. "That is all that we can do now in England and let us do it and do it swiftly. 1915 October 12 In Great Britain’s House of Commons, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Grey declares "All the information concerning the carnages of Armenians in Turkey became public. Only two feelings can describe it – horror and disturbance." 1915 November 16 As the government spokesman for questions from members of the House of Commons, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lord R. Cecil declares that Turkey intended not to punish the Armenian race, but to destroy it. That was the only goal. 1915 November 18 In Paris at the "American Club", a public meeting urges help to alleviate the Armenian suffering. 1915 December 12 Talaat, Minister of the Interior, sends a telegram to the Prefecture of Aleppo. He states that in view of the rather compassionate attitude of certain valis with respect to orphans, the order is given that the orphans be sent away with the caravans, with the exception of the very young ones unable to remember the atrocities. The original cable is reproduced in said Andonian's book "The Memoirs of Naim Bey (The Genocide of the Armenians by the Turks)".

Deportation The Ottoman plan was the deportation of the Armenian population as far away from their homeland as possible; south or south-east into the inhospitable regions of Mesopotamia. The customary procedure to the massacres was loosely as follows: A government official would

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call all the men to gather at a Government building; not able to make any preparations, the men would be imprisoned for a few days then marched out of town roped together in batches; they were told they were going to Mosul or Baghdad; they had to leave with nothing, no food nor clothes nor bedding. At some convenient lonely place on the road they would be massacred. Women and children were not disposed of immediately like the men, they were enslaved or deported, and in many cases the women would be raped. Women were also given the opportunity to covert to Islam; few took up the offer. When houses of the Armenians became empty they would be taken over by Moslem immigrants who were waiting on the outskirts of the towns and villages; the Armenians had been told that their property would be kept safe against their owner’s return.

…yet before these rightful owners started on their march they often saw these very possessions, which they had not been allowed to realise, made over by the authorities as a free gift to Moslem immigrants, who had been concentrated in the neighbourhood, in readiness to step into the Armenians' place. 1

The Armenian deportees were never safe on whatever road they were directed. Those that were able to hire carts to ease the journey were soon left high and dry, when the carters, after taking their money, drove back to town. From the moment they were on the outskirts of the towns they were never safe from outrage. Moslem, Kurd, and “chettis”, (the chetti were ex prisoners released by the government for the express purpose of killing the Armenians) robbed, murdered, and raped them as they went. Those deported from the western areas by rail did not fair any better. Packed in overcrowded cattle trucks, the journey was slow and interrupted by breaks in the line, or trains carrying troops to the war. At these places the Armenians were taken out of the cattle trucks and left to fend for themselves by the side of the line without food or shelter. The railway line was interrupted by the Taurus and Amanus mountain ranges where the deportees had to travel on foot. On the slopes of these mountains there grew up large and foul concentration camps, where the exiles were delayed for months, and died in their thousands, of hunger, exposure, and epidemics. The main destinations of the deported were Aleppo, Rasulayn, and Der-el-Zor. The progress of the deportations was naturally slow, the slowness of the journey was one of the most effective of its torments. The fist convoy of deportees started from Zeitoun on the 8th April 1915, from then until early November of the same year there was no stoppage. On November 6th an order was sent out from the capital to stop any further deportation; for those already on route, the suffering continued.

The Bryce Documents Following are extracts from eyewitnesses in the documents presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, by Viscount Bryce. First some comments from Viscount Bryce’s preface to the documents: He states that the documents “…described what seemed to be an effort to exterminate a whole nation…”. The evidence is in three parts: 1. From neutral witnesses passing through Turkey who observed the events. 2. Natives of the country, nearly all Christians, who managed to get letters out of the country despite censorship, or escapees. 3. A small part comes from subjects of the belligerent powers, mostly German, who published accounts in their own country of what they saw.

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Viscount Bryce, The Treatment of the Armenians http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/bryce/a18.htm#hist Visited 16 Dec 09

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When looking at the evidence he says in section iv): “The volume of this concurrent evidence from different quarters is so large as to establish the main facts beyond question.” In section v):

(v) In particular it is to be noted that many of the most shocking and horrible accounts are those for which there is the most abundant testimony from the most trustworthy neutral witnesses. None of the worst cruelties rest on native evidence alone. If all that class of evidence were entirely struck out, the general effect would be much the same, though some of the minor details would be wanting. One may, indeed, say that an examination of the neutral evidence tends to confirm the native evidence as a whole by showing that there is in it less of exaggeration than might have been expected. 1

“The evidence is cumulative. independent of the others.

Each part of it supports the rest because each part is

Doc. 22. Bitlis, Moush and Sassoun: Interview with Roupen, of Sassoun, 6th November, 1915.

At the moment of writing, there is very little doubt that during the months of June and July last the Turks have almost completely wiped out about 150,000 Armenians of Bitlis, Moush and Sassoun 2

Djevdet Bey, the military governor of Van was deposed by the Armenians in May 1915, fleeing southward, he entered the town of Sairt with 8000 soldiers and massacred most of the Christian population. Reinforced by Halil Bey and his army, Bitlis was attacked in the middle of June, most of the able bodied Armenians were rounded up, and a few days later were shot outside the town; the “useless lot” old and infirm were driven south and drowned in the Tigris. About 150,000 were massacred at Bitlis and surrounding district. This document goes on to describe the massacres at Moush and Sassoun. Doc. 23. Moush: Statement by a German eyewitness. Near the end of October, 1914, when the war began, the Turk authorities took necessary war supplies from the Armenians - food, money and goods. The supplies were sent to the Russian front carried by old men and boys; on the three week journey, of the 300 who set out only 40 returned. In mid April 1915, “we heard there were great disturbances in Van.”—the Armenians were ordered to surrender their arms, they refused; this led to massacre. Around Van villages were burnt down, and the Armenians “got rid of.” We heard that massacres had started in Bitlis, and at Liz, “all the districts inhabited by Armenians were pillaged and destroyed.” At the beginning of June, “we heard that the whole population of Bitlis had been got rid of.”

When there was no one left in Bitlis to massacre, their attention was diverted to Moush. Cruelties had already been committed, but so far not too publicly ; now, however, they started to shoot people down without any cause, and beat them to death simply for the pleasure of doing so. In Moush itself, which is a big

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Viscount Bryce, The Treatment of the Armenians http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/bryce/a01.htm V isited 17 Dec. 09 2 Viscount Bryce, The Treatment of the Armenians http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/bryce/a04.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09

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town, there are 25,000 Armenians ; in the neighbourhood there are 300 villages, each containing about 500 houses. In all these not a single male Armenian is now to be seen, and hardly a woman either, except for a few here and there. 1

In July Moush was bombarded and the next day the population was given three days to leave. The Armenians did not have the means to leave and preferred to die in their houses, a few hours after the order to leave the army attacked, some inmates were arrested, but because of the gunfire all around most had to remain indoors and were burnt alive. “It was heart rending to hear the cries of the people and children who were being burnt to death in their houses”.

Under these atrocious circumstances, Moush was burnt to the ground. Every officer boasted of the number he had personally massacred as his share in ridding Turkey of the Armenian race 2

The Germans left for Harpout, they say it has become “a cemetery of the Armenians…” At Harpout and Mezre the Turks inflicted terrible atrocities on the Armenians there. Breasts and eyebrows were cut off, finger nails torn out, and nails hammered into their feet. In early July, 2000 Armenian soldiers were ordered to Allepo to build roads, they were murdered soon after leaving; a few escaped and reported the massacre. A few days later another 2000 were sent via Diyarbekir, “in order to hinder them more sorely from escaping, they were left to starve on the way.

Already by November [1914] we had known that there would be a massacre. The Mutessarif of Moush, who was a very intimate friend of Enver Pasha, declared quite openly that they would massacre the Armenians at the first opportune moment and exterminate the whole race. Before the Russians arrived they intended first to butcher the Armenians, and then fight the Russians afterwards. Towards the beginning of April, in the presence of a Major Lange and several other high officials, including the American and German Consuls, Ekran Bey quite openly declared the Government's intention of exterminating the Armenian race. All these details plainly show that the massacre was deliberately planned… 3

The above are but short extracts from two of the Bryce papers. Altogether there are 150 documents reporting on the atrocities carried out by the Turks on the Armenian population. (The following URL gives the full list with links to the documents themselves): http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/bryce/a00tc.htm#TC Within the above mentioned documents are numerous accounts of the atrocities committed in the name of the Ottoman Government; one can also find hundreds, if not thousands, in other accounts to be found on the Internet. I conclude with the following quotation from an article in the Missionary Review of the World (October 1916

Like the death throes of a wild beast are the frantic efforts of the ruling party in the Ottoman Empire to destroy their fellow countrymen-the Armenians and others who are of a different race and an opposing faith. The horrors of this march of death have been told only in part. They can not be fully described. Over eight

1

Viscount Bryce, The Treatment of the Armenians http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/bryce/a04.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09 2 3

Ibid. ibid.

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hundred thousand Armenians have already been murdered or have died as a result of deportation and abuse. A like number have been deported to Mesopotamia and Arabia or have fled into Russia and Egypt. How many of these will survive can not be estimated,… 1

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Missionary Review of the World, Signs of Death in Turkey http://www.armenian-genocide.org/10-16-text.html Visited 17 Dec 09

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Bangladesh Genocide

• Figure 31 Map of Bangladesh

Bangladesh was until 1971 part of Pakistan, a country divided into East and West; they are 1,000 miles apart on the northern border of India. Mass killing took place when East Pakistan declared its independence from the West. Unfortunately for the East, the government of the country was controlled by the West, who decided to ignore the plea for independence, and decided to put it down.

History The history of Bangladesh is tied to several regions of India: Sindh and Punjab located in the north west, and Bengal in the north east, and, of course, India itself. The most significant era as far as this history is concerned is the arrival of the Moslim; firstly the Arabs, and then the Turks. Sindh and Punjab Sindh was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in 711 AD, Muhammad bin Qasim was sent by the Caliph of Damascus on an expedition to Sindh and Balochistan. Although the Arabs took their armies northwards they were unsuccessful in these areas; but their influence eventually spread into the subcontinent with many conversions to Islam and cultural exchanges. Three hundred years later Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India from Afghanistan, raiding the rich Hindu temples and established a base in the Punjab for future incursions. Mahmud attacked the Punjab and northern India seventeen times, extending his rule across the country. His raids consisted of robbing the temples and forcing Hindus to convert to Islam. Over time, the Hindu Rajputs reconquered much of eastern Punjab. In 1192, Muhammed of Ghor conquered large areas of northern India including Delhi; Ghor’s successors established the first Sultanate of Delhi, in about 1206. During the next forty or fifty years the Sultanate rapidly extended its influence, and by the middle of the century much of central India and Bengal, in the north east, were under its control.

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Although some kingdoms remained independent of Delhi in the Deccan and in Gujarat, Malwa (central India), and Bengal, almost all of the area in present-day Pakistan came under the rule of Delhi 1

By this time much of the population under Moslem rule had converted to Islam. Both Punjab and Sindh had been under Moslem rule since 1757, when Ahmad Shah Abdali was granted “suzerainty”; but by this time the Sikhs were gaining in power in the Punjab. Following exchanges between the Sikhs and the Moslems, the city of Lahore became the political and administrative capital of the Sikhs under their leader Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, and over the next forty years many battles were fought between Sikhs and Moslems. Lahore was in the hands of the Moslem in 1799, when it was retaken by Ranjit Singh; under his reign the kingdom of Lahore was at its most powerful; extending into Peshawar and Kashmir. When Ranjit Singh died in 1839, political conditions in the Punjab deteriorated. The British fought two wars with the Sikhs; following the second of these wars, the Punjab was annexed to the British East India Company, and Kashmir was sold to the Dogra Dynasty, who ruled the area under British “paramountcy. Bengal During the early Moslem period, Bengal was ruled intermittently by the Delhi Sultanate, known as the Sultanate of Bangala. The chaotic shifts in power between Afghan and Turkish rulers of that sultanate ended when Mughal rule was established in the 16th century. The Mughals were defeated in 1534 by the Afghan Sher Shah Suri, who established the most powerful Bengali kingdom that would exist; he conquered Delhi and Agra, and went as far as the Punjab. The Mughal emperor Akbar reconquered Bengal in 1576, and he exercised liberal rule in Bengal, which eventually became ‘semi independent’. The next significant part of Bengali history is the granting of permission to establish trading posts at Calcutta to the British East India Company. The Company was granted permission to establish Fort William (Calcutta) in 1690; the Nawab rulers had already given the French rights to set up at Chandernagore in 1673. When the French saw the British strengthening their position at Fort William they persuaded the Nawab, Siraj Ud Daulah, to attack the fort. The French post at Chandernagore was captured by the British in 1757, the Nawab was defeated at the Battle of Plassey later in the same year, and the British installed their own Nawab for Bengal. The British East India Company expanded its influence throughout Bengal over the next hundred years or so, but the country was to come under the direct rule of the British crown following the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Queen Victoria later took the title of Empress of India, and Calcutta was declared the capital of the British Raj. For administrative purposes, Bengal was divided in 1905; the west predominantly Hindu; the east predominantly Moslem. The partition served only to stir up animosity between the two groups, Hindus were against the split, saying the country was united by language and history. The Moslems supported the split because they saw it as a step forward for Moslem society; because of strong Hindu protest the country was eventually reunited in 1912, and remained so until 1947. When the British East India Company was dissolved and India came under the rule of the British crown in 1858, the Mughal Empire was at an end. This left a disempowered and discontented Moslem minority, who were worried that they were going to be “swamped” by the Hindu majority who they once ruled.

1

Pakistan: Islam in India http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+pk0015) Visited 17 Dec. 09

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Independence The movement for Indian independence began in earnest in 1885 when the majority Hindu population formed the Indian National Congress (INC). Some Moslem leaders were involved with the Congress but they had a long standing mistrust of the Hindus; concerned that they would have to take on a secondary role and that their culture would be suppressed. Sir Percival Griffiths, a British diplomat, said that the Muslim must be completely separate from the Hindu, joining the two communities was impossible. To counter the foundation of the INC, the All India Moslem League (AIML) was formed in 1905, based in Lucknow. Its early goals did not include establishing an independent state, but was more concerned with protecting the rights of Moslem minorities from the Indians. Under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the AIML negotiated concessions with the INC (Lucknow, 1916) giving the Moslems separate electorates. Jinnah’s mistrust of the Hindu Congress was justified when the “Nehru Report” gave the Moslem only 25% of the seats; they wanted one third. Jinnah, after reading the report, announced a parting of the ways; relations between the AIML and INC soured. In 1935, the British government passed the Government of India Act, which proposed - “to hand over substantial power to elected Indian provincial legislatures”; with elections to be held in 1937. Although the Moslems had majorities in four out of eleven states after the 1937 elections, INC refused to share power with the AIML. In 1940 the AIML formerly adopted the creation of Pakistan as its objective. Two Nations Theory The INC opposed all proposals for partition, advocating a united India; from 1940 on, reconciliation between Congress and the Moslem League became increasingly difficult, if not impossible. In the elections, which took place in 1946, the Moslem League took 90% of the Moslem seats, in effect, a plebiscite among Moslems on Pakistan. In 1942, Gandhi had launched the Quit India Movement against the British; over the next few years meetings between the British and Indian governments were convened without any agreement being made. In 1945, proposals were made by the British – The Cabinet Mission Plan – to form the country into three zones. 1. Northeast Bengal and Assam with a slight Moslem majority. 2. In the north-west: Punjab, Sindh, North-West Frontier Province, and Balochistan with a clear Moslem majority. 3. The remainder of the country with a clear Hindu majority. The proposals also said that an interim government be established immediately and new elections were to be held. (1946). Government was formed without the Moslems; rioting and massacres followed, continuing into 1947; the British government sent in Lord Mountbatten as viceroy to sort out the problems. His instructions were to arrange for a transfer of power by June 1948. His early assessment was - Congress would be willing to accept partition as the price for independence, and the Moslems, under Jinnah, would accept a smaller Pakistan than the one he demanded.

On August 14, 1947, Pakistan and India achieved independence. Jinnah the first governor general of the Dominion of Pakistan. 1

1

Pakistan: Toward Partition http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query2/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+pk0023) Visited 17 Dec. 09

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So, Pakistan came into existence in August 1947, the two parts (see 1. and 2. above) divided by over 1,000 miles of Indian Territory. The major portion of the wealth and resources of the British heritage passed to India. The Punjab and Bengal were divided, Kashmir became disputed territory. In the lead up to partition, and after it was achieved, there was violence between the different religions, mass movement of people between India and Pakistan; Hindus fleeing to India, Moslems to Pakistan.

The most conservative estimates of the casualties were 250,000 dead and 12 million to 24 million refugees. 1

During the coming years Pakistan fought three wars with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir, politicians were assassinated, a constitution was adopted, to be cancelled two years later; this was followed by the declaration of martial law in 1969. Democracy became stifled by a military dictatorship; opposition to western dominance grew in the eastern provinces of Bengal. The Awami League, a political party formed in 1949, became associated with the Bangla speaking majority in East Pakistan. In the 1970 elections the party won 167 of the 169 seats in Bengali territory, giving them an overall majority in the National Assembly; but the government dominated by West Pakistan refused to convene the assembly:

The trigger for the crisis in 1971 in East Pakistan was the announcement by President Yahya Khan on March 1 that the scheduled meeting of the recently elected National Assembly would be postponed indefinitely. 2

The National assembly was scheduled to discuss a new constitution for Pakistan following the end of martial law. Because of the overwhelming electoral success in the east it was expected that Bengali nationalists, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his Awami League, would want the new constitution to reflect their demands for the independence of East Pakistan. Demonstrations followed Yahya’s announcement, and on March 7th, Rahman called for a peaceful co-operation movement, Yahya’s response was to airlift troops into Dacca doubling the size of the 15,000-man garrison. Rahman announced on March 15th, - that on the basis of the December election, his party, the Awami League, was going to take over the administration of East Pakistan. On March 25, the army arrested Rahman and moved to suppress what was viewed in Islamabad as a secessionist movement.

The Genocide

"Kill three million of them," said President Yahya Khan at the February conference, "and the rest will eat out of our hands." (Robert Payne, Massacre [1972], p. 50.) 3

th

On the 25 March 1971, West Pakistan troops, under the command of General Yahya, commenced repressive actions against the eastern Pakistanis. They targeted Awami League leaders, students, academics, businessmen, and ordinary Bengalis.

1

Pakistan: Independent Pakistan. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+pk0024) Visited 17 Dec. 09

2

US Department of State: Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, Volume XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/xi/45650.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09 3 Gendercide Watch, Case Study: Genocide in Bangaladesh, 1971. http://www.gendercide.org/case_bangladesh.html Visited 17 Dec. 09

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Dacca University was attacked and hundreds of students were killed, troops roamed the streets of Dacca killing about 7,000 people in one night, within a week 30,000 had been killed, and thousands had fled from the city. The West Pakistan army targeted many cities and villages throughout the county, killing, according to Rahman, approximately three million people. Because of the violence and instability caused by the genocide, an estimated 10,000,000 Bengalis had fled across the border to India by May 1971; the refugees were too much for India to handle, putting a heavy burden on their developing economy. Bengali Freedom fighters were working from bases in India harassing the East Pakistan army, this and the increasing refugee problem heightened tension between India and East Pakistan. On April 17th 1971, Bangladesh was formally declared independent with Rahman as president. On the 4th December 1971, following air attacks on Indian Territory by the Pakistani air force, India invaded East Pakistan, and recognised the state of Bangladesh, and the Pakistani forces surrendered, marking the independence of Bangladesh. Death Toll R.J. Rummel in his “Death By Government” states that “The human death toll over only 267 days was incredible”. Giving figures for “four or five out of the eleven districts” published in newspapers and by inquiries:

…the Pakistani army killed 100,000 Bengalis in Dacca, 150,000 in Khulna, 75,000 in Jessore, 95,000 in Comilla, and 100,000 in Chittagong. For eighteen districts the total is 1,247,000 killed. 1

Rummel goes on to say that these figures are incomplete and that no one really knows how many died. Professor Barbara Harff, US Naval Academy, gives figures of 1,000,000 – 3,000,000 killed. 2 Evidence

The above is from a telegram to the US government from Consul General Blood, in Dacca.

3

1

Gendercide Watch, Case Study: Genocide in Bangaladesh, 1971 http://www.gendercide.org/case_bangladesh.html Visited 17 Dec. 09 2 http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/GSSW/schram/harff.pdf Visited 10 Jan. 2010 3 Ghandi S. Ed. National Security Archive 2002. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/index2.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09

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Another account from the American Embassy concerns the attack on the university in Dacca:

U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Killings at University, March 30, 1971, Confidential, 3 pp Source: Record Group 59, Subject Numeric File 1970-73, Pol and Def, Box 2530 Blood reports an American's observation of the atrocities committed at Dacca University. The observer indicates that students had been "shot down in rooms or mowed down when they came out of building in groups." In one instance, the MLA set a girls dormitory on fire and then the girls were "machine-gunned as they fled the building." 1

Accounts of the atrocities In the dead region surrounding Dacca, the military authorities conducted experiments in mass extermination in places unlikely to be seen by journalists. At Hariharpara, a once thriving village on the banks of the Buriganga River near Dacca, they found the three elements necessary for killing people in large numbers: a prison in which to hold the victims, a place for executing the prisoners, and a method for disposing of the bodies. The prison was a large riverside warehouse, or godown, belonging to the Pakistan National Oil Company, the place of execution was the river edge, or the shallows near the shore, and the bodies were disposed of by the simple means of permitting them to float downstream. The killing took place night after night. Usually the prisoners were roped together and made to wade out into the river. They were in batches of six or eight, and in the light of a powerful electric arc lamp, they were easy targets, black against the silvery water. The executioners stood on the pier, shooting down at the compact bunches of prisoners wading in the water. There were screams in the hot night air, and then silence. The prisoners fell on their sides and their bodies lapped against the shore. Then a new bunch of prisoners was brought out, and the process was repeated. In the morning the village boatmen hauled the bodies into midstream and the ropes binding the bodies were cut so that each body drifted separately downstream. (Payne, Massacre [Macmillan, 1973], p. 55.)

Afsan Chowdhury: Chowdhury, a journalist, writer and member of UNICEF, stated: They killed all the males and when the army was gone there was no one to bury the dead.

Professor Rafiqul Islam Account of the atrocities at Dacca University:

I don't have the words to express the bestiality and barbarity that was perpetrated on the Dhaka University area, especially Iqbal Hall, Jagannath Hall, and adjoining residential areas, for a period of 36 hours from the night of the 25th till the 26th night. What transpired around Iqbal Hall, I saw with my own eyes. Raging infernos everywhere; the slum was burning, the cars parked around the residences were burning. The heaped bodies of the dead from the slum were also set on fire near the Nilkhet rail gate petrol pump. The sound of shells bursting and guns firing, the smoke and fire, the smell of gun-powder and the stench of the burning corpses all transformed the area into a fiery hell. 2

1

Ghandi S. Ed. National Security Archive 2002 http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/ Visited 17 Dec. 09 2 Prof. Rafiqil Islam, Virtual Bangladesh: History: Eyewitness Accounts. http://virtualbangladesh.com/history/rafiqul_islam.html Visited 17 Dec. 09

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Newspaper Accounts These accounts are taken from http://www.bangladeshliberationwar.com/Clippings.htm June 14, 1971 International Herald Tribune WEST PAKISTAN NEWSMAN SAYS ARMY SLAUGHTERED EASTERNERS London, June 13 (NYT)- A West Pakistani journalist who accompanied the Pakistani journalist when it crushed the independence movement in East Pakistan alleged yesterday that the government troops "deliberately massacred" people in East Bengal. Mr. Mascarenhas writes that the Pakistani government has suppressed "the second and worse horror which followed when its own army took over the killing". He says that officials in West Pakistan privately estimate that 250,000 persons have been killed by both sides in the fighting--not including those who have died from hunger or disease.

July 6, 1971 International Herald Tribune REPRESSION, TERRORISM FOUND GROWING IN EAST PAKISTAN Dacca (NYT)-- "Doesn't the world realise that they're nothing but butchers?" asked a foreigner who has lived in East Pakistan for many years. " That they killed -- and are still killing-Bengalis just to intimidate them, to make slaves out of them? That they wiped out whole villages opening fire at first light and stopping only when they got tired?". The foreigner, normally a calm man, was talking about the Pakistani Army and the bloodbath it has inflicted on East Pakistan in its effort to crush the Bengali independence movement. Most of the foreign residents--diplomats, missionaries, businessmen-- also talk the way this man does now. And they are eager to tell what they know to those foreign newsmen who were permitted to re-enter East Pakistan in mid-June and travel around unescorted for the first time since March 25.

December 19, 1971 THE SUNDAY TIMES DACCA MURDERS EXPOSED: BENGAL'S ELITE DEAD IN A DITCH Before they surrendered at Dacca on Thursday, the Pakistani Army arrested and then shot more than 50 of the city's surviving intellectuals, scientists and businessmen. It was a closely planned elimination of elite Bengali citizens, carried out as a sudden military operation. It must therefore have been done with the full knowledge of the Pakistan high command, including the commanding officer, General Niazi The discovery of the bodies can only increase tension in Dacca, make revenge killings and riots more likely, and possibly even cause friction between the Mukti Bahini guerrillas and the Indian Army. If the occupying forces have to clamp down on the liberated Bengalis, they could come to resent even Indian occupation; and there are small signs of this ominous development already in Dacca. The murdered intellectuals were discovered in some isolated clay pits on the outskirts of the town at a place called Rayar Bazer. I actually saw 35 bodies there, in a decomposed condition, which indicates they were killed four or five days ago. There are probably many more, and from kidnap reports, some in Dacca are putting the number of killed as high as 150.

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The following testimony is from M. Akhtaurzzaman Mondol's "Amader-Ma Bon" ("Our Mother and Sisters") which appears in Rashid Haider (Ed.) 1971: Terrible Experiences, p. 197. It was translated by Sohela Nazneen. Reprinted with permission. 1 …We found the captain of the Pakistan forces, captain Ataullah Khan, dead in the bunker. He still had his arms around a woman-both died in the bomb attack in the bunker. The woman had marks of torture all over her body. We put her in a grave. But I still did not anticipate the terrible scene I was going to witness and we were heading toward east of Vurungamari to take up our positions. I was informed by wireless to go to the Circle Officer's office. After we reached the office, we caught glimpses of several young women through the windows of the second floor. The doors were locked. so we had to break them down. After breaking down the door of the room, where the women were kept, we were dumbfounded. We found four naked young women, who had been physically tortured, raped, and battered by the Pakistani soldiers. We immediately came out of the room and threw in four lungis [dresses] and four bed sheets for them to cover themselves. We tried to talk to them, but all of them were still in shock. One of them was six to seven months pregnant. One was a college student from Mymensingh. They were taken to India for medical treatment in a car owned by the Indian army. We found many dead bodies and skeletons in the bushes along the road. Many of the skeletons had long hair and had on torn saris and bangles on their hands. We found sixteen other women locked up in a room at Vurungamari High School. These women were brought in for the Pakistani soldiers from nearby villages. We found evidence in the rooms of the Circle Officers office which showed that these women were tied to the window bars and were repeatedly raped by the Pakistani soldiers. The whole floor was covered with blood, torn pieces of clothing, and strands of long hair. An excellent paper written by Sarmila Bose, “Anatomy of violence: An Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971, is well worth reading, it deals with the whole conflict based on data collected in 2003-2005 in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

While 1971 evokes strong emotion in both parts of the severed wings of Pakistan, there has been little systematic study of the violent conflicts during the nine months long civil war.[1] Popular attention has focused on the Pakistani armed force's action against the civilian Bengali population, or the India-Pakistan war. However, East Pakistan in 1971 was simultaneously a battleground for many different kinds of violent conflict - militant rebellion, mob violence, military crackdown on a civilian population, mutiny within the armed forces, urban terrorism, guerrilla warfare, conventional battles, death squads, civil war within Pakistan and between Bengalis, and full-scale war between Pakistan and India. 2

The paper concludes, in part, by saying that both parties had a legitimate political position and they both “embraced violence as a means to an end, all committed acts of brutality outside accepted norms of warfare…”. A secret investigation was carried out into the surrender of their army by Chief Justice Hamoodur Rhaman, 1971. The report stated that widespread atrocities and other abuses by Pakistani army generals and their lack of leadership was the cause of the loss of East Pakistan.

1

http://www.globalwebpost.com/genocide1971/witness/rounaq.htm#intro Visited 17 Dec. 09 http://www.statelesspeopleinbangladesh.net/uploaded_files/studies_and_reports/AnatomyOfViolence.pdf Visited 17 Dec. 09 2

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The report dwells on a range of sins: killing of thousands of Bangladeshis—both civilians and “Bengali” soldiers—rape, pan smuggling, looting of banks in East Pakistan, drunkenness by officers, even an instance of a Brigadier “entertaining” women while his troops were being shelled by Indian troops. It recommended a string of court-martials and trials against top officers . Nothing ever happened. 1

The Commission examined nearly 300 witnesses and hundreds of classified army signals between East and West Pakistan. The final report was submitted on October 23, 1974, detailing political, administrative, military, and moral failings of the then Pakistan. The official investigation denies much of the allegations of genocide, but does say – “excesses were carried out”.

Genocide in Pakistan Between 1973 and 1977 the Baluchi and Brahui tribes rebelled against the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto; the Baluchi were backed by the opposition party the National Awami Party (NAP). On the pretext that the NAP had encouraged violence and smuggling, and was opposed to modernisation, Bhutto banned the party and arrested its leaders in 1975. In the subsequent fighting between the tribesmen and the Pakistan army, “using indiscriminate violence”, between 5,000 and 10,000 Baluchi’s were killed. Food supplies were interrupted and large numbers of cattle were destroyed.

1

Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report. http://www.bangla2000.com/Bangladesh/Independence-War/ReportHamoodur-Rahman/default.shtm Visited 17 Dec. 09

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Indonesia

• Figure 32 Map of Indonesia

History

Indonesia is a victim of its own national composition. With 13,700 islands, over 250 languages, and at least 300 ethnic groups, the diversity of interests destabilizes the central authority. 1

Hindu It is assumed that Indonesia was originally linked to Asia, and the islands were formed when sea levels rose because of melting ice, the earliest inhabitants were probably Java Man. Around 3000 – 500 BCE, the islands were populated by migrants from Asia, primarily from India. Trade was established between southern India, and Indian settlers inhabited the islands introducing the Hindu religion and culture, which was adopted by most people throughout Java. Java at this time was called Java Dwipa, the rice island, and Sumatra was known as Swarna Dwipa, the island of gold. From ancient times to the 16th century there were many kingdoms in the archipelago, ruled by indigenous kings who adopted the culture of either Hinduism or Buddhism, and amalgamated them with their local cultures. The system of government, literature, dance, architecture, and the caste system were much the same as in India. The Greek explorer Ptolemy of Alexandria said Indonesia had good government, advanced agriculture, navigation, and astronomy. The kingdom of Crivijaya, in South Sumatra, was the centre of Buddhist teaching, and was mentioned in Chinese annals in 502 AD. Between 750 and 850 AD Central Java was ruled by the Cailendra Dynasty. They built many temples, its culture and arts were well known as was its naval power and commercial activity. In West Java there were several other kingdoms. At 1

Jaydi Colmenares Raney, Genocide: Indonesia http://www.wce.wwu.edu/nwche/genocide/indonesia.shtml Visited 8 February 2010

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th

the end of the 10 century (911-1007 AD) emerged the powerful kingdom of Singasari, ruled by King Dharmawangsa in East Java. Dharmawangsa had Hindu philosophical and religious texts translated into Javanese. The kingdoms of East Java were eventually to come under the Majapahit, and its king Hayam Wuruk, who ruled Indonesia’s most powerful kingdom in its history. It had dependencies in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines (1331-1364); King Wuruk gradually united the whole archipelago under the name of Dwipantara; but, the Majapahit Dynasty was to end under the influence of Islam. Islam From the 13th century Moslem merchants from India and Persia began to establish trade links with Indonesia, not only trade goods were exchanged, Islam was exchanged for Hinduism. Islam spread along the coasts of Java, and one of the first Indonesian kings to convert to Islam was Dernak, becoming the Sultan of Dernak; he spread his new religion along the coast of Java, eventually bringing to an end the Majapahit Dynasty in 1520. Islam spread through the islands, until Java, Sumatra, and Borneo were converted. In 1527, Sunda Kelapa, the capital of West Java, was conquered by a troop commander of the Sultanate of Dernak, Falatehan, and the city was renamed Jaya Karta, the great city, now Jakarta. Portuguese The Portuguese arrived in and around Indonesia in the early 16th century looking for spices and other trade goods. Their attempts to set up trading posts in Java were unsuccessful and they moved eastward to the Moluccas islands (Malaku), where they eventually established themselves with forts, trading posts, and religious missions on the islands of Ternate, Ambon, Solor, and Timor, but their occupation was constantly resisted by the local Sultans, but, even so, they had a strong hold on the spice trade to Europe, until ousted by the Dutch who set up the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1603. Dutch The Dutch had their first permanent trading post on the island of Java at Banten, establishing a further trading post in 1611, at Jayakarta - later called Batavia, and then to become the capital, Jakarta. Between 1610 and 1619, the headquarters of the VOC were in Ambon in the Moluccas, the settlement at Banten had been conquered by the Portuguese, but in May 1619, the VOC retook Jayakarta, and established Batavia, the new VOC headquarters. The Dutch were ruthless in their efforts to gain a monopoly of the lucrative spice trade. During the 1620’s most of the population of the Banda Islands were killed, deported, or starved to death in order to gain control of the source of nutmeg. During their occupation the VOC were responsible for many atrocities against the indigenous population in their quest to monopolise the spice trade. The Spice Eradication Policy was implemented in 1677 to reinforce the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade in the Moluccas. The Hongi expeditions were carried out to burn down the clove gardens of the indigenous people, thus ensuring, because the destruction created a shortage of the spice, continuing high prices in the European markets. Countless atrocities were committed against the people who defended their crops. More atrocities were committed by the Dutch in 1740 when they put down a revolt by dissatisfied Chinese; 10,000 were massacred. At the end of 1799, the VOC was bankrupt; all its territories were taken over by the Dutch Administration in Batavia. Then the British had a brief spell ruling Indonesia, but the Dutch regained their possession in 1815 following an agreement between the British and Dutch, signed in London in 1814. Soon after the Dutch regained control they intensified their rule over the Indonesian population leading to widespread nationalistic revolts throughout the archipelago.

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Nationalism Following the failure of several revolts, the nationalist movement began to organize itself. The Budi Utomo was established in 1908, in 1912, the Indische Parrtji, and the Sarekat Islam were formed. Sarekat Islam promoted Islam rather than political independence, but brought Indonesians together against the Dutch. In 1916, the Dutch established the Volksraad, the first parliament, and promised independence – sometime in the future. The fully fledged party for independence, the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) was formed in 1920, following the split of the Serekat Islam into right and left wing factions. In 1926 the party attempted an unsuccessful revolution, the Dutch arrested thousands of communists putting the PKI, for the time being, out of business. The word “Indonesia” came into being in 1920, instead of referring to a separate Balinese, Sumatran, or Javanese nation, the independence parties now talked of a separate Indonesian people. The Indonesian National Party (PNI) was formed in 1927, under Sukarno, the first all Indonesian party devoted primarily to independence. In October 1928, young Indonesian nationalists made the Youth Pledge, a declaration proclaiming three ideals – one motherland, one nation, and one language. But the Dutch rulers were not impressed. Political freedom under the Dutch was limited, nationalist publications were tolerated but strictly monitored, and the Dutch government suppressed many nationalist movements and jailed political leaders. In 1929, Sukarno was arrested and the PNI banned; but try as it might, the Dutch were unable to completely stifle the move towards independence. The Indonesian Unity Party was formed in 1931 by Dr. Seotomo, in the same year the PNI was abandoned, and later in 1931, the LLM, Partai Indonesia, was formed with the objective of independence. Also in 1931, the new PNI came into being. In 1935, Seotomo merged his independence movement with Boedi Provincien, to form another movement for independence, the Partai Indonesia Raya. The Indonesian Peoples Movement was started in 1937; the All Indonesian Political Federation (GAPI) began in 1939. The archipelago was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 following the attack on Pearl Harbour, and the Japanese began their policy to create a Great East Asia Co-Prosperity campaign, which would be controlled by the Japanese. The Indonesian leaders could see that this policy would only lead to the Japanese replacing the Dutch as their masters; so, the Indonesian leadership went ‘underground’ and organised several insurrections against the occupying forces.

After persistent demands, the Japanese finally agreed to place the civil administration of the country into Indonesian hands. This was a golden opportunity for nationalist leaders to prepare for the proclamation of Indonesia's independence. 1

A few days after the surrender of the Japanese in 1945, Indonesia became independent on 15th August 1945. Sukarno became President and Chief Executive, Mohammad Hatta as the Vice-President. The first cabinet of the Republic was formed in September 1945. At the end of the war British troops landed in Indonesia to disarm the Japanese. The Dutch also landed troops in an attempt to regain their former control and were helped by the British. In November fighting began between the British and Indonesian freedom fighters; the Indonesians soon realised that they were severely out gunned and reverted to guerrilla tactics. The Dutch, under the pretext of assisting the British, sent in more troops to attack guerrilla strongholds. The British withdrew in November 1946 but the fighting between the Indonesians and the Dutch continued until 1949. On May 7th 1949, an agreement was signed by the Indonesians and the Dutch to end hostilities. Under the auspices of the United Nations it was 1

Directorate of Foreign Information Services, Department of Information, Republic of Indonesia .file:///F:/Indonesia/indonesia_files/pro-history.htm Visited 4 Feb10

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agreed that the Dutch recognise the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia – November 1949. By the end of December the Dutch East Indies no longer existed. In 1950, Indonesia became a member of the United Nations. In September Natsir and the Masyumi party lead the first government of fully independent Indonesia. Independence During 1948, there were two significant objections to the Indonesian government, one by the communist PKI together with the Indonesian Socialist Party (PSI), but the Republican forces put down the rebellion within a few weeks. The second problem was with Moslem factions in the Republican army who felt betrayed by the secular government and declared a break-away regime – Indonesian Islamic State, Darul Islam. Its leader, Kartosuwirjo, sought to establish an Islamic theocracy. The rebellion was eventually put down in 1962, and Kartosuwirjo was executed. The period between 1950 and 1957 was erratic. There were problems with the government, social and economic problems, outbreaks of violence from government dissenters all over Indonesia; the cabinet changed six times. Despite all of these problems the state continued to strive for democracy and elections were set for September 1955, and later in the same year another election was planned to select a Constituent Assembly. Twenty eight separate parties gained seats at the election; the strongest was the PNI with 25% of the votes, resulting in a fragile situation. The government was split into small factions – Islamic politicians, the military, the communists – all of them competing for power, none of them were satisfied with their position, in fact, the various Islamic parties representing about 40% of the total vote, could not agree to cooperate among themselves. During October and November 1956, there was a failed coup by disgruntled army officers who later went ‘underground’. In February 1957, Sukarno made a proposal for “Guided Democracy”; his idea was to unify the Cabinet by bringing together the Nationalists, the religious parties, and the Communists members of the elected parties to create a new National Council. The PNI, Sukarno’s party, and the PKI, the communists supported the proposal, but the Masjumi, the Islamist party, opposed it and withdrew from government. In early 1957, the country faced a number of crises, a rebellion in Makassar (Permesta), and an army take over in South Sumatra. Permesta had been formed earlier by military leaders taking advantage of the weak government. Lt. Colonel Sumuai took control of government in eastern Indonesia, he demanded more power for Sukarno and less power in the Assembly and Cabinet, and he expressed his dissatisfaction with the Prime minister, Sastroamidjojo, some days later Sastroamidjojo resigned from the government. Sukarno was then convinced that the parliamentary system was not going to work and proclaimed martial law throughout th the country on 14 March 1957. The remaining months in 1957 were no less disturbed, press censorship was reintroduced. Many politicians were arrested on corruption charges. In June, rebel army officers in Manado declared an autonomous state in North Sulawesi. In July the PKI (communists) won 34% of the vote in central Java giving them more representation than the PNI, Masyumi, and Nahdatul Ulama; the Masyumi demanded that the PKI be outlawed. At the end of the year Sukarno announced that Dutch held businesses would be nationalised, a few days later, 3rd December, PNI and PKI unions began seizing Dutch property. About 46,000 Dutch nationals were expelled from the country, and the army took over the management of the nationalised companies – a recipe for economic disaster – and 1958 was going to be no better than 1957. On the 10th February 1958, Sukarno was out of the country and a group of Sumatran army officers and Masyumi politicians demanded that Sukarno take more of a back seat role and form a new government. On the 15th February, this rebel group announced the formation of the Revolutionary Government of the Indonesian Republic (PRRI); two days later they were joined by the Permesta rebels. Not completely suppressed until 1961, the rebellion had been neutralised by the middle of 1958. Nasution, who a few years earlier had been demoted,

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became the most powerful army leader. To offset the military’s power, Sukarno allied himself more closely with the PKI, and because the USA was suspected of aiding the PRRI rebels, he developed a closer relationship with the Russians and the Chinese, both communist led regimes. In September the Masyumi and other political parties who had supported the PRRI and Permesta were banned. In July 1958, Nasution proposed that the best way forward to achieve “Guided Democracy” was to adopt the 1945 constitution, with its “middle way” presidential system. Sukarno dissolved the Assembly on July 5th 1959, and re-established the 1945 constitution by decree, Manifesto Politik, marking the formal establishment of Guided Democracy. In March 1960, the House of Peoples Representatives-Mutual Self-Help (DPR-GR) was established; the assembly members were appointed rather than elected. Of the 238 seats, 154 were given to ‘functional groups’, including military officers; 25% of the seats were allocated to the PKI. The 616 member Provisional Peoples consultative Assembly (MPRS) had the communist leader Dipa Nusantra Adit as deputy chairman. In August, the Masyumi and the PSI parties were made illegal. During this period of changing government the economic situation was worsening. Ordinary people suffered from hyperinflation and food shortages. The army, motivated by rivalry with the Chinese backed PKI prohibited Chinese trade in local areas, the subsequent repatriation of 119,000 Chinese caused considerable economic disruption; Sukarno refused to take in recommendations from the IMF. Throughout the early 1960’s the power of the PKI was growing in Java. In 1963 Sukarno implemented land reform law and the PKI began dispossessing landlords and giving their land to the poor in Java, Sumatra, and Bali; the resulting violence was directed mostly against Islamic organisations such as Nahdlatul Ulama. The PKI membership, unions and peasant organisations, at that time, was approaching 9 millions. Adit, the PKI leader, pursued his own agenda, aligning Indonesia with Beijing, gaining support for his domestic policies, one of which was the establishment of a “fifth force” – armed peasants, - adding these to the existing four branches of the government armed forces, many officers were bitterly opposed to this suggestion. It appeared that a communist take over in Indonesia was imminent. The highest ranking officers of the Indonesian forces (ABRI) were either for or against Sukarno and the PKI, among those opposed were the ABRI chief of staff, Nasution and Major General Suharto.

By 1965 Indonesia had become a dangerous cockpit of social and political antagonisms. The PKI's rapid growth aroused the hostility of Islamic groups and the military. The ABRI-PKI balancing act, which supported Sukarno's Guided Democracy regime, was going awry. 1

The Coup 1965. The failed coup in 1965 - the September 30th Movement - although the instigators are uncertain, was carried out by army officers sympathetic to the PKI, and members of the PKI itself, under the leadership of Brigadier General Supardjo. The aim of the coup was to prevent a “predicted” coup by the military, planned to take place on October 5th, Armed Forces Day. Pro-communist army officers, calling themselves the September 30 Movement, kidnapped “corrupt” ABRI generals who were allegedly in the pay of the American CIA. Five of the generals were murdered and an attempt was made to assassinate chief of staff Nasution. Sukarno refused to support the Movement, and its leaders then attempted to seize power, but were soon defeated by the army led by Suharto. Whether the attempted coup and the murder of the generals involved the PKI or not - there have been several theories suggesting plots by the CIA, the ABRI (Suharto), and others, to eliminate them - the communists were perceived to be the perpetrators; the consequences for them were disastrous.

1

William H. Frederick and Robert L. Worden, editors. Indonesia: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1993. http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/21.htm Visited 8 February 2010

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Genocide Following the unsuccessful coup the army labelled the September 30 Movement the GESTAPU, a similar link to the Nazi Gestapo. Stories were made up that the murdered generals had been tortured and sexually mutilated by communist women. Suggestions were then made that the coup was only the beginning of the PKI plan to purge all anti-communists, and that Sukarno was at fault for tolerating the communists in the government. The army began to purge the communists:

In this context, the army began a purge of the PKI from Indonesian society. PKI offices were raided, ransacked, and burned. Communists and leftists were purged from government departments and private associations. Leftist organizations and leftist branches of larger organizations dissolved themselves. Within about two weeks of the suppression of the coup, the killing of communists began. 1 On the 8th October a mass demonstration was held in Jakarta demanding the dissolution of the PKI, their headquarters were burnt down by the demonstrators. A few days later the youth group of the Islamic Masyumi, Ansor, began killing supporters of the PKI in Java. On the 11th November, fighting broke out between the PNI and PKI supporters on the Island of Bali, thousands of communists were massacred. Communists were arrested and executed based on information provided by the local authorities and information from captured PKI documents – the CIA have been implicated in identifying communist leaders - some villages were totally wiped out. The killing was organised by the military, particularly the para-commando unit RPKAD. In Bali and East Java, army trained militias gathered from various religious groups (Moslem, Hindu, and Christian) were authorised to carry out raids and massacres of communists and sympathisers. A pattern emerged where suspects were arrested, interrogated, tortured, and then taken in batches to be executed. According to Frederic and Worden in their Country Study, 1993, “most of the victims were killed with machetes or iron bars”.

Death Toll An accurate figure is not known, but some scholars give 500,000 killed. R. J. Rummel in Journal of Peace Research, vol. 31, no 1, 1994, pp 1-10, estimates that the number of communists and sympathisers killed as 450,000-500,000. The highest estimate is as many as 3,000,000. Unfortunately, genocide in Indonesia had not ended. The former Portuguese colony of East Timur was subjected to atrocities in 1975.

1

"Indonesia." Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Ed. Dinah L. Shelton. Gale Cengage, 2005. eNotes.com. 2006. 9 Feb, 2010 http://www.enotes.com/genocide-encyclopedia/indonesia Visited 9 February 2010

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East Timur

• Figure 33 Map Timor

East Timor was long a Portuguese colony; the island of Timor was disputed territory until 1915, when an agreement was signed with the Dutch dividing the island into East and West Timor. The Portuguese established a brutal regime of forced labour, which by the 20th century involved the whole able bodied population. During WW II the island was occupied by the Japanese, when 60,000 resistance fighters died. When WW II ended, the Dutch East Indies became independent Indonesia; the Portuguese retook control of East Timor. A coup d’etat occurred in Portugal in 1974 and the military leaders decided that overseas territories were to be disbanded; in East Timor indigenous political parties emerged. The Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (Fretilin), the leading group, had a strong following throughout the countryside, promising improvement in the lives of the peasant population. Fretilin allied itself with the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and elections took place under the supervision of the Portuguese Decolonisation Committee in January 1975. In May the UDT withdrew from its alliance with Fretilin and launched an attempted coup (it is thought that the Indonesian government were involved) after Fretilin had won 55% of the vote; the UDT were expelled to west Timor. Fretilin declared th th independence on November 28 . Nine days later, on December 7 , Indonesia invaded East Timor –Operation Komodo. The Australian government had prior knowledge of the Indonesian intention to invade, and the US President, Gerald Ford, approved the invasion. 1 In July 1976, Suharto, now the Indonesian president, annexed East Timor to Indonesia. A long guerrilla war followed between Fretilin and the Indonesian army ABRI. In time Fretilin controlled about half the population, but ABRI strategies to gain control became genocidal; widespread starvation followed. An estimated 20,000 troops occupied the island. On the first day of the invasion the massacres began, men and women were rounded up at random and shot in the streets.

1

Documents available here: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/ Visited 11 Feb. 10

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At 2 p.m., 59 men, both Chinese and Timorese, were brought on to the wharf ... These men were shot one by one, with the crowd, believed amounting to 500, being ordered to count. The victims were ordered to stand on the edge of the pier facing the sea, so that when they were shot their bodies fell into the water. Indonesian soldiers stood by and fired at the bodies in the water in the event that there was any sign of life. 1

The Bishop of Timor reported that he had seen people systematically shot down on the town jetty in Dili. Whole families were killed for showing the Fretilin flag on their houses, or refusing to hand over personal possessions. When Fretilin fighters withdrew from the town of Aileu, the population was shot, the ABRI spared children under four; about 4000 were killed. As the army progressed through the countryside they killed most of the Timorese they found. One of the worst massacres took place in West Timor following a battle with Fretilin. The ABRI attacked a refugee camp and they shot down about 2000 East Timorese, and then burned the camp. In Dili the ABRI began detaining and torturing the civilian population who were suspected of sympathising with the retreating Fretilin forces. In the middle of 1976 America supplied the Indonesian military with OV-10 Bronco ground attack aircraft. The use of aerial power was the key factor that gave the ABRI their victory over the Fretilin in 1978/79. The aircraft were used to attack Fretilin positions in the mountains as a preliminary to ground attack by the army. Highly populated areas were bombed, subjected to rocket, and machine gun attack. August 1977 saw the beginning of a campaign of “encirclement and annihilation” to destroy the Fretilin leadership and to force the civilian population to surrender. As the ABRI advanced Fretilin retreated along with the civilian population. During the ABRI advance livestock and food were destroyed by the infantry, and from the air. Aerial bombardment targeted agricultural areas, Fretilin and the people were driven further into the mountainous areas. Food became scarce; planting of food crops was not possible as they were constantly pushed along by the hostilities into more confined spaces. Many people died, particularly children and the elderly. The following is an account by Maria Jose da Costa, a civilian in the mountains:

In 1978 the enemy surrounded us in Dolok and many people died due to starvation. All the food supplies…were burnt. They surrounded us by attacking from the sea with warships, from the air with warplanes and on land by burning the dry grass and sending in the army. At that time it was August, which is the dry season. The army made big fast-burning fires by spraying gasoline over the tall grass. Many died because they could not escape the fire surrounding us. 2

The turning point for military operations was the Indonesian assault on Mount Matebian in mid 1978; the area was encircled by Indonesian troops and systematically bombed, sometimes using napalm. Mount Matebian, the last zona libertadas, finally fell on 22nd November and tens of thousands of civilians surrendered and came down off the mountain. A description of the carnage was later given by Tomas Soares da Silva who was 16 at the time:

1

Gendercide Watch, Case Study: East Timor (1975-1999) http://www.gendercide.org/case_timor.html Visited 12 Feb. 10 2 International Centre for Transitional Justice, Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor. Pt 3: History of the Conflict. http://www.ictj.org/static/Timor.CAVR.English/03-History-of-theConflict.pdf Visited 12 Feb. 10

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On Mount Matebian, the bombing started in October and November. One [type] of bomb was gas. If the bombers dropped those bombs in the morning, many people became casualties. We could see when there was an explosion that the grass was burnt…and in the area everything was destroyed. If there was an explosion the smell was like diesel or petrol. 1

Following their victory at Mount Matebian the ABRI continued hostilities against the Fretilin and by March 1979 they declared Timor-Leste pacified. The civilians who came down from the Fretilin strongholds were arrested and interrogated and pressed to identify Fretilin leaders and sympathisers. Arbitrary arrest were made, many were tortured and disappeared. The ABRI used various locations as killing grounds, such as Quelicia following the surrender at Matebian. Those who were not killed were kept prisoners in schools, houses, military barracks, or in the open. When these places were full they were placed in camps.

The people who fled to the mountains came down in 1977, 1978, and 1979. Those who surrendered or those who were captured by the Indonesian military, everyone was placed in concentration camps, which were not suitable for any human being…2

Genocide It has to be noted that during the initial Fretilin resistance this organisation committed acts of brutality on both political opponents and the civilian population. Killings and disappearances perpetrated by the ABRI reached peaks in 1975-79, 1983-84, and in 1999. Indiscriminate public executions and imprisonment were carried out. The public shootings provide strong evidence that the practice was acceptable and systematic within the ABRI; the perpetrators and their officers had total impunity for their actions.

During the early years of the occupation…troops and auxiliaries committed systematic and widespread unlawful killings and enforced disappearances…3

Throughout their campaigns the ABRI committed many mass killings of civilians, and Fretilin prisoners. After the invasion many inhabitants of Dili fled to the mountains, of those that remained in Dili, some 2000 men were killed. During Operation Security in 1981, thousands of men and boys were forced to serve in the ABRI as shields for the advancing army. They had to leave their villages without adequate supplies and many starved to death. In other areas, men, and women, were rounded up and tortured before being imprisoned; the women were subjected to sexual torture and rape. Sometimes whole villages were massacred. At Aitana in 1981 everyone, from babies to the elderly were killed. In August 1983 at Malim Luro, the village was plundered by the ABRI then:

1

International Centre for Transitional Justice, Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor. Pt 3: History of the Conflict. http://www.ictj.org/static/Timor.CAVR.English/03-History-of-theConflict.pdf Visited 12 Feb. 10 Testimony such as this strongly suggests the use of napalm against civilian targets by the Indonesian Air Force. The

Commission holds documentary footage of OV-10 Bronco aircraft being loaded with bombs labelled “Opalm” (a Soviet version of napalm) at Baucau airport sometime in the late 1970s. 2 3

Ibid. Ibid.

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[Indonesian troops] firmly tied up men, women and children, numbering more than sixty people. They made them lie on the ground and then drove a bulldozer over them, and then used it to place a few centimetres of earth on top of the totally crushed corpses." 1

People who had surrendered or had been captured by the ABRI were forced into resettlement camps where living conditions were totally inadequate. Conditions were enforced to restrict their freedom of movement making it near impossible for them to provide for themselves. The resultant famine accounted for thousands of lives. When Fretilin changed its policy regarding the surrender of the civilians in the mountains it is estimated that 300,000 to 400,000 displaced people came under Indonesian control between 1977 and 1979. The expectation that those that surrendered would be saved from death was short lived. The ABRI did not provide for the basic needs of the thousands that surrendered. The people were hungry and weak when they were imprisoned, in the camps there was inadequate shelter, food, clean water, and medical care; tens of thousands died. The following is a description from Tome da costa Magalhaes of his time in the transit camp of Uma Betan (Black House):

We lived in Uma Metan for three months. I saw a large concentration of civilians there, around 8,000 of them. They came from Aileu, Maubisse, Same, Ainaro, Manatuto, Dili, Liquiça and Viqueque. They suffered greatly due to starvation, illness and lack of clothing. For the three months I was there, we weren’t allowed to go further than one to two kilometres [from the camp]. If we did, they would suspect us of making contact with Fretilin. In Uma Metan there was no drinking water. The water source was far, about 500 metres from the camp. If we wanted to get water we had to be escorted by Hansip or soldiers, and only the strong could do the round trip. The weak ones would die along the way and were just left there on the slopes. We were given food, but only one small can of corn per person per week. We could cook only a handful every two days. Because of that, many couldn’t endure the hunger and eventually between five and six people died each day due to hunger. Those who did eat the stale corn got sick with various illnesses such as swollen feet and hands, stomach pain and tuberculosis. Once they fell ill, they would soon die. The soldiers did not give medication to those who were sick and dying. Only the really lucky survived. The soldiers intentionally punished people day and night, and didn’t allow them to go out to look for food, get water or collect firewood. Because the soldiers also did not give food to people or treat the sick, up to 40 people a week died of hunger, thirst, and disease. 2

According to local leaders, 2000 people are buried in mass graves at Uma Metan. Fighting between Fretilin and the ABRI went on through the 1980’s; there was a short lived cease fire agreement in 1983, negotiated by Xanana Gusmao, the Fretilin commander, and the ABRI, but the ABRI soon resumed hostilities. Not until 1998 did the Indonesian government make any moves on East Timor independence, when in August offers were made for “large scale autonomy”; this triggered more fighting between pro-Indonesian and prost Timorese. On the 21 April 1999, a peace agreement was signed and in August campaigning th began for the elections on August 30 , to be supervised by UN representatives. Following a 99% turnout, 78% had voted for independence. But, in early September pro-Indonesian riots occurred in Dili and martial law was declared. By mid September a UN peacekeeping force INTERFET was in East Timor, by the end of the month ABRI handed over control to them. The last Indonesian forces left East Timor on the 31st October 1999. In July 2000, a th Transitional Cabinet was adopted, on September 27 2002; East Timor joined the UN with Gusmao as president. 1

Gendercide Watch, Case Study: East Timor (1975-1999) http://www.gendercide.org/case_timor.html Visited 15 Feb. 10 2 International Centre for Transitional Justice, Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor. http://www.ictj.org/static/Timor.CAVR.English/07.3_Forced_Displacement_and_Famine.pdf Visited 15 Feb. 10

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It is estimated that between 60,000 and 100,000 were killed in the first year of the invasion, 300,000 were deported to camps in West Timor. In total, between 1975 and 1999, over 200,000 were killed.

Many tens of thousands of Timorese died as a result of this "'generalized warfare' of encirclements, bombing, uprooting of the population, malnutrition and generalized brutalities"… victims of Indonesia's genocidal occupation policies between 1975 and 1999. 1

1

Gendercide Watch, Case Study: East Timor (1975-1999) http://www.gendercide.org/case_timor.html Visited 16 Feb. 10

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Rwanda and Burundi

• Figure 34 Map of Rwanda-Burundi

The Rwandan genocide was the slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus carried out by forces of the predominantly Hutu controlled Rwandan government and members of the extremist Hutu group, the Interahamwe, the youth wing of the government. The killing, estimated to be around 8000,000, was carried out during a period of 100 days in 1994. Despite much intelligence supplied to the ‘First World’ countries, none of them intervened; the United Nations refused to authorise its peacekeeping force to take action to bring the killing to a halt, US president Clinton gave orders to stay out of Rwanda. The genocide was ended when the expatriate, predominantly Tutsi, Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) overthrew the Hutu government. Burundi in 1972 had a predominantly Tutsi controlled government which carried out killing of Hutu following a Hutu rebellion against the government. The genocide of nearly 1,000,000 people went virtually unrecognised in the western world.

History Rwanda – Burundi Development The history of Rwanda is inextricably tied to the history of Burundi; their indigenous people are the same – mainly Tutsi, and Hutu, in 1899 they were part of German East Africa, when the Germans were defeated in WW I the Belgian government occupied the territory, and in 1923 it was administered by the Belgians as a single unit known as Rwanda –Urundi. In 1946 the territories continued to be administered by Belgium, but under the trusteeship of the United Nations; Urundi became independent in 1962 as the Kingdom of Burundi; Rwanda had its independence by 1964. The first people to inhabit the African territory that was eventually to become Rwanda and Burundi were thought to be the pygmy hunter gatherers the Twa. From around 1000 AD, the territory was occupied by the Hutu, a group of agriculturalists, their social system, and culture based around royalty – the Bahinza, who was thought to be able to protect the clan and their th th crops from drought and pestilence. From the 11 to the 15 centuries the territory was slowly and peacefully occupied by the Tutsi cattle herders, thought to have migrated south from

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southern Ethiopia; they too brought with them a traditional lineage – the Ganwa; their kings were known as the Mwami. The more assertive Tutsi eventually overwhelmed Hutu society by using their advanced military skills to take over the Hutu economy and ownership of the land, land which became the property of the Mwami - he owned all the land and the cattle. Over the years, although the Tutsi were in the minority, the Hutu became subservient to the Tutsi who established themselves as the masters. The Tutsi dominated the Hutu politically, economically, and militarily, - the Tutsi King was a divine and absolute ruler. According to Ben Cahoon 1 two separate dynasties emerged. In the territory that was to th become Rwanda, the Naoro dynasty began in the 15 century and continued to Rwandan independence; their King, Kigeri IV, established the boundary between the two kingdoms in 1895. The Karemera dynasty - later to be replaced by the Baganwa dynasty - began in the 14th century in the territory of Burundi; the kingdom of Burundi was established in 1680, which went on until independence. In both areas, the minority Tutsi were in control. Hutu farmers, through the system of ubuhake pledged themselves to a Tutsi lord in return for the use of arable land and pasture; establishing over nearly four hundred years, a system of vassalage between pastoralists and agriculturists, the Tutsi and the Hutu. Most poor Hutu were obliged to enter into this form of subjugation in order to survive. When they entered into this system the Hutu had to provide their masters with labour to work his land, repair his huts, and some times provide him with a wife or concubine. As the territory grew, the governing elite became more clearly defined and thought themselves superior to “the ordinary people”. Over a period of more than three hundred years there has been a history of inter-marriage between the two groups, the identity of the father deciding which group children of the marriage belonged to; but this did not mean that group identity could not be changed. Through the social ritual called Kwihutura, a ritual by which a Hutu shed his Hutuness, the children could now becoming Tutsi. Similarly a Tutsi family without means would have to marry Hutu. Colonisation Even before the colonialists appeared, there were strong divisions between the Tutsi and the Hutu, but in the main they interacted peacefully, developing a uniformity of language and ritual across the kingdoms, uniting the population behind the Mwami. Towards the end of the 19th century, the whole of Africa was being taken over by Europeans; in 1884, at the Berlin Conference, it was decided who got what. Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanganyika, became German East Africa (GEA) in 1895. In 1899, the Germans formed the military district of Usumbura (Ruanda-Burundi) within GEA; then in 1907 this was divided into two civil residencies – Ruanda and Burundi. During WW I, the Belgians conquered parts of GEA in 1916, but following the defeat of Germany, Belgium, as set out in the Orts-Milner Convention with Britain in 1919, was only allowed to administer Ruanda-Burundi; known as the Belgian Occupied East African Territories. In 1924 the League of Nations granted Belgium full control over the area with the proviso that they prepare the territory for independence. The Belgians established indirect rule along with the Mwami, the Mwami effectively working under the Belgian President. Under the Belgians the Tutsi were considered superior to other groups and enjoyed privileged status, enabling them get the best jobs and a better education. The decision to favour the Tutsi presented the Belgians with a dilemma - who were Tutsi and who were Hutu - they decided to officially identify the two groups in 1935. Every person was to be issued with an identity card that classified him as either one or the other. Identification by physical characteristics was difficult, tracing a person’s genealogy was equally difficult; individuals could change groups as their fortunes rose or fell; it was decided to ask each

1

Cahoon B. Burundi: Chronology. http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Burundi.html Viaited 17 Dec. 09

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person his group identity. So under the law every individual was now classified as Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa, and had to carry his classification with him in the form of an ID card.

Rwanda With the end of the ritual of Kwihutura 1,(the identification card had made the ritual redundant) the Hutu majority was in a position to form an elite group for the first time since the creation of the Rwandan kingdom. The Hutu began to experience some solidarity, no longer oppressed by the Tutsi minority. The very fact that Tutsi and Hutu were now officially identified increasingly stressed their separateness. After WW II, the Belgian administration in Rwanda was placed under United Nations trusteeship and was expected to prepare the Rwandans for independence. In 1952 the Rwandan King, Rudahigwa, a Tutsi, requested the UN to increase the representation of the Hutu in the administration, in 1954 he abolished the system of ubuhake, and in the same year demanded total independence. As more and more Hutu were admitted into ‘public life’ the Tutsi became worried. As independence came nearer the Tutsi wanted rid of the Belgians before majority Hutu rule was installed, on the other hand, the Hutu wanted to gain control before the Belgians withdrew. Independence The period during the run up to independence gave birth to various political parties representing both Tutsi and Hutu. The Catholic Church encouraged the formation of anti Tutsi parties to promote the interests of the Hutu. The Belgian administration also came down on the side of the majority Hutu, and in 1957 a group of Hutu published the Hutu Manifesto, demanding that political authority be given to the Hutu majority; the prominent party representing the Hutu was PARMEHUTU (Le Parti du Mouvement de l’ emancipation Hutu). Representing the Tutsi was UNAR (Union Nationale Rwandaise), who wanted immediate independence under the King. In 1959, Hutus, encouraged by the Belgians, attacked, and killed thousands of Tutsi, King Kigiri V and tens of thousands of Tutsi were forced into exile. In 1960, with the help of the Belgians, PARMEHUTU were overwhelmingly voted into power, led by Gregoire Kayibanda, who became Prime Minister of the provisional government. The government began to replace Tutsi chiefs with Hutu which resulted in more killing; by 1963, some 130,000 Tutsi had fled to surrounding countries; 50,000 went into Burundi. In 1961 the Belgians, under conditions of terror, organised a referendum on the monarchy; with the backing of the United Nations monarchy was ended, and Kayibanda was declared president of the First Republic of Rwanda. Massacre of Tutsis continued and more and more fled the country into exile. In 1962, Belgium officially granted independence to Rwanda. From 1961 Tutsi exiles had been attacking Rwanda, seriously threatening the new regime in 1963. The Hutu used this as an excuse to get rid of the last vestiges of Tutsi authority within the new Republic. Between December 1963 and June 1964, it is estimated that 10,000 Tutsi were slaughtered.

For them, the battle had been legitimate as well as brave: the Hutu, as the “great majority,” the “rubanda nyamwinshi,” had the right to rule over the minority. In their eyes, the ethnic majority was necessarily the same as the democratic majority. 2

Kayibanda was re-elected as president in 1965 and Juvenal Habyarimana appointed Minister of Defence; the new government continued the system of labelling all Rwandans as Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa. The identity cards which had served as a guarantee of privileged status for the 1 2

See page 156 Human Rights Watch. http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno1-3-09.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09

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Tutsi, now served as a means to discriminate against them, and used by the Hutu government to justify the violence against them.

By 1967 when both the incursions and the attacks on Tutsi within Rwanda ended, Tutsi were at risk of attack for the simple fact of being Tutsi. During these years, some 20,000 Tutsi were killed and more than 300,000 were forced to flee abroad… 1

Following the revolution, the population of Tutsi in Rwanda had gone from 17.5% to only 8.5% by 1991. The governing party, PARMEHUTU, changed its name in 1969 to MDR (Mouvement Revolutionaire Republicaine) and Kayibanda was re-elected once again. Hutu power was based in the south of Rwanda and the northern Hutu became discontented with this split and constantly challenged those in the south and national unity became threatened. Habyarimana, the Minister of Defence in 1965, was from the north of Rwanda, promised to restore order and reunify the Hutu, took over the government in a bloodless coup d’ etat. His new party, MRND, (Mouvement Revolutionaire et National pour le Development) was declared the sole party of the state in 1975; the centre of this one party government was based in Kigali, now the capital city in the centre of the country. In the early years of the regime there was a large improvement in the Rwandan infrastructure, new roads were built, the telephone and electricity services were greatly improved, substantial foreign assistance was received, and the economy was prospering; but most of the population was still poor. At the end of the 1980’s coffee prices dropped sharply - coffee accounted for 75% of the Rwandan foreign exchange – and in 1989 there was a drought, the harvest was poor, and large numbers were short of food. The regime discriminated against the Tutsi and the Hutu who did not live in the “blessed region” in the northwest and favoured officials from Habyarimana’s home constituency of Gisenyi in the northwest.

Confronted by the dramatic economic decline and the evidence of increasing corruption and favouritism on the part of Habyarimana and his inner circle, political leaders, intellectuals, and journalists began demanding reforms. These critics within Rwanda echoed demands for greater democracy being heard elsewhere in Africa and in other parts of the world. 2

Habyarimana set up a commission to examine the possibility of political reform, allowing other parties into the government; but before any decisions were made, the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) attacked. Rewandese Patriotic Front (RPF) The RPF came into being through the efforts of the mainly Tutsi exiles in the countries surrounding Rwanda. By the late 1980’s there were approximately 600,000 in Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, and the Congo (DRC); and with the exception of Tanzania, the refugees lived without any rights. This refugee problem was debated in Washington in 1988, when the refugees affirmed their right to return to their homeland. By the time any progress was made to clear the way for return, the RPF decided to take the matter into its own hands. The party was not represented in Rwanda, and was afraid it might miss out in the ongoing moves to st accept other parties into the government. On October 1 1990, the RPA (Rwandan Patriotic Army) crossed into Rwanda from Uganda under the leadership of Paul Kagame. The early stages of the war were inconclusive for the RPA; they retreated to regroup in the north of Rwanda. Under the supervision of the French the government army of Habyarimana was 1 2

Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno1-3-09.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09 Ibid.

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expanded from about 5,000 to an estimated 40,000 by mid-1992. The RPA received similar assistance from the Western powers, notably the US - at the beginning of the war the RPA numbered about 2,500, by April 1994 it numbered 25,000. Arusha Accords Under the banner of conflict resolution the Western powers organised a meeting between the two warring factions which took place at Arusha, in Tanzania, in July 1992, the Arusha Peace Process. The negotiations at Arusha fixed a timetable for the ending of the war, and the beginning of talks to decide power sharing in the government. The terms imposed during the negotiations, in effect, transferred power from the existing government leaving a structure dominated by the RPF who were given five of the 21 ministry posts, control of 50% of the military high command and the RPA were to be represented by 40% of the armed forces. The Arusha Accords were a frontal attack on the regime of Habyarimana. But, there was no longer to be a one party state, all parties were to be included in the government, and any group that opposed the Arusha Accords were to be excluded. By the time the negotiations were complete, August 1993, the old regime was threatened with being completely sidelined. During the course of the negotiations (November, 1992) Habyarimana made it clear that he would not implement the agreement, he dismissing the Accords as just a scrap of paper. Army chiefs loyal to Habyarimana promoted hatred against Tutsi, and against any Hutu who were supporters of the Arusha Accords. Newspapers which criticised the views of the president were declared RPF sympathisers, the RPF were blamed for increases in crime and violence. The local radio station RTLM, owned by top government leaders, began a campaign of hate against the Tutsi, making veiled calls for violence against them. The media, in particular the radio station, was used as an instrument for legitimising killing the Tutsi.

The power of RTLM was its ability to provide an overall framework for understanding what was going on in the world, and for understanding how to react to these events. By interpreting the world for its listeners, the station was able to prescribe particular actions that under normal circumstances most people would have found objectionable and immoral. 1

During this same period the infamous Interahamwe; groups of armed youths sympathetic to the government was formed; guns and machetes were purchased by the government to arm them. According to Linda Melvern, in her book “Conspiracy to Murder - The Rwandan Genocide”; the Rwandan government imported 750,000 machetes from China; she also states that arms were bought from Egypt and France. In her book she also reveals that according to testimony given by the Prime Minister, Jean Kambanda, at his interrogation by war crimes investigators, that genocide was openly discussed at cabinet meetings.

Framework for Genocide By the end of the negotiations in Arusha in August 1993, Rwandan society became more and more divided. There was the war with the RPF, the power struggle within the government Habyarimana was stalling over the Arusha Accords - and there was an ongoing hate campaign being broadcast by the RTLM against the Tutsi. In Burundi the Hutu president was assassinated, tens of thousands of Tutsi were killed and hundreds of thousands of refugees moved into southern Rwanda. Hutu sympathisers said that the Tutsi were reluctant to share 1

Fujii, Lee Ann (2002): The Diffusion of a Genocidal Norm in Rwanda: Quoted

in:http://www.duo.uio.no/publ/statsvitenskap/2004/19095/19095.pdf Visited 17 Dec. 09

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power with the Hutu. The economy was in a poor state since the collapse of coffee prices in 1989, and much of the population was impoverished and malnourished. In December 1993, 600 RPF troops were escorted into the capital, Kigali, to monitor the changes in the government proposed by the Arusha agreement. The International Monetary Fund suspended credit, stating that the government of Habyarimana was now illegal. The deadline, December 31st 1993, for setting up a Broad Based Temporary Government (BBTG) was ignored, and the security situation in Rwanda deteriorated further. From December 1993, to March 1994, the government owned radio station, RTLM, broadcast hours of inflammatory propaganda against the Tutsis:

The RTLM had broadcast that the RPF had returned to restore Tutsi hegemony, labelling all Tutsi as RPF supporters and exhorting Hutu peasants to decapitate Tutsi. 1

In January 1994, the commander of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), Romeo Dellaire, sent a cable to UN headquarters stating that he had been told of arms caches and that the Interahamwe were being trained to kill:

Dallaire sent a cable to the Military Adviser to the Secretary-General at Headquarters, Major-General J. Maurice Baril, informing that a Hutu informant, a top level trainer in the cadre of Interahamwe (the largest and most deadly Hutu militia who were recruited from the youth wing of the President’s party, Mouvement Revolutionnaire National pour le Developpement, MRND), had told him that Interahamwe were registering all Tutsi in Kigali and planning to exterminate them. The informant also said that a number of Belgian soldiers were to be killed in order to guarantee Belgian withdrawal from Rwanda. In this cable, Dallaire said he intended to take action to raid the extremists’ arms cache. 2

President Habyarimana and others in the government denied any knowledge of the activities of the Interhamwe and promised to investigate. A few days after Dellaire’s cable, the UN Secretary General expressed his concern over the “deterioration of the situation in Rwanda” and the delays in setting up the BBTG. Habyarimana contacted the Secretary General and said that he needed help from the US, Belgian, French, and Tanzanian ambassadors, as well as help from UNAMIR, to impose a solution on the parties. Throughout most of February 1994, new dates were set for the start of the BBTG which were not met; the security situation deteriorated further when more arms were distributed. Leaders of the PSD and CDR parties were assassinated.

February 23: In his cable to Headquarters, Dallaire said that information regarding weapons distribution, death squad target lists, planning of civil unrest and demonstrations abounded. 3 By March 1st, the UN told the Habyarimana government they would withdraw UNAMIR if progress was not made in setting up the BBTG; by the end of March more than 2500 UNAMIR troops were in Rwanda. On April 5th, the mandate of UNAMIR was extended to July 29th. On April 6th, the aeroplane carrying Habyarimana and the president of Burundi was shot down, killing both presidents; they were returning from a regional summit in Tanzania.

1

Report of the Independent Inquiry into the actions of the UN during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/RwandaReport4.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09 2 Ibid. 3 ibid.

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Within an hour of the plane crash, roadblocks were set up at many streets in Kigali and the killings started, initiated by the Interahamwe militia and the Impuzamugbmi (Hutu militia drawn from the youth wing of the CDR) and the units of the Presidential Guards. The first target for elimination was political leaders. 1

Following many accusations and much speculation, the responsibility for destroying the aircraft has never been determined. It was the signal for the genocide to commence.

The Initiators Theoneste Bogosora, a retired Colonel from the Ministry of Defence, took control after the death of the president. He pushed hard for a military take over of the government, which was not accepted by the majority of the army elite. The UN urged them to contact the Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana to arrange for a legitimate continuation of civilian authority. Bogosora rejected the UN suggestion, and the following day the Prime Minister was assassinated along with a contingent of Belgian troops sent to protect her. Earlier the same day two presidential candidates for the provisional government, and the president of the Constitutional Court were also murdered.

By mid-day April 7, the Presidential Guard, with the help of soldiers of other elite battalions and some National Policemen, had eliminated those leaders who could have legitimately governed. 2 On April 8th, Bogosora assembled a meeting of party leaders, all Hutu, to form a civilian government. An ageing politician; with no personality; Dr. Theodore Sindikubwabo was installed as President. A younger, inexperienced man, Jean Kambanda, was settled on for Prime Minister; in reality Bogosora had got his way. This interim government presented itself as legitimate and promised to re-establish security and negotiate with the RPF to form the BBTG; the government fled from the capital on April 12th, leaving Bogosora and his supporters to carry on the genocide. The killing was started by the Presidential Guard, the paracommando battalion, and the reconnaissance battalion. The first killers, like the first leaders, were only a small part of those that would eventually be part of the wholesale massacre of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu; they probably numbered no more than 6,000 to 7,000 throughout the country.

For the first few days, it was not clear how many more of the hundreds of thousands who had been influenced by the ideas of Hutu Power were prepared to kill, rape, maim, burn, or pillage in its name. But by the middle of the following week, the initiators were assured of the support they needed to attempt the wholesale elimination of the Tutsi. 3

Genocide By the 11th April, about 20,000 had been killed, mostly Tutsi, but including those Hutu who were considered sympathetic to the Tutsi. At the outset, in Kigali and the surrounding districts - leaders directed two kinds of killing, specific individuals from lists that had been made up before the killing began; and the Tutsi as 1

Report of the Independent Inquiry into the actions of the UN during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/RwandaReport4.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09 2 3

Human rights Watch. http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno4-7-02.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09 ibid.

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a group. Those listed were mainly Hutu who supported the RPF and had criticised the Habyarimana regime.

As early as daybreak on April 7, the organizers had already distributed lists of the names of these specially targeted persons, both Hutu and Tutsi, to squads of killers. 1 On the morning of April 7th, Bogosora was heard directing the commanders of the elite military units to begin a systematic sweep of the Tutsi and opponents of the Hutu regime. The radio stations identified areas of Kigali to be attacked. Later that day, killers began their work in other regions in the east and west. They began first in small bands, but later, large groups took the opportunity to intensify the killing, attacking schools, hospitals, and churches where their victims had looked for shelter.

On the morning of April 9, some sixty Interahamwe led by Jean Ntawutagiripfa, known as “Congolais,” and accompanied by four National Policemen, forced their way into the church at Gikondo, an industrial section of Kigali. They killed more than a hundred people that day, mostly with machetes and clubs. 2

Even after the news of the killings began to spread, frightened Tutsi still gathered in churches seeking shelter. The government took advantage of this and promised protection if the Tutsi would assemble at places designated by the government. When sufficient numbers were assembled they were systematically killed. At Nyange church a bulldozer flattened the building and all those inside.

From April 11 to the first of May, killers carried out the most devastating massacres of the genocide, in some cases slaying hundreds or even thousands of people in one or two days. 3

In 100 days more than 800,000 Rwandans were killed. The RPF renewed its war against the Hutu government when it heard of the genocide, fighting Hutu forces and the Interahamwe militia. The RPF defeated the Hutu regime in July 1994 ending the killing. Millions of Hutu, fearing retribution from the RPF, fled Rwanda into the neighbouring countries of Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Congo, creating some of the worst refugee camps in modern times. Accounts of the Killing Leopoldo Twagirayezu, an Interahamwe member, told of his part in the killing of 3,000 at the church in Nyamata:

... We were singing, crying and shouting with joy. The body count made us happy. Some used pestles, but I preferred a machete — swing for the Achilles' tendons first, the upraised arms next, the head last. Out of the 3,000 people who were inside the church, maybe five got away. It took us six and a half hours and we were thorough and systematic. We had one aim and we accomplished it. I was proud. We got beer to drink and food to eat, even beef. . . . I was transformed. I was happy. 4

1

Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno4-7-02.htm#P573_149588 Visited 17 Dec. 09 Ibid. 3 ibid. 4 100 Days of Rwanda, 2004 http://www.silent-edge.org/mt/rwanda/2004_04.html Visited 17 Dec. 09 2

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The following is an account by the West Africa correspondent of the BBC, Mark Doyle; he visited Nyamata in June 1994, shortly after the genocidal killings: The first thing was the smell. We were approaching a church outside Nyamata and the vile smell of rotting flesh was the first signal of what we were about to see. Outside the church, the grounds were littered with bodies, some mutilated, all in contorted positions. I recall having to step very carefully to avoid treading on one of the corpses or body parts. I didn't count the dead because what I saw inside made accurate counting impossible. In the thin blue light provided by the remains of a broken stained glass window, I saw the ground was thick with bodies - in places, three or four deep. There were certainly hundreds of genocide victims in and around the church at Nyamata that day. Some had been killed with machetes, but shrapnel holes on the inside of the brick walls of the church testified to grenades having been thrown into the crowded building before the killers managed to get in to finish their work. It was clear from the sheer number of corpses in the church that the victims had gathered there because they thought it would provide them with shelter. In the church grounds, apart from bodies, there were little piles of clothes strewn on the ground. They were the bundled together belongings of people who had fled their homes believing they had a chance of escaping the genocide.

In Nyamata, as many as 10,000 Tutsis were murdered where they had massed for protection, inside the church walls and within the walls of the pastor's house. Ten thousand more Tutsis — some say a conservative estimate — were hunted down and killed in the hills surrounding the village. Nyamata, a remote district in Aloisea's province, sustained some of the worst genocidal violence against Tutsis. 1

Alex Belida, a senior correspondent with the Voice of America dictated the following into his tape recorder at a remote eastern Rwandan town of Nyarubuye in May 1994:

We’ve just driven several kilometers along a dirt road north from the Rwandan border town of Rusumo and we’ve arrived in a small town called Nyarubuye. And right here on the ground in front of me is the decomposed corpse of a child, its skull bleached white, its dress still lying on what is left of the body. In the tall grass nearby, another body. .This body has been flattened, its skull crushed. These bodies are lying in front of a church. Just in the courtyard here in front of the church I can count 10 bodies, assorted body parts. ... There’s a decapitated child. We’re now about to go into the church itself and right on the steps is a body. And inside the church are several more bodies, again badly decomposed. ... Obviously people fled 2

In Butare Province:

Authorities had transferred six to seven hundred children from an orphanage in Kigali to the Groupe Scholaire and also had allowed several hundred other displaced persons from Kigali to take shelter in the school buildings and courtyard. On April 21, soldiers and Interahamwe, some of whom were wearing the distinctive green and yellow patterned tunic of the militia, came to the Groupe Scolaire as the orphans and displaced persons were eating their noon meal. They called them out to the courtyard, separated them into two groups on the basis of their identity cards, and began killing the Tutsi, mostly with machetes and clubs.

1

Sidell K.L.2004 Sister Anne Builds her Dream School. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2004/04/25/sister_ann_builds_her_dream_school?mode=PF Visited 17 Dec. 09 2 Belida A. Remembering Rwanda: http://www.afsa.org/fsj/apr04/Alex0404.pdf Visited 17 Des 2009

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Local residents, reportedly under the direction of the cell head Faustin Twagirayezu and including especially Burundians, also joined in the slaughter. According to one witness, several women, both Rwandan and Burundian, killed other women and children 1

At Kabakobwa, in Butare province, as many as 10,000 Tutsi had gathered fleeing the killing:

That afternoon local people attacked the Tutsi, apparently with some support from the communal police, including at least one former soldier. At first the Tutsi repelled the attack. Some Tutsi, numbering perhaps 500, decided to flee Rwanda and headed southeast for the frontier in Kibayi commune. Most were killed before they could cross the river that forms the boundary between Rwanda and Burundi. The next morning, April 22, the communal police arrived in a Ngoma commune pickup truck and took away several Tutsi selected from the crowd. They returned later that day with soldiers and National Police who used rocketpropelled grenade launchers and machine guns to slaughter the Tutsi. That night, on the hills of Nyaruhengeri, on the other side of the valley, some local people celebrated the massacre with feasting, singing, and dancing. 2

It is likely that more than 100,000 persons were slain in the large-scale massacres in Butare prefecture. Tutsi women were subjected to the horrors of rape and sexual servitude during the course of the Genocide. If their lives were spared, they were distributed among the militia who raped them before killing them, or kept them for months using them at will. The militia sometimes mutilated the women, cutting off their breasts and puncturing their vaginas with spears or sticks, they cut off noses and fingers that were considered particular features of the Tutsi women. In mid May, the number of attacks against women indicates that a decision to kill women had been made at the national level.

Women who had been living on their own as well as those who had been kept alive to serve the sexual demands of their captors were slaughtered. 3

In 1996, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), initiated the investigation of a mass grave at the church in Kibuye. The team was under the direction of the UN Senior forensic Consultant, Dr. W. Haglund, and the Director of Forensic Programs for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Bob Kirscner, MD. Stefan Scmitt, a forensic anthropologist, organised the team to carry out the work of exhumation and analysis of the remains.

This is the grave at Kibuye. The top part of the grave where the bodies are more skeletalized and deeper in the grave, when you have mothers with their dresses wrapped, swaddled around infants that are tied to their backs in a grave like this. We had 25 percent -- 70 percent of this grave's contents were women and children. Twenty-five percent of the children were under 10 years of age. 4

The BBC Online reporter Julian Fowler, interviewed a priest sent from Ireland to the church of Cyanika, six months after the genocide:

1

Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno11-4-04.htm#P306_98854 Visited 17 Dec. 09 Ibid. Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno4-7-04.htm#P1272_368361 V isited 17 Dec. 09 4 Crimes of War Project, The Scientific Investigation of War Crimes. http://www.crimesofwar.org/seminars/day2haglund-p3.html Visited 17 Dec. 09 2 3

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•

Many of the people from the hills and all around started coming in here for security - they were afraid of their lives," said Father Hennity. "Unfortunately, on the 21 April, the militia came in and all the armed groups and they started massacring the people who were here within the compound. "And many of the local people joined in with their machetes killing people. "So in this compound something in the region of 6,000 people were killed, were massacred within one day which is something unbelievable but this is what happened. 1

RPF victory In late May, 1994, the RPA advanced on the capital Kigali, militia leaders and their followers fled, but the army continued to hold on to parts of the capital. As the RPA advanced the authorities managed to galvanise killers to hunt for the last remaining Tutsi. Several attempts to massacre Tutsi were prevented by the rapid advance of the RPA. But the radio announcers continued to incite more killing:

In June Bemerki pushed killers to complete the elimination of Tutsi, “their total extermination, putting them all to death, their total extinction.” On July 2 Kantano Habimana exultantly invited his listeners to join him in a song of celebration. Let’s rejoice, friends! The Inkotanyi have been exterminated! Let’s rejoice, friend. God can never be unjust!...these criminals...these suicide commandos...without doubt they will have been exterminated...Let us go on. Let us tighten our belts and exterminate them...so that our children and our grandchildren and the children of our grandchildren never again hear of what is called Inkotanyi… 2 On July 4th, the RPA captured Kigali, and by the 18th July, they had gained control over the whole of Rwanda except the Humanitarian Protection Zone, controlled by the French Operation Turquoise. The RPF unilaterally declared a cease-fire.

The Aftermath Rwanda’s economy was shattered; roads, bridges, and telephone lines had been destroyed. Education was disrupted, many teachers had been killed, and school buildings had been wrecked. Because of the widespread rape, many women are now suffering from AIDS; the consequences of which are ongoing, their children are also infected. The shortage of men, who were killed in the genocide, lead women into the process of sharing, and even hiring men: known as kwinjira. This process of ‘husband-hiring’, according to the health authorities, “represents the greatest challenge to their efforts to combat the spread of AIDS”.

Dr Kamali, who works in the Kabgayi hospital outside Gitarama town, said that as many as 50% of the Aids tests he administers are turning up positive results. All of which is no surprise to the director of the National Aids Control Programme, Innocent Ntaganira: Aids patients take 60% of hospital beds and more than 200,000 Rwandans - 50,000 of them children - have died of the disease. 3

The ICTR is at present trying 28 of the main participants, 15 are waiting trial, 16 trials have been completed, 6 are at the appeal stage. Five people have been released, there has been one death, and 9 are still at large. 1

Fowler J. Rebuilding a Shattered Community. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3537325.stm Visited 17 Dec. 09 2 Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno4-7-04.htm#P1326_383274 Visited 17 Dec. 09 3 Gough D, The Guardian 2000. http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,235794,00.html#article_continue Visited 17 Dec. 09

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The first person to be sentenced by the ICTR, in 1998, and according to Gendercide Watch, was to be the first ever indicted by ICTR; was Jean-Paul Akayesu. The next day the former Prime Minister, Jean Kambanda, was sentenced to life in prison. Refugees During the Genocide more than 60,000 Tutsi fled to Burundi, and over 500,000 moved into Tanzania. When the war ended over two million Hutu, fearing reprisals by the RPF, fled to surrounding countries. This mass exodus was in part orchestrated by the collapsing regime that hid themselves in the midst of the fleeing population. Some of the refugee camps, particularly those to the west of Rwanda just over the border in the Congo (Zaire), became bases for the defeated Rwandan army and the leaders of the Interahamwe militia.

…the domination and terrorising of genuine refugees by heavily armed thugs in the Zaire camps became a deadly reality for UNHCR to square up to. Acting like a virtual government in exile, the militias trafficked in arms, diverted international aid to the black market for buying weapons and conscripted refugees to mount increasingly fierce attacks across the border into Rwanda. Here were nearly 100,000 mass murderers from whom it was foolhardy to expect any respect for international refugee protection instruments or UN conventions. 1

The conditions in the camps are appalling, lack of water, food, sanitation and medical supplies; crime flourished. Tens of thousands have died from disease and starvation. Cholera epidemics devastated the refugees. Appeals by the aid groups were made to the UN to disarm the army and militia, to set up some means of keeping order, and to bring the genocidaires to justice. But members of the Security Council and other states failed to support such measures, and humanitarian organizations working in the camps remained powerless. A further catastrophe was in the making. The following is extracted from The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, who published a report in February 2006, by Sreeram S. Chaulia, titled: “UNHCR’s Relief, Rehabilitation and Repatriation of Rwandan Refugees in Zaire (1994-1997) “

The material assistance objective suffered initially from the size of the crisis at hand, the scope of which was so gargantuan and unexpected that UNHCR found itself under-equipped. According to the Organisation of African Unity, UNHCR and NGOs were caught “completely off-guard” in the early months, their contingency planning being based on an influx of not more that 50,000 people, by the world record proportions of the population movements. Their estimate of 50,000 was probably based on previous examples of population movements in the region and the poor coverage given to a unique and ghastly event in modern African history, genocide. UNHCR was operating for the first time in a post-genocide ambience. The mass of humanity that had rolled into Zaire lacked food, medicines, shelter, drinking water, hygiene and sanitation, and was soon engulfed in an enormous cholera epidemic, which UNHCR was unable to stem in the inaugural two months of July and August. After the first week, there were 600 deaths a day and after two weeks, 3000 deaths a day. Altogether, the number of deaths in the Goma camps amounted to 50,000 or more by the time the ‘CNN Factor’ brought in massive amounts of foreign aid in response to moving TV images and the High Commissioner’s appeal for contributions, Bill Clinton describing the camps as “the worst humanitarian crisis in a generation.” From a paucity of funds and equipment in mid-July, UNHCR went on to enjoy almost $ 1 million a day for spending on relief efforts until December 1994 and the result was an immediate improvement in delivery of the

1

Chauli S. S. UNHCR’s Relief, Rehabilitation and Repatriation of Rwandan Refugees in Zaire (1994-1997) http://www.jha.ac/articles/a086.htm Visited 1`7 Visited 17 Dec. 09

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material assistance objective. But as Shahryar Khan, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Rwanda, wrote, the price paid in the intermediate period was nothing short of a “revision of hell” and a “surrealist painting of doom” after a horrendous genocide. 1

Estimated size and geographical distribution of the Hutu refugees in the Great Lakes Region (1995) 2 Brundi Tanzania Uganda Zaire (Goma) Zaire (Bukavu) Zaire (Uvira)

270,000 577,000 10,000 850,000 333,000 62,000

Total

2,102,000

The refugees, mainly Hutu, caught up in the political manoeuvrings of the post genocide Rwandan government, the ex-FAR and Interahamwe militia, and the failing rule of Zairian President Mobutu suffered appalling loss of life and freedom. The conditions in the camps were bad enough; when they moved further into Zaire to avoid the fighting in the border camps, they were denied access and moved from camp to camp; they were afraid to go back into Rwanda for fear of reprisals. Hundreds of thousands of refugees were cut off from aid because of the fighting between the Zairian army and Hutu militants, and their opponents, the RPF and Zairian Tutsi rebels. Under very difficult circumstances the aid organisations did what they could, but their pleas to the first world countries to stop the fighting went unheeded. UN Failure The UN, who were overseeing the formation of the BBTG in Rwanda, failed to prevent the genocide. At the end of April 1994, several weeks after the killing commenced, the UN Security Council issued a statement condemning the slaughter, but the term genocide was not used in this statement. On May 4th in an interview with the US TV news programme, Nightline, the UN Secretary General said: “here you have a real genocide, in Kigali.” It was May 25th before the UN formerly admitted that genocide was taking place. REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO THE ACTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS DURING THE 1994 GENOCIDE IN RWANDA, 15 DECEMBER, 1999 Part II

The Independent Inquiry finds that the response of the United Nations before and during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda failed in a number of fundamental respects. The responsibility for the failings of the United Nations to prevent and stop the genocide in Rwanda lies with a number of different actors, in particular the Secretary-General, the Secretariat, the Security Council, UNAMIR and the broader membership of the United Nations. This international responsibility is one which warrants a clear apology by the Organization and by Member States concerned to the Rwandese people. As to the responsibility of those Rwandans who planned, incited and carried out the genocide against their countrymen, continued efforts must be made to bring them to justice – at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and nationally in Rwanda. 3

1

Chauli S. S. UNHCR’s Relief, Rehabilitation and Repatriation of Rwandan Refugees in Zaire (1994-1997) http://www.jha.ac/articles/a086.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09 2 Ibid. 3 Report of the Independent Inquiry into the actions of the UN during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/RwandaReport2.htm Visited 17 Dec. 09

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Burundi th

The Kingdom of Burundi was established, as stated above, in the 17 century; as in Rwanda the Tutsi were in the minority, but the Hutu were attached to the Tutsi mwami who held the power. Those next to the mwami, the ganwa, princes of the blood, became identified as a separate ethnic group, were composed of nobles from rival lineages – the Bezi, and the Batare, who were to be pivotal in the future politics of the country. At the end of WW I, the Belgians were given a mandate from the League of Nations to administer both Burundi and Rwanda (Rwanda-Urundi). In both countries Belgium imposed a system of forced labour and high taxes which brought about peasant unrest in the 1920’s and 1930’s, mostly against the Batare lineage who were seen as pro-Belgian; the Belgians wanted the present mwami, Mwambutsa, a Batare, to be succeeded by another from the same lineage. Following WW II, the United Nations (UN) superseded the League of Nations and pressured Belgium to make provisions for independence of Rwanda-Urundi, it was not until 1959 that Belgium committed itself to political reform; however, in 1958 several political parties had already been formed. The mwami’s son prince Rwagasore and Leopold Biha, formed the National Unity and Progress Party (UPRONA), dedicated to traditional institutions based around the mwami and the Bezi lineage. Later, Rwagasore changed direction and sought to make the party follow nationalist lines. The Batare faction, who openly supported the Belgians, formed the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). In 1961 the UN put more pressure on the Belgian administration to hold elections; UPRONA won by an overwhelming majority. Rwagasore was appointed prime minister with 54 of the 68 seats in the legislature; later that year, on October 13th, Rwagasore was assassinated by agents of the PDC. The death of Rwagasore ended efforts to settle ethnic differences, with disastrous consequences. After the assassination of Rwagasore his father mwami Mwambutsa asserted himself and changed the UPRONA to an appendage of the court; the country moved from a constitutional monarchy to one ruled by the mwami and it took over the political system. The same year, 1961, Burundi became the Kingdom of Burundi. The mwami consistently played Hutu against Tutsi in the government aggravating ethnic tension. In January 1965, the mwami dismissed the Tutsi prime minister and replaced him with a Hutu – Pierre Ngedendumwe, -three days later he was shot dead and the mwami called for elections. Hutu candidates took 23 of the 33 seats in the National Assembly; however, they were denied power when the mwami appointed Leopold Biha, a Bezi Tutsi, as prime minister; the Mwami refused to allow the Hutu majority to take control of the government because, he said, he would no longer be able to protect his people. In October of the same year, Biha was shot and left for dead by a group of army officers, who went on to attack the royal palace but were repulsed by loyal soldiers led by Captain Michel Micombero. This attempted coup led to the killing of all prominent Hutu; the mwami Mwambutsa, fearing for his life, fled to Europe. Government was now in the hands of the Tutsi. In an effort to preserve the power of the monarchy the exiled Mwambutsa sent his son Charles Ndizeye to Burundi to act as Prince Regent. On the 8th July 1966, the prince dissolved the constitution and dismissed the government of Leopold Biha, who earlier had been left for dead after being shot by Hutu sympathisers. Ndizeye declared himself mwami as Ntare V and appointed Michel Micombero as prime minister. The reign of Ntare was short lived; in November he was deposed by Micombero who declared the country a republic and made himself president, prime minister, minister of defence, and head of UPRONA, effectively abolishing the monarchy. Micombero formed a new government in December 1966, of the 13 ministerial posts – 5 went to Hutu and the others were divided between the various Tutsi groups; with at least 4 from

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Micombero’s home province of Bururi. This mixed government became a further source of ethnic – Hutu against Tutsi – and inter-ethnic – Tutsi against Tutsi – rivalries, and Micombero took advantage by constantly playing one against the other to maintain his hold on power. The Tutsi rivalries, which were of long standing, were mainly regional – the Banyabururi from the north, and the Banyaruguru from the south of the country. The constant infighting between the two main Tutsi groups led to near anarchy in government and charges of conspiracy were brought against prominent Banyaruguru in July 1971 - in January 1972 nine were sentenced to death, and seven more sentenced to life in prison. There were lots of rumours of plots and counter-plots within Micombero’s administration which were undermining its legitimacy. In this ever moving and complex political environment a group of Tutsi politicians emerged. The predominant Tutsi group in the government got rid of the few remaining Belgian army advisors then steps were taken to rid the army and government of Hutu. In September 1969 Hutu army officers and government officials were arrested and later executed, followed by the arrest and execution of Hutu soldiers. Although there was still some Hutu influence in the army and the government, Tutsi dominance was clear, and the process of eliminating opposition went on to rid the army and government of the Tutsi from the north, the Banyaruguru. In October 1971, Micombero set up the Supreme council of the Republic –to counter all tendencies likely to endanger national unity and peace…and to ensure discipline in all state organs. The ex-King, Ntare, was brought back from exile and sent to Gitega where he was later murdered. Micombero’s elimination of all opposition created a climate of fear throughout the country which led him on the 29th April 1972 to dismiss all cabinet members; several hours later a Hutu rebellion began. Small bands of Hutu rebels, assisted by Muelists (rebel forces from the Congo) began killing Tutsis in the southern provinces; according to Lemarchand, the hard core of rebels came from over the border in Tanzania. There were about 10,000 rebels involved in the early stages and they began to kill and mutilate every Tutsi they could find, including the women and children. These rebels were usually under the influence of marijuana and they were sometimes identified by wearing blood stained saucepans on their heads and wore tattoos to protect them from attack. Counter attacks by the Tutsi government and Jeunesses Nationalistes Rwagasore (JNR) began the following day, 30th April, co-ordinating their efforts to exterminate everyone suspected of being involved in the uprising, they proclaimed Marshal Law and a dawn to dusk curfew. In the province of Bururi indiscriminate attacks were carried out on every Hutu – they were rounded up, taken to jail to be beaten to death or shot. In the town of Bujumbura it is estimated that 4000 were killed. A Tutsi witness stated that the intellectuals were the worst sufferers - Bujumbura University was attacked and Hutu students beaten to death. Everywhere schools and colleges were singled out, not only the state schools, but the Catholic and Protestant schools as well - and all Hutu students killed. The process was to kill off all elite and potentially elite Hutu, including thousands of teachers, school directors, doctors, nurses, and protestant and catholic leaders. The unfortunate Hutu were loaded into lorries and Landrovers and carted away to be killed on the journey to prison or finished off by being beaten to death on arrival; through May and June bodies were seen to be buried in mass graves. The aim of the Tutsi government was to get rid of any Hutu who were perceived as a potential threat.

Prophylactic violence thus became a major element in the strategy of counter-insurgency adopted by Tutsi authorities to deal with the Hutu problem. The aim was to decapitate not only the rebellion but Hutu society as well, and in the process lay the foundation of an entirely new social order. 1

1

Selective Genocide in Burundi, Prof. Rene Lemarchand.

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Lemarchand states: “The repression took on the qualities of a selective genocide directed at all educated or semi-educated strata of Hutu society.” It is estimated that 800,000 Hutu were killed in this unrecognised genocide, (Lemarchand). Barbara Harff, Professor of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy, gives a definitive figure of 140,000 in her paper: No Lessons Learned from the Holocaust? (2003). Frederic Hunter, a journalist from the Christian Science Monitor, 11 April 1973, asked if there existed an international conscience, the answer was given by a western diplomat: "Nobody wants to start up another fuss in a faraway country if personal interests are not involved". There were to be two more genocidal events in Burundi -1988 and again in 1993. The killing in August 1988 was the result of Hutu expectations and the reality of the Tutsi rulers. The government of President Buyoya recognised the problems between the Tutsi and the Hutu and made efforts to achieve parity between the two in the government. Hutu were dissatisfied with the progress of the government and continued to protest and Tutsi local officials were killed. In response to this killing, the Tutsi dominated army, carried out massacres in some northern provinces; between 5,000 and 20,000 Hutu were killed. Another power struggle took place in October 1993. In June 1993, the Tutsi led government held open presidential elections, predictably, the majority Hutu population elected a Hutu, Melchiot Ndadaye, the first democratically elected president since Burundi was controlled by the Belgians. Afraid of Hutu domination Ndadaye was assassinated. Over the next few months 50,000 were killed, Hutu and Tutsi. The fighting created 250,000, mainly Hutu, refugees. Following international pressure a coalition government was formed with a Hutu president, Cyprien Ntaryamira. Ntaryamira was assassinated along with the Rwandan president Habyarimana in April 1994, resulting in the Rwandan genocide. Ubuhake

Patron/client relationships What appears to have kept the people together is the institution of the ubuhake - a highly personalized relationship between two individuals of unequal social status (Maquet, 1954). This patron/ client relationship involved reciprocal bonds of loyalty and exchange of goods and services. It provided a place, a status, within an hierarchical system. The patron was mostly Tutsi, but the client could be Hutu or Tutsi of inferior social status. One person could be a client as well as a patron. Even Tutsi patrons of Hutu could be clients of yet another Tutsi. Theoretically, the only person ultimately not a client of this system was the mwami himself. Thus, most Tutsi were clients and some Hutu patrons. At the top, however, there were always Tutsi and at the bottom always Hutu and/or Twa. This institutionalized relationship was reinforced under colonial rule and lasted until it was brought to an end in the 1950s (Saucier, 1974; C. Newbury, 1988). The ubuhake system and social order were predominant in central Rwanda, where Tutsi had their strongest influence. In the regions dominated by Hutu in the northern and south-western areas, different systems, mostly based on land-lease contracts or donation of agricultural products, were developed; the patrons were often Hutu, and in the north exclusively so (d'Hertefelt, 1962; Vansina, 1962). However, the dominance of cattle as a form of disposable wealth meant that the Tutsi cattle chiefs were able to dominate central Rwanda. Mobilizing an army required capital, which came only in the form of livestock, and Tutsi controlled the cattle. In these parts, Hutu was almost synonymous with client. The ubuhake (and other forms of patron/client relationship such as the uburetwa) did have some important effects, viz. 1) it institutionalized the economic differences between the mainly cultivating Hutu and the cattle-breeding Tutsi; 2) it was an instrument of control, and turned Hutu into socio-economic and political

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clients and Tutsi into patrons; and 3) it led to a process of "ethnic" amalgamation, particularly among Hutu. The result was an "ethnic" Hutu-Tutsi dichotomy, following the socio-economic and political process engendered by Tutsi extension and occupation (Lema, 1993). However, a number of historians question the assumption that the patron/client relationship was an important cornerstone of the traditional Hutu-Tutsi social formation as the Rwandese clans were both multiclass and multi-"ethnic". Hutu and Tutsi, they point out, shared membership in all the 19 main clans of Rwanda (Vidal, 1985; d'Hertefelt, 1971; C. Newbury 1978; D. Newbury, 1980). In particular, Hutu did not feel as one people or identify themselves as such. In this view, the system rather resulted in an economic differentiation and stratification between various occupations. 1

Kwihutura that you were born either Hutu or Tutsi did not mean that you could not change from Hutu to Tutsi, or Tutsi to Hutu -- under definitely prescribed circustances – during your lifetime. In preGerman and pre-Belgium controlled Rwanda, Tutsi was an identity of wealth and of power. Hutu signified a lack of both. A Hutu with means could go through a social ritual called Kwihutura. It was a ritual by which a Hutu shed his Hutuness. Your children could now marry Tutsi and their children would be considered Tutsi. Likewise, a Tutsi family without means may find it difficult to find a Tutsi spouse for their off-spring. These children would then have no choice but to marry Hutu. While the social space between Hutu and Tutsi was vast, with Tutsi as power and Hutu as subject, it was a space that some could and did negotiate, either through opportunity that came with enrichment or through compulsion that was a consequence of impoverishment.

1

Selstro and Wohlgemuth, Joint Evaluation of Emergency Assistance to Rwanda. Document compiled by Dr S D Stein, 2007 http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/Rwanda/Rwanda4b.htm Visited 18 Dec. 09

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Sudan

• Figure 35 Map of Nubia

Present day Sudan is the largest country in Africa. The indigenous African population, living mainly in the southern part of the country, has for a long time been marginalised by the ruling Arab Moslem government. Since the early 90’s they have been subjected to genocide. Most of the estimated 30 million population live in southern areas around the river Nile and its many tributaries; the northern part, being mainly desert, does not support agriculture or herding. Within the country there are 19 major ethnic groups and around 600 subgroups speaking more than 100 languages. According to the census, carried out in 1956, Africans numbered 61%, and Arabs 39%. Of the Africans, the Dinka were the largest group at 12%. The religious mix was estimated as 70% Muslim, mostly living in the northern areas, and the rest were either Christian or practised traditional African religions.

History To the north of Sudan is Egypt, who about 2000 BCE colonised parts of northern Sudan, then known as Nubia. Within Nubia, the area along the River Nile, from present day Wadi Halfa to Khartoum, was called the land of Kush and was ruled by the Egyptians; in about 800 BCE, the Kushites rebelled against Egyptian domination. During the next 300 years several other kingdoms (Nobatia, Alwa, Makuria.) were established in the region and Kushite influence gradually declined, and by 350 AD, other kingdoms became influential along the Nile, and were introduced to Christianity from within Ehiopia; the region was further Christianised under the influence of the Roman Caesar Justinian, 527 AD. Probably the most significant influence on present day Sudan was the Moslem conquest of Egypt in 640 AD.

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The Christian kingdoms in Sudan resisted the incursions of the Moslem for almost 1000 years, but they were eventually overcome by successive Arab Dynasties; the last of them, the Mameluks, were overtaken by the Ottomans about 1500 AD. The Ottoman Empire had always been keen to expand its territories and markets, the commodities they exploited in the southern Sudan were slaves, gold, ivory, and timber.

…Southern Sudan was devastated and the Dinka still refer to the invasion as 'The time when the earth was spoilt'. Sudan was now under Egyptian rule. 1

Ottoman rule was challenged by Muhammad Ahmad who proclaimed himself the second great prophet or Mahdi; by 1884 he was ruler of most of Sudan, with the exception of Khartoum. His forces eventually took the city ‘after 317 days of fighting’. The Mahdi’s successor, Khalifa Abdalla, was defeated by the British General Kitchener in 1898, and by 1899, the Sudan was ruled by an Anglo-Egyptian Condominium until 1956, with Britain as the senior partner.

During the years of Anglo-Egyptian administration North and South Sudan were treated as separate states. The British introduced the concept of “Closed Districts” to protect southern areas from slave traders, Arabisation and Islamisation. The northern territories were governed as Arab/Islamic and the southern areas were ruled along the lines of the indigenous population to protect their culture. By 1947, the decision to administer the country as separate parts was reversed, and the whole country was to become one, governed by the Arab leaders in the north. This decision, following the Juba conference, was one of the main factors contributing to civil war in the Sudan between the southern rebels and the government in Khartoum.

The betrayal of South Sudan by the British was finally concluded in the infamous Juba conference of 1947. Precisely the conference was convened to inform the chiefs of South Sudan of the irreversible decision to hand over South Sudan to the new colonial masters from North Sudan. 2

In 1947, and again in 1953, when agreement was made to grant independence, the people of southern Sudan were excluded from decisions that directly affected their representation in government. As the date for independence approached it became clear that the northern leaders were not going to honour their commitment to give the south a share in the government of the country. The Sudan became independent from Anglo-Egyptian rule in 1956. Nineteen fifty-five saw the beginning of the first civil war between north and south. In August 1955, part of the British Equatorial Corps, along with the local police force, mutinied in Torit; poorly armed and badly organised, they proved to be of little threat to the government forces. By 1963, the Anya nya movement, formed from mutineers and students, fought against the domination of the government. This guerrilla army spread through the three southern provinces of Equatoria, Upper Nile, and Bahr al Ghazal, fighting the Sudan government. In 1971, Joseph Lagu, a former officer in the Sudan army, proclaimed the creation of the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM); Anya Nya leaders united behind him and nearly all exiled southern politicians supported the SSLM. The first war ended in 1972, following discussions in Addis Ababa, which granted southern Sudan “wide regional autonomy on internal matters”; but this was not to last; in 1974, large 1

The Story of Africa, Egypt and the Sudan http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/11chapter5.shtml Visited 18 Dec. 09 2 Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, SOUTH SUDAN: A HISTORY OF POLITICAL DOMINATION - A CASE OF SELF-DETERMINATION. http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/sd_machar.html Visited 18 Dec. 09

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concessions were granted to the Chevron Oil Company; by 1978 they had discovered oil in Western Upper Nile (WUN), southern Sudan. It became clear that the oil had to come under the control of the northern government; so, in the early 1980’s, Baggara militias, with the help of the government, began displacing Nuer and Dinka from their lands in Western Upper Nile. This was to become the beginning of the subsequent genocide of the southern tribes and precipitated the second war. The second war began in 1983, when president Numayri revoked the Addis Ababa autonomy agreement and declared his intention of making the whole of Sudan a Moslem Arab state; he introduced Shari’a law, and divided the south into three regions. He intended to control, not only the oil, but also the more fertile and watered land in the south. To better understand the north/south conflict, as well as appreciating the racial, religious, and cultural differences, we have to look at the limited resources available in the north - water, suitable agricultural land, woodland, and the newest resource, oil. Aggravated by the lack of expertise to industrialise, the north had to concentrate on extraction of natural resources to bolster their economy and feed the people.

The collapse of attempts at industrialisation - mainly substitute industrialisation - led to exploitation of accessible natural resources in a manner so thoughtless and unscrupulous that it soon endangered the peasant and pastoralist societies in Northern Sudan. During the 1960s and 1970s Southern Sudan remained relatively unscathed, as a result of its isolation during colonial rule and the earlier civil war, and its poorly developed transport infrastructure. 1

The northern area consists mainly of desert scrub with a predominantly Arab population; the central area of low rainfall is a mix of Arab and Negro. The southern areas are populated mainly with the black tribes, and are well watered. In the north and west of the country are camel and cattle breeders, Shukriyya and Kababish, south of them are the nomadic Baggara cattle herders. In the south the Dinka, Nuer, and the Shilluk, traditionally herd cattle in the central grasslands. On the southern wooded borders the Azande, Bari, Topes, and others cultivate the land. For thousands of years, the Arab culture has contained an ‘elite class’ known as the Jellaba; ‘bringers of goods’; who are the traditional traders, one of their main activities was the slave trade, which formed a substantial proportion of the Arab economy; slaves were taken mainly from the south. This trade in slaves was suppressed in the 1870’s and 1880’s, and the economy then remained essentially a subsistence economy, with some commercial agriculture. During British/Egyptian rule the economy was sustained by international trading in cash crops such as cotton. After independence the ‘cotton schemes’ were replaced by large scale mechanised farming of basic foodstuffs - sorghum and millet, cash crops of groundnuts, sesame, and gum arabic. These large farms spread southwards into more watered and fertile land as land in the north became impoverished; forests were cleared to maintain the expansion of these mechanised farms. In 1970, the government introduced the Unregistered Land Act, and declared that all land belonged to the state. The ‘absentee landlords ‘ who obtained the land, shifted their goals to the open market, and under pressure from the international banking community, were encouraged to produce cash crops instead of food for the internal market. The population found that they could no longer grow enough to feed themselves in the areas left to them after the 1970 Act.

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Suliman M. Civil War in Sudan: The Impact of Ecological Degradation. http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/cvlw_env_sdn.html Visited 18 Dec. 09

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Low-technology agro-pastoralism began to collapse across the central clay plains of northern Sudan, and a new and burgeoning category of impoverished people emerged who were dependent on selling their labour to survive. Many migrated to the towns, considerably swelling the numbers of the urban poor. 1

The shift in production to sell on the international market was brought about by the need to repay bank loans that financed the farm mechanisation. Before this move, when production was aimed at the internal market, small growers were able to meet their needs, even during the drought of 1972-75, and prevent wide scale famine. By the mid 1970’s, the Sudan was becoming known as the “bread basket of the Arab world”; the IMF and world banks encouraged large scale expansion of mechanised farming, and provided the money. But, the price of primary commodities steadily declined on the world markets, Sudan had to produce more crops to finance repayments; more crops meant more land. As land in the north became less productive farming moved southwards into the traditional areas of the southern tribes, by the end of the 1970’s large areas of Southern Kordofan, homeland of the Nuba, and Rahad were being used by illegal mechanised farms.

…this large-scale version of shifting cultivation, which rolls like a fire-ball across the land, deforesting and destroying the soil before moving on. Its appetite for new land is rapacious and continuous, and the only natural direction for it to go is southwards. 2

To sustain these farms more and more water was needed for irrigation. A decision was taken to implement the proposals, made decades earlier, to drain the Sudd marshes into the White Nile, providing more water for the northern farms, and Egypt. These marshlands, known as the toich, had been used by the Nuer, Dinka, and Shilluk for generations to sustain their livelihood in the dry season. Without consultation with this indigenous population, building of the Jonglei canal was commenced in 1978. Negotiations to ‘scale down’ the project by the south, who said that too much water would leave the area, were ignored.

…original proposals for the Canal would have "threatened substantial areas of toich lands with desiccation" while also draining much of the permanently flooded areas and adversely affecting "the livelihood for significant numbers of the swamp's fishing population. 3

One of the more important reasons for the north to encroach on the south was the discovery of oil in the Bentiu area in 1978. Control of this new resource would be a great boon to the north’s economic problems, and one more reason for the south to be aggrieved by their treatment by the northern government. The areas of oil exploration are in the traditional homelands of the two predominant groups, Dinka and Nuer.

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Suliman M. Civil War in Sudan: The Impact of Ecological Degradation. http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/cvlw_env_sdn.html Visited 18 Dec. 09

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Ibid. Hornstein D. T. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL: TRACES OF TENSION AND TRACES OF SYNERGY http://www.law.duke.edu/shell/cite.pl?9+Duke+Envtl.+L.+&+Pol'y+F.+291#B7 Visited 18 Dec. 09

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• Figure 36 Ethnic Groups in Sudan

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Oil geography

• Figure 37 Map: Sudan oil geography

The Muglad basin, stretching in a diagonal line southeast from El Muglad in Western Kordofan to the north of Juba on the White Nile River, is the area of major oil exploration. Blocks 1, 2, and 4, those first explored by the oil company Chevron, are the traditional pastures of the Nuer and Dinka with permanent dry season settlements. Blocks 5A, and 5B, first operated by Lundin Oil, are mainly south of the Bar el Ghazal River; these areas are more swampy and densely populated by Nuer. In all the oil blocks the lives of the indigenous population are governed by migration between wet and dry areas. (see Fig. 38)

Development of political parties North Since independence regimes dominated by Islamic leaders have ruled the country from the northern capital Khartoum. The most powerful force before 1958 was the Ansar sect and its sponsored party, the Ummah. The first independent government was lead by Ismail al Azhari

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(Ummah). A multitude of parties was active representing different factions and sects - left dominated unions, Graduates Congress, students, and leaders of black tribes from the south. They were all strongly divided on union with Egypt, alignment with the west, secularism, and federalism. The diverse requirements of this multitude of factions led to the fall of various party coalitions and allowed the military to easily stage a coup. In 1958, General Ibrahim Abboud formed a military government and banned all other political parties; this Abboud government was overthrown in 1964. In elections for the National Assembly in 1965, the Ummah party gained a majority and formed a coalition with the National Unionist Party, who favoured alignment with Egypt. In 1966 the Ummah split into two groups, progressive and conservative. Also in the 60’s, the Southern Front, formed from southerners living in the north, and the Sudan African National Union, SANU, was formed by southern exiles living in Uganda, they advocated southern independence. The Democratic Unionist Party, formed from the National Unionist Party and the Peoples Democratic Party, were elected in 1968. In the mid sixties, two parties advocating self-determination for the south were formed - the Southern Front and the Sudan African National Union. Between 1966 and 1969, various Arab/Islamist administrations were not able to deal with the mounting economic problems or to find a solution to the diverse ethnic mix within the country; a second military coup brought to power Gaafar Nimeiry in 1969. Nimeiry banned all political parties, as did Abboud in 1958, but the communist factions, for a short time, overthrew his regime; but Nimeiry was soon back in control following protest from the anti-Communists. The Sudanese Socialist Union, SSU, established by Nimeiry, won elections to the National Peoples Assembly in 1971, and only candidates approved by the SSU were allowed to put themselves forward for election. Because of his inability to maintain the economic boom of his early years in power and the imposition of strict Shari’a law throughout the country, and his abdjugation of the Addis Ababa agreement, he was deposed in April 1985 in a military coup led by General Suwar el Dahab. The transitional government of Dahad, as promised, held elections which took place in 1986, and a coalition government was formed from the UMMA, the DUP and several southern parties, and was lead by Sadiq al Mahdi. Over the next few years this coalition was dissolved and reformed, and the economy continued to deteriorate. In 1988 the DUP left the government, which then consisted of the UMMA and the fundamental National Islamic Front; but the DUP rejoined the government in early 1989. Later that same year, Colonel Omar al Bashir replaced the al Mahdi government with the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation, RCC, comprised of military officers assisted by a civilian cabinet. A new constitution was adopted in 1998, revised in 2000, and for the first time since 1989, other political parties were recognised, but, they had to accept the present constitution and refrain from violence against the regime. Since 1998 the NIF has become the National Congress Party. Al-Bashir was re-elected in 2000, with 86.5% of the vote. South The political parties in the south were in no less a state of change as in the north. Southern leaders, predominantly from the Dinka or the Nuer, were constantly vying for position throughout the second war. They moved between the government and the southern parties depending on how they saw their ethnic power base or their disagreements with policy in the dominant southern parties. Many groups formed, amalgamated, or split up to form other groups; the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army, SPLA, was the dominant group throughout. The main groups, their leaders, and political ambitions, the dates they were formed or lasted, follow: Sudan Peoples Liberation Army, SPLA, 1983, John Garang, Dinka, United secular Sudan. SPLM-Nasir, 1991-93, Riek Machar, Nuer, and others, broke away from SPLA, independent south, and received government arms.

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SPLM-United, 1993-94, mostly Nuer, several groups, including SPLM-Nasir joined forces, Machar. This name was later used by Lam Akol in his Shiluk faction. South Sudan Independence Movement, SSIM, 1994-97, formed after Nuer reconciliation meeting in Akabo. South Sudan Defence Forces, SSDF, 1997-2000. Its army was formed from ex rebel forces following Khartoum peace agreement. Aligned with UDSF, Machar. All southern forces sympathetic to the GOS became SSDF. South Sudan Liberation Movement, SSLM, 1999, Michael Duany, pro-independence. Sudan People’s Defence Forces/Democratic Front, SPDF. Formed in 2000 when most SSDF forces joined with the SPLA. South Sudan Unity Movement, SSUM, 1998, Maj. Gen. Paulino Matiep of the GOS army. SPLA-United, 1994, Akol, Shilluk, pro GOS. Took this name when Machar and others formed the SSIM.

The second war – beginning of genocide The start of the second war, officially recognised as 1983, between the Government of Sudan (GOS) and the south was almost inevitable. Loss of trust following independence, the Addis Ababa agreement rescinded by Nimeiry, the early incursion of the Baggara into the oil areas, loss of land and water because of farm expansion, and the imposition of Shari’a law; and not least, the perception that the GOS was excluding the south from any economic benefit that would be derived from oil exploration., were all factors that precipitated the war. The Chevron oil company discovered oil in Western Upper Nile, part of the ‘autonomous’ south agreed in Addis Ababa, and home to the Nuer and Dinka. The earliest hostilities in early 1984 were carried out by the separatist Nuer group, Anyanya ll, who originally protected the oil-fields, fought the GOS. Anyanya were defeated by the GOS later in the same year and were offered arms to fight on behalf of the GOS - Chevron suspended its operations following the fighting. The SPLA, formed in 1983 in Ethiopia from various factions left over from the first war entered Sudan in late 1984 and fought Anyanya ll because Anyanya had accepted GOS arms following their defeat in 1984. When Chevron suspended operations because of the fighting, the GOS began arming the Baggara, the muraheleen, traditional enemies of the Nuer and Dinka, and encouraged them to raid these groups and move them off their land, stealing their cattle and destroying their villages. In March 1985, the SPLA and Anyanya ll drove the Baggara from the Nuer areas. The SPLA and Anyanya ll officially joined forces in 1988, leaving a mixed group of Nuer, Mandari, and Murle under the leadership of Paulino Matiep who was sympathetic to the GOS. The SPLA began peace negotiations with the GOS, but these talks were ended when Bashir deposed Nimeiry in 1989. Matiep was used by the GOS to regain and protect oil blocks 1, 2, and 4 from the SPLA; he was seen as an aspect of the government policy of divide, displace, and destroy.

They [Khartoum] created Paulino [Matiep]. They have a policy of interfering with the unity of large ethnic groups, especially the Nuer, who are championing independence. To undermine this, they cause the Nuer to fight among themselves. They must recruit people like Paulino to do this. This is the strategy of the government, to get the Nuer and Dinka to break into groups and fight [among themselves] 1

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Human Rights Watch, The Chevron Period, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/10.htm#_Toc54492584 Visited 18 Dec. 09

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In 1991, following an unsuccessful attempt to depose John Garang, leader of the SPLA, several predominant members left the SPLA and formed a separate movement initially known as the SPLA-Nasir faction, with Riek Machar, as leader, Machar became a key player with regard to the oilfields in his home region, claiming all the land of the Western Upper Nile. Matiep allied the remnants of his Anyanya group to Machar, having the same gaol as him - an independent south. This division into Dinka and Nuer factions was the start of what would be ongoing inter-tribal wars, each side being responsible for atrocities against the southern people; the GOS took advantage of this Dinka/Nuer animosity to further their goal of controlling the oil fields.

…clashes between Riek Machar’s forces and the SPLA, … were frequent, bloody, and unsparing of civilians. The ethnic division was probably sealed in late 1991 by the “Bor massacre.” 1

The massacre was carried out in the Bor district of Western Upper Nile by the Nuer forces of Machar. Reportedly: tens of thousands of Dinka were displaced, and 2000 killed. The GOS used this strategy of ‘divide and displace’ throughout the war in the south, supplying arms to, and encouraging the various factions to fight amongst themselves; Nuer against Nuer, Nuer against Dinka, and the Baggara against both groups. In 1997 the Machar Faction, and others at odds with the SPLA, signed a peace agreement with the GOS in Khartoum which provided for a referendum on self determination for the south; to be carried out in four years time when the conditions were right; the vote was never held. Later in 1997, the Machar/Matiep alliance was broken when they fought each other for the control of Unity Sate in Western Upper Nile (WUN), Matiep lost; this contest was repeated again in 2003 when Matiep lost for the second time. Once again the GOS took advantage of the situation and supplied Matiep with arms and made him a Major General in the GOS army; from 1998 he was directly involved in displacing the population of block 5A in Unity State, and later from blocks 1, 2, and 4, partly in the south of Western Kordofan and northern Unity States. After signing the Khartoum Peace Agreement Machar was appointed president of the Southern States Coordinating Council (SSCC) and assistant to president Bashir. He formed the political party United Democratic Salvation Front (UDSF) and was commander of its army the South Sudan Defence Force (SSDF). His failed attempts to prevent further displacement of civilians from Unity State turned his Nuer followers against him and later he resigned from the GOS; in January 2002, he joined forces with the SPLA.

The government’s ethnic divide and displace strategy was especially devastating for the Nuer: it encouraged and armed them to fight each other in scorched earth campaigns—at home. 2

The GOS was not afraid to participate directly in the displacement and killing to protect the oilfields. The GOS army and Matiep’s Nuer militia ranged through Block 5A, chasing the Machar forces and Nuer civilians out of the area and occupied Tar Jath, an important oil centre. In 1999, the GOS started displacing Dinka civilians north of Bentiu, and later in Ruweng County, Blocks 1, and 5A, using helicopter gun ships, Antonov bombers, and tanks; all recently purchased from the proceeds of oil revenue. The battles between the GOS and the opposition meant that some villages were overrun several times, and the numbers of displaced increased. During this period of fighting most of Paulino Matiep’s forces mutinied against the GOS, they were dissatisfied with Nuer fighting Nuer, and the fact that the GOS was reaping all the 1

Human Rights Watch, The Chevron Period, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/10.htm#_Toc54492583 Visited 18 Dec. 09 2 Human Rights Watch, Government Strategy of Divide and Displace. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/8.htm#_Toc54492557 Visited 18 Dec. 09

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economic benefit from the oil. These ‘mutineers’, Peter Gatdet, Tito Biel, and others were also dissatisfied with continued cooperation of Machar with the GOS. Another faction was formed by Gatdet, and Biel – the Upper Nile Provisional United Military Command Council (UMCC); giving them authority over the entire anti GOS forces in Upper Nile. When Machar resigned from the GOS he joined the ‘mutineers’ and they formed the SPDF, Southern People Defence Forces/Democratic Front in February 2000. This recombined Nuer group attacked road construction in the oil areas of Blocks 4 and 5A. In April 2000, the GOS supported by the Baggara launched a counter attack, again using helicopters, tanks and Antonov bombers. From August 2000 to August 2001, fighting between GOS backed forces and the anti government Nuer militias resulted in:

…more than a year of scorched-earth tactics displacing Nuer civilians by the tens of thousands—with killing, rape, and abduction as well. 1

In April 2001, a group of Canadian and British NGO’s investigated areas in Blocks 1, 2, and 4, they found:

…an intensification of armed attacks on civilians in Sudan’s contested oil region in Western Upper Nile during the past year [2000-2001]. These attacks have been carried out by government forces and progovernment militias and also by rebel forces. A significant new development is a higher number of direct attacks on civilians by the armed forces of the Government of Sudan. In particular, the team found that government forces launched increasing numbers of helicopter gunship attacks on civilian settlements in or near the operational area of the [GNPOC] oil consortium that includes Canada’s Talisman Energy. Some of these helicopters operate from facilities built, maintained and used by the oil consortium. These attacks appear to be part of a renewed Sudan government strategy to displace the indigenous non-Arab rural population from rural areas of the oil region in order to clear and secure territory for oil development. 2

In the same month of August 2001, Peter Gatdet, anti GOS and Peter Paar Jiek, pro GOS and guard of the Lundin Tar Jath oil field, reached a standstill agreement formerly ratified in February 2002. Later the same year Garang, SPLA, and Machar, SPDF, joined forces. Machar was quoted as saying: “when we had two factions they could not reach their goal of defeating the Jellaba”. Earlier in 2002 Lundin suspended its operations due to insecurity. The dry season offensive in early 2002 by the GOS, assisted by the Baggara and progovernment militias, again attacked block 5A. The Baggara horsemen could now move further southwards and cross the Bahr el Ghazal River over the bridge built by Lundin. The combined forces, GOS aircraft, and artillery, the pro GOS militias and the Baggara once again displaced and killed tens of thousands. The ground forces burnt and looted villages and drove the population, mainly Nuer, southwards into inhospitable areas. Investigators for Christian Aid later said that the “GOS is deliberately targeting civilian populations, resulting in the displacement of the majority of Rubkona County”. “All this is done because of the oil”. North of Bentiu in WUN the town of Nhialdiu was attacked in February 2002, and later reported in great detail by an American none government organisation (NGO):

…After consolidating their position in the town the night of the 20th, the GOS began wholesale destruction on the infrastructure of the town. They destroyed houses, water wells, churches, government buildings and the market area. At 8 am the next morning, the GOS forces and horse-mounted militia supported by MI-24 Hind gun-ships began to sweep and clear the area to the south of NHIALDIU towards the river CHAAR.

1

. Human Rights Watch, Government Strategy of Divide and Displace http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/8.htm#_Toc54492557 Visited 18 Dec. 09 2

Human Rights Watch, MORE PEACE EFFORTS, MORE FIGHTING IN THE OILFIELDS: 2001-2002. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/19.htm#_Toc54492673 Visited 18 Dec. 09

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Villages were burned and looted without quarter and their inhabitants slaughtered by both ground and air attacks. MI-24 Hind gun-ships flew in 2 and 3 gunship formations firing at anything that moved in the area, searching out any pockets of resistance or concentrations of people. The area south of NHIALDIU became a killing field for both people and their livestock. The infantry and horse-mounted militia moved behind the gun-ships looting the personal property and livestock of the abandoned villages and then burning every structure to the ground. 1

A team of human rights investigators separately reported that the government used Antonovs to bomb Koch on January 24, 2002, and helicopter gun ships to attack Koch, Ler, and Mayandit on January 25, 2002. In May 2002, the same displacement process started in Bul Nuer territory between Mayom and Mankien. The involuntary movement of people from their home environment into inhospitable areas, or areas overpopulated because of previous displacement, soon enough led to starvation; early in 2001, UNICEF warned of an impending humanitarian crisis. Other organisations warned of similar crises; starvation was rife in the areas of displaced people; not only were the displaced people suffering from malnutrition; in some areas polio was spreading. The GOS response was to restrict all relief. Even after the signing of the peace agreement in Kenya, the GOS continued hostilities along the existing roads into the oilfields and clearance of the route of a planned road to the south of Block 5A. This GOS offensive continued until March 2003 to clear civilians from the Benitu-Leer-Adok road. Peace Talks Throughout the war attempts had been made to end it; but, none provided sustainable solutions for all parties. Disagreements over territory, oil, religion, law, and self determination for the south, were stumbling blocks to agreement for all concerned. In September 2001, the USA appointed former Senator Danforth as Special Envoy for peace in Sudan. In 1994, under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, (IGAD), the SPLA, and the GOS had signed a Declaration of Principles, which were taken up again in June 2002, with the renewed engagement of several international partners, particularly the US, the UK, and Norway (the “Troika”). In July 2002, at Machakos, in Kenya, The GOS and the SPLA signed a ‘protocol’ which was the first step in the peace process:

In it, the government agreed to a referendum for southern self-determination after a six-year interim period following the signing of a final peace agreement. The government also agreed that—for the six-year interim period—shari’a or Islamic law would not be applied in the south, which could have its own legislation. 2

Despite objections by some groups; only the GOS and the SPLA were parties to the th agreement; on October 4 2002, the parties agreed to a cessation of hostilities in all areas of the Sudan; there was no provision made for monitoring the cease fire; the ‘peace’ is tentative. The SPLA reckons it governs the whole of the south which leaves out other factions such as the Nuer SSDF who want a part in the affairs of the south, not least the oilfields.

These areas have changed hands often, even after the October 2002 ceasefire, demonstrating the parties’ and the militias’/armed groups’ continued high interest in controlling the valuable oil resource. 3

An important point to remember is that the SPLA want a unified Sudan, the SSDF want a separate southern Sudan, as outlined in the Khartoum Peace Agreement of 1997. If this situation is not addressed it is likely that peace will not be maintained. The GOS, fearful of a 1

Human Rights Watch, MORE PEACE EFFORTS, MORE FIGHTING IN THE OILFIELDS: 2001-2002. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/19.htm#_Toc54492677 Visited 18 Dec. 09 Human Rights Watch, Postscript: Peace Talks Update 2003. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/8.htm V isited 18 Dec. 09 3 Ibid.

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separate south, may continue to foment fighting between the SPLA and the SSDF. Peace was finally declared on the 31st December 2004, when the final issues were settled. The following conditions of the peace agreement were reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP) 9th January 2005: Highlights of the Sudan peace accord NAIROBI, Jan 9 (AFP) - Herewith the main points of the peace accord signed here Sunday between the Sudanese government and the southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), ending Africa's longest running conflict. PROTOCOL ON THE SOUTH'S RIGHT OF SELF DETERMINATION: According to the protocol on the right of self-determination (known as the "Machakos Protocol") signed in July 2002, the south will hold a referendum after a six-year transition period to determine whether the region will secede or be part of Sudan. During the interim period, which starts after six months from the day a final deal is signed, the areas in the south will be exempted from Islamic Shari’a law. PROTOCOL ON POWER-SHARING: According to a power-sharing protocol signed in May 2004, SPLM/A and the current government in Khartoum will form a government of national unity with a decentralised system of administration. SPLM/A will also set up a separate semi-autonomous administration in the south. Garang will hold the post of first vice president in the national government and general elections at all levels of government will be held at the end of the third year. English and Arabic will be the official languages in the country and people from south Sudan will make up 30 percent of the country's post conflict civil service. PROTOCOLS ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF NUBA MOUNTAINS AND SOUTHERN BLUE NILE STATE: According to the two protocols, which were signed in May 2004, disputed regions of Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile will each have their own government headed by a governor directly appointed by registered voters. An official from either SPLM/A or Khartoum will hold the governor's post on a rotational basis until elections are held at the end of the third year. The states will express their views in a "popular consultation" on the final peace deal through their respective elected parliaments. Any disagreement will be addressed by the national government, while representation in their two assemblies will be: Ruling National Congress Party (55 percent) and SPLM/A (45 percent). PROTOCOL ON ABYEI STATE: According to the protocol on Abyei, signed in May 2004, this oil-rich state, currently part of western Kordofan, will be accorded special status under the presidency. Its residents will be citizens of both Western Kordofan in northern Sudan and Bahr el Ghazal state in southern Sudan and will be administered by a local executive council elected by the residents of Abyei.

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International monitors will be deployed to monitor implementation of these agreements in Abyei, while its residents will hold a separate referendum, simultaneous with one in southern Sudan, to determine whether it maintains its special status in the north or will be part of Bahr el Ghazal in the south. PROTOCOL ON WEALTH-SHARING: According to the Wealth-Sharing Protocol, which was signed in January 2004, national wealth, notably on revenue from some 250,000 to 300,000 barrels of oil a day produced in southern Sudan, will be shared equally. Oil revenue from wells in the south, where most exploited petroleum is located, is to be split on a 50-50 basis between the southern and national governments, after at least two percent is given to the states where the oil is produced. Communities in areas of oil production, which are mostly found in the south, will have a say in extraction contracts. A National Petroleum Commission, comprising officials from both governments, is to be set up to formulate policy and negotiate exploitation contracts. Half of the non-oil revenue, essentially taxes and levies, collected in the south by the national government is to be allocated to the national government, monitored by a joint commission. A dual banking system is to be set up, an Islamic one in the north, where charging interest is forbidden, and a conventional one in the south, where a special branch of the central bank will be established. The central bank is to issue a new currency with a design reflecting Sudan's cultural diversity. PROTOCOL ON SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS: According to Security Arrangements Protocol, which was signed in September 2003, more than 100,000 government troops in southern Sudan and SPLM/A troops deployed in Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile will withdraw under international monitoring, while respecting the north-south boundary drawn in 1956. Coordination between and command of the two forces will be assumed by a new Joint Defence Board made up of top officers from both sides. Both the government army and the SPLA will remain separate and shall be considered and treated equally as Sudan's National Armed Forces (SNAF). During the interim period, the two forces will contribute an equal number of troops to form Joint Integrated Units (JIU) to be deployed on both sides of the border. The deployment of JIU will be as follows: 24,000 troops in southern Sudan, 6,000 in Nuba Mountains, 6,000 in Southern Blue Nile and 3,000 in the capital, Khartoum.

The Genocide J. Millard Burr The accepted figures for the number of dead and displaced during the civil war in Sudan (not including Darfur) are 1.9 million, and 4 million, respectively. The number of deaths come from a report by J. Millard Burr, Consultant to the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) published in 1998 -“Working Document II: Quantifying Genocide in Southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains, 1983-1998”. This report was a follow up of an earlier study by Burr sponsored by the USCR published in 1993, titled: “A Working Document: Quantifying Genocide in the Southern Sudan, 1983-1993,” In his earlier report Burr concluded that - “during the decade, at

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least 1.3 million Southern Sudanese died as a result of war related causes and government neglect.” Since his 1993 report, Burr added three new elements to his 1998 report: 1. “purposeful Government aerial bombardment of civilian populations”. 2. A chapter entitled - “The Nuba Genocide” A bombing campaign, removal from valuable agricultural land, massacres. 3. “Genocide in Bahr-el-Ghazal” depopulation of the Kiir River region of northern Bhar-elghazal. This was once the most densely populated area in the south: “today it is a wasteland where humanitarian aid organisations struggle to meet the food needs of the greatly depleted Dinka population”. The study concluded that about 600,000 more people have died since 1993, increasing the death toll to 1.9 million. In an even earlier, 1990, report by Burr in collaboration with the USCR entitled –“Khartoum’s Displaced Persons: A Decade of Despair.”, he pointed out the plight of the “more than one million” southerners who had fled to Khartoum to avoid the war. These displaced people were neglected and subjected to religious persecution and worse; forced relocation by the GOS, “Kasha” campaigns; forcing them to move back to their homelands which had been previously burnt and looted and could no longer support them. Genocide Watch Gregory H. Stanton, president of Genocide Watch, in his November 2000 paper, says that there is “overwhelming proof that 1.9 million deaths resulted from the intended policy of the NIF government of Sudan.”, Burr’s report “demonstrates conclusively” the GOS withheld permission” to relief organisations to give food to the starving population. Armed tribal militias have committed “mass murder”; bombing has been carried out to “spread terror and depopulate vast areas”; as in the case of the bombing in 1998 of Bhar-el-Ghazal that “killed at least 70,000 Dinka”. Stanton says that the genocide against the Nuba may be the worst, but “least known” because of journalistic restrictions by the GOS. “At least 100,000 people disappeared, never to bee seen again”. He goes on to say that the targeted groups are ethnic- Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, and the Nuba – and that the Genocide is racial, and religious; black Africans and Christians have been massacred. Stanton concludes his paper: “more people have died in the Sudan genocide than in any other since the Holocaust”. Commission on Human Rights, CHR, 1999 The following are extracts from a written statement by Christian Solidarity International, CSI, th th to the 55 session of the CHR, 7 January 1999. CSI has repeatedly drawn the attention of the United Nations, UN, to genocide and other humanitarian crimes committed by the GOS which is controlled by the National Islamic Front, NIF; saying: “these crimes are a consequence of it’s proclaimed jihad...against the domestic enemy” The Statement points out its reasoning for naming the crime as genocide, quoting from article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, as stated in the Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

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The Statement goes on to quote from numerous papers and reports from government and none government bodies that have been involved in the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Phillipe Borel, head of Operation Lifeline Sudan, OLS, 1998: “many people are surviving on the bare minimum…” Since the early 1990’s OLS has been reporting cases of deliberate bombing of civilians. Special Rapporteur to the UN, Dr. Gaspar Biro, in his 1995 interim report to the General Assembly wrote -”…victims of these violations are exclusively persons belonging to racial, ethnic and religious minorities from southern Sudan, the Nuba Mountains and the Ingessena Hills,” Biro’s report is about slavery, forced labour of women and children, “…with the knowledge of the GOS”. The Beja who inhabit the north eastern Sudan have also been subjected to the genocidal policy of the GOS. Because the Beja, who are nearly all Moslem, oppose the GOS they have been the subjects of a fatwa, legalised in 1992 which sets out the “status of all those who oppose the government”, “…Islam has granted the freedom of killing…”. Many other black African Muslims from the Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile, resisting GOS policies, have been victims of the genocide. The accumulated evidence, of CSI, following over twenty visits to the Sudan, shows that famine, slavery, and deliberate bombing of civilian targets are “the most potent instruments of the genocidal jihad”. A report in the New York Times, December 1998, by the Harvard law scholar, Mary Anne Glendon, stated: “Sudan’s National Islamic Front government has been conducting a genocidal campaign”. The report also comments on “tens of thousands” of women and children forced into unpaid labour, and that the GOS has made forty bombing raids on civilian targets. At the time of this report the CSI comments that despite “irrefutable evidence of the genocide…” the UN has been silent; but last year, 1998, the Secretary General made a courageous statement:

…"the world failed Rwanda". He also declared: "The decision not to act is also a decision, but one which can have far more dangerous consequences than the decision to act" (translated from an interview with Kofi Annan, Tribune de Genève, 30 March 1998). 1 One week later, 14th January, 1999, the 55th session of the CHR heard, again from the CSI, about slavery and rape of women and girls in the Sudan. The CSI says it has freed over 5000 slaves since October 1995. CSI submits that the resurgence of slavery is a direct result of the government’s “avowed policy of the enforced Islamization and Arabization of the entire country…”. Women and their children, mostly from the Nuba Mountains, and northern Bharel-Ghazal, have been captured in “their tens of thousands”. Evidence from released slaves tells of their appalling treatment - forced labour, rape, beatings, and genital mutilation. Their children are forced to attend militant Koranic schools. The GOS is currently, 2010, involved in genocidal acts in the Darfur region of Sudan

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Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/5a2e69f9b6189fa28025673800625adc?Opendocument Visited 19 Dec. 09

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Cambodia

• Figure 38 Map: Ancient Khmer Empire

th

The people of Cambodia suffered, in proportion to its population, one of the worst 20 century genocides. According to R.J. Rummel, in his “Statistics of Democide”, “…Most of these, a likely near 2,400,000, were murdered by the communist Khmer Rouge”.

All Cambodians were as bricks in the hands of these supreme social engineers and human lives counted for little. 1

The “Killing Fields” were a consequence of the Khmer Rouge regime.

History The Khmer people occupied a large region of South East Asia encompassing what is now th th Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. Their golden age, from the 9 -13 century, saw them establish the kingdom of Kambuja, with its capital in the Angkor region of present day Cambodia. The kingdom declined steadily because of dynastic in-fighting and inefficient government; after their defeat by the neighbouring Siamese in 1431, the king fled south. th There was a period of increased prosperity in the 16 century when trade was carried out 1

Rummel R. J., Statistics of Democide. http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP4.HTM Visited 19 Dec. 09

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along the Mekong Delta with other Southeast Asian countries, and Europeans from Spain and the Poertugal. Later that century the Siamese conquered the southern capital at Lovek, and after that Kambuja was in the centre of power struggles between Siam and Vietnam. Vietnam eventually took the Mekong Delta, some of Kanbuja’s richest territory, and cut them off from the sea. The Khmer resisted prolonged attempts by Vietnam to absorb them into Viet culture and Viet attempts to take more of their land; they were in constant conflict with their neighbours well into the 19th century. The country became one of Frances Indochinese colonies when King Norodrom signed an agreement with France in 1863. During WW II the country was occupied by the Japanese; France, under the Vichy government, was allowed to continue the administration of the country. From 1941, when, under French influence, King Norodom Sihanouk succeeded King Monivong there was a royal crusade for independence. Soon after the French had occupied the country they discovered that Cambodia’s hidden wealth was an illusion and that Phnom Penh would never become the Singapore of Indochina. They did little to improve the lot of the village economy but did introduce a more efficient method of tax collection, and charged exorbitant interest rates on loans to the peasant and middle class farmers who wanted to expand. The French also did little to improve the infrastructure during their administration. Few roads were built and industry was rudimentary, and predominantly run by Chinese and Vietnamese. In the 1920’s there was a period of prosperity in the rice and corn growing regions of Batambang and Siemreab, but:

…the world depression after 1929 caused great suffering, especially among rice cultivators whose falling incomes made them more than ever the victims of moneylenders. 1

The period up to the 1940’s saw little political activity within the Khmer people, the carefully maintained fiction of royal rule was the main factor, as long as the monarch was on the throne everything would be all right; the French had done little to educate the illiterate peasant population. But, among the educated Khmer there were emerging signs of nationalism. The Khmer Krom, an early nationalistic organisation, began publishing the newspaper Nagaravatta (Angkor Wat) in 1936. Among its writers were Son Ngoc Thanh, and Pach Chhoeun, whose editorials condemned French dominance of the economy, usury, and the lack of opportunities for the educated Khmer. In March 1945 the Japanese dissolved the French administration and urged Cambodia to declare its independence within the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere; four days later th King Sihanouk declared an independent Kampuchea. On August 15 1945, the day that Japan surrendered, a new government was established in Phnom Penh, with Son Ngoc Thanh as prime minister. When allied forces entered Cambodia at the end of WW II Son Ngoc Thanh was arrested as a Japanese collaborator and exiled to France. The independence was only short lived, in 1946 France re-imposed its protectorate, with King Sihanouk as head of state. Supporters of Son Ngoc Thanh joined the Khmer Issarak movement in North West Cambodia; which area was still under the control of Thailand. The Khmer Issarak included indigenous leftists, Vietnamese leftists, antimonarchical nationalists loyal to Son Ngoc Thanh, and common bandits. This group, in collaboration with the Viet Minh, (North Vietnam communists) controlled about half of Cambodian territory in 1954. With Sihanouk as head of state, the French allowed the Cambodians to form political parties. The Democratic party were for immediate independence and were led by Prince Sisowath Yuthevong. Its supporters were intellectuals who had been influenced by the nationalistic 1

Ross R. R. Ed. Cambodian History Part 1 http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/cambhist1.htm#Colonial Visited 19 Dec. 09

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newspaper Nagaravatta. Prince Norodom Norindeth was head of the Liberal Party whose supporters were from the old rural elite, the large landowners, and wanted some continuity with France. The Democrats won 50 of the 67 seats in the 1946 election and drew up a constitution modelled on the French Fourth Republic. King Sihanouk was reduced to the status of a constitutional monarch; he was not happy with this role which reduced greatly his political status; but, he continued to exert his influence in the politics of the country, and in 1952 took control of the government.

In June 1952, Sihanouk announced the dismissal of his cabinet, suspended the constitution, and assumed control of the government as prime minister. Then, without clear constitutional sanction, he dissolved the National Assembly and proclaimed martial law in January 1953. Sihanouk exercised direct rule for almost three years, from June 1952 until February 1955. After dissolution of the assembly, he created an Advisory Council to supplant the legislature and appointed his father, Norodom Suramarit, as regent. 1

Sihanouk went to France in March 1953 to persuade the French government to grant full independence, the French did not submit to Sihanouk and threatened that they may replace him if he remained uncooperative, suggesting that he was unduly alarmist about internal political conditions. Leaving France he returned to Phnom Penh via Canada, America, and Japan to publicize Cambodia’s plight. In June he left Phnom Penh and exiled himself in Siemreab Province and told the French he would not return until full independence was granted; the military zone of Siemreab was commanded by Colonel Lon Nol, a former right wing politician. On July 3rd 1953, France declared itself ready to grant full independence; not only to Cambodia but also to its other Indochinese states, Vietnam and Laos. Sihanouk insisted on his own terms and took control of the police, financial matters, and the courts.

King Sihanouk, now a hero in the eyes of his people, returned to Phnom Penh in triumph, and independence day was celebrated on November 9, 1953. 2

This independence was tainted by the unsettled military situation. Communist forces from the Vietnamese Viet Minh had crossed over the border into Cambodia as part of their campaign against French Indochina; there was also the ongoing problem of the French occupation. The Geneva conference held during 1954, resolved the situation when it was agreed that the Viet Minh and the French would leave Cambodia; which was achieved in October 1954. To further his political ambitions King Sihanouk abdicated and put his father, Norodom Suramarit on the throne. Sangkum, the party formed by Sihanouk, won a large majority of seats in the National Assembly whose members were mainly from the conservative factions, but, he also included some leftist inclined members; three of whom were later to become leaders in the Khmer Rouge. By the latter part of the 1960’s, the government was in trouble Sihanouk’s hold on the party was being challenged by the right wing members, harsh taxes had been imposed, and the appropriation of land in the north to build a sugar refinery led to a revolt in 1967. The army, under its leader General Lon Nol, also the Prime Minister, put down the revolt; but a communist led insurgency spread throughout the country. In March 1970, Sihanouk was deposed by General Lon Nol and other right wing members of the government. Later that year the monarchy was abolished, and the Khmer Republic established.

1

Ross R. R. Ed. Cambodian History Part 1 http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/cambhist1.htm#Struggle Visited 19 Dec. 09 2 Library of Congress Country Studies, Cambodia http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kh0023) Visited 19 Dec. 09

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The growing communist threat

• Figure 39 Map: Cambodia

Communism had been around in Indochina since 1931, when Ho Chi Minh founded the Indochinese Communist Party, ICP, in Vietnam. In 1951, the ICP split into three separate factions - the Vietnam Workers Party, the Lao Itsala, and the Kampuchean Peoples Revolutionary Party, KPRP - The leadership and policies of which were aligned with the Vietnamese communist movement - in 1968, Saloth Sar, later to be known as Pol Pot, and his colleagues formed the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea, RAK. Before Sihanouk was deposed he allowed the North Vietnamese communist guerrillas, who were fighting the Americans and the South Vietnamese army, to set up bases in Cambodia.

The Khmer Republic faced not only North Vietnamese and Viet Cong combat units but also an effective, home-grown communist movement that grew more lethal as time went on. 1

The United States provided the newly formed Khmer Republic with massive aid, and bombed areas within Cambodia that held the North Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge armies; despite this, the Phnom Penh regime rapidly lost most of the country to the communists. 1

Library of Congress Country Studies, Cambodia http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kh0012)Visited 19 Dec. 09

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In January 1975 communist forces laid siege to Phnom Penh, and in succeeding months they tightened the noose around the capital. On April 1, 1975, President Lon Nol left the country. Sixteen days later Khmer Rouge troops entered the city. 1

Pol Pot Saloth Sar was born about 1925/8 into farming family in central Cambodia. He went to Paris when he was 20 years old to study radio and it was there he became interested in Marxism and joined the French Communist Party along with several others of his countrymen; they became convinced that the only way to revolution was a tightly disciplined party organization and a readiness for armed struggle. He and his colleagues were members of the Khmer Students Association which they influenced to become an orgaqnisation for nationalistic and leftist ideas. Saloth Sar returned to Cambodia in 1953 and became a member of the Kampuchean People’s Revolutionary Party, KPRP; the leaders of the party at that time advocated co-operation with the Sihanouk government. In 1960 the KPRP met to discuss whether to continue to co-operate or to resist; and the party changed its name to the Workers’ Party of Kampuchea, WPK - Saloth Sar became third in-line in the party hierarchy. The party leader, Tou Samouth, disappeared in 1962; rumours were that Saloth Sar had him eliminated. In early 1963, Saloth Sar was elected leader of the party:

From then on, Pol Pot and loyal comrades from his Paris student days controlled the party center, edging out older veterans whom they considered excessively pro-Vietnamese. 2

Later in 1963, Most of the leaders of the WPK left Phnom Penh and set up an insurgent base in the north-eastern province of Rotanokiri. In 1966, the party changed its name to the Kampuchean Communist Party, KCP; in 1968 the RAK was formed; known colloquially as the Khmer Rouge.

The Genocide The Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot, were fanatical communists and wanted to set up the most advanced and pure form of communism. The defeat of the Lon Nol government gave them absolute power and left nothing in the way to achieve this ‘utopia’.

No actual or potential opponent was allowed to stand in their way; no violation of their draconian rules could go unpunished; no independent thoughts or groups could be allowed. No independent movement or property or enterprise was permitted. All Cambodians were as bricks in the hands of these supreme social engineers and human lives counted for little. 3 When the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh on the 17th April, 1975, the date became ‘Year Zero’, the country was about to be ‘purified’. The population of Phnom Penh, about 2.5 million people, including about 1.5 million refugees, were looking forward to a new peaceful era now that the Khmer Rouge had defeated the Lon Nol government, but were soon to learn that they were now the enemy, and were to be 1

Library of Congress Country Studies, Cambodia http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kh0012) Visited 19 Dec. 09

2

Library of Congress Country Studies, Cambodia http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kh0030) Visited 19 Dec. 09 Rummel R. J., Statistics of Democide http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP4.HTM Visited 19 Dec. 09

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thrown out of the city. According to a Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Ponchard, the sense of consternation and dread grew; it seemed that “a slab of lead had fallen on the city”. The evacuation of the city began immediately; other cities and towns throughout Cambodia were also evacuated. There were no exceptions to the evacuation, even the hospitals were cleared. Promises that the population would soon return home were never met. Pol Pots transformation of the social system was far more radical than that achieved in Russia, China, or the neighbouring country of Vietnam; the regime did not want to waste time “with intermediate steps”; there had to be a “great leap forward”. Those who were subjected to the most rigorous changes were the “new people”, the city dwellers, the traditional rubber plantation workers from Vietnam, and despite their previous rural life, the refugees who now inhabited the cites. They were treated as slave labourers, they had no privacy, and were subjected to constant political indoctrination, and had to survive on minimal rations. They had primitive medical care, and families were separated to work in different parts of the country, and they could be executed without trial for any number of reasons, even speaking a foreign language, or in their own dialect. There was a wide variation in the severity of policies depending on the personality of the local Khmer Rouge leaders, the amount of food available, and the level of local development; the greatest number of deaths were in the less developed areas. The harshest conditions were in the West and North-western Zones. Starvation was widespread because food grown there was sent to feed the capital Phnom Penh. In the Northern and Central Zones there was less starvation and more executions. Buddhist monks, prior to 1975 well tolerated by the Khmer Rouge, but were now regarded as social parasites, 40,000 to 60,000 were defrocked and sent to forced labour; many were executed as were those of other religions, Christian, and Moslem . The Khmer Rouge was determined to turn the country into a nation of peasants in which the corruption and parasitism of city life would be completely uprooted. 1

As soon as they came to power the regime eliminated all government officials, police, and military officers that it could find; teachers and other intellectuals were also executed. Throughout 1975 to 1978, local regime leaders exercised the power of life and death. People were murdered for not working hard enough, for wearing jewellery, having sexual relations, collecting food for their own use, for continuing to express religious sentiments, and grieving for lost relatives. Those incurring the displeasure of the regime were issued a warning, ‘kosang’, after two such warnings they were “given an invitation”, which meant certain death.

In 1977 and 1978 the violence reached a climax as the revolutionaries turned against each other in bloody purges. 2

There were several detention centres throughout Cambodia during Pol Pots rule, Tupol Sleng, in Phnom Penh, was the largest; it is likely that upwards of 20,000 passed through its doors; all but seven died. Its regulations were total unquestionable obedience - regulation number 10 stated: “If you disobey any point of my regulations you will get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge”. There have been quite a lot of estimates of the dead during the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot himself suggested 800,000; Amnesty International, 1.4 million, the US State Department, 1.2 million, and Fr. Ponchard, 2.3 million. In terms of percentage population at the time, about 7 million, the Pol Pot figure (probably low) 11% would have been killed, and 23% according to Ponchard. In either case, this was the worst genocide of the 20th century. Pol Pots attempt to forcibly reconstruct Cambodia into a peasant society, free of any thinkers except the regime, 1

Library of Congress Country Studies, Cambodia http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kh0036) Visited 19 Dec. 09s Ibid.

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was brought to an end in 1979, when the Vietnamese army entered Phnom Penh on the 7th January. Adam Fifield, in his book “A Blessing Over Ashes”, states that the genocide was - “…driven not by racial or religious hatred but by an ideology that had been incubated so fervently that it became insanity.” Following the Vietnamese defeat of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot and his remaining troops fled north into Thailand. From there he continued a guerrilla war against successive Cambodian governments for seventeen years. He died in 1998 before he could be tried for the atrocities of 1975-79.

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The Ukrainian Genocide

• Figure 40 Map: Ukraine

The Ukrainians call it - “shtuchnyi holod”, the man made famine. It claimed from five to seven million lives; in terms of numbers of dead it was comparable to the Jewish Holocaust; it was not however a route to racial purity, there were too many Ukrainians in Stalin’s Russia to contemplate such an act. Stalin’s purpose was to destroy a nation as a political factor and social entity, to get rid of an interfering class so that the rest could be moulded as the regime saw fit.

History The Scythians, from around the Caspian Sea, who were followed by many other invaders, Ostrogoths, Huns, and Khazars, first occupied the territory of the Ukraine, situated north of the Black Sea. The area was first unified by the Rus, a Scandinavian tribe, who took Kiev in 882 AD, and by the 10th Century had formed the state of Keivan Rus, stretching from the Volga, west to the Danube, and south to the Baltic. In 988, the state accepted Christianity and came under the influence of Byzantium. From about 1520 the Black Sea coast was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. By the 15th Century war and plague had depopulated the country and it became a popular refuge for runaway serfs and Orthodox refugees escaping more tightly controlled neighbouring countries, these refugees became known as Kazaks (Cossacks), who eventually formed a self-ruling state, the Zaporizhian Sich:

The Zaporizhian Sich remained a powerful stronghold over the Dnipro River for 300 years ‹ a free republic, a glorious Cossackdom which withstood enemy attacks and waged an unceasing struggle for the liberation of Ukraine and its independence. 1

Twenty years after its formation the Zaporizhian Sich was divided between Poland and Russia; much of which came under the influence of the Russian Czars for over 200 years. 1

History. http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~rusc/history.htm Visited 19 Dec. 09

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With the collapse of Czarist rule in 1917, independence for the ‘Ukrainians’ looked like it had finally appeared, optimistic Ukrainians established the ancient capital of Kiev as the seat of government and declared their country to be an independent People’s Republic. Vladimir Lenin, first leader of the Soviet Union, had other ideas.

Lenin 1917-1924 In November 1917, Lenin led his Bolshevik party in a coup against the provisional Russian government of Aleksandr Karensky. Lenin’s seizure of power was a revolutionary transformation of government; he had created an utterly cold-blooded socially engineered state. Lenin wanted to reclaim all the land that had been controlled by the Czars, and his first priority was the fertile Ukraine. His efforts to take control brought about four years of chaos and conflict. Ukrainian troops fought against the Red Army of Lenin, and by 1921, the Soviet army was victorious; the western part of Ukraine was divided between Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. The largest proportion of the population of the Ukraine was made up of peasant farmers who cultivated extremely fertile soil. Following their occupation of the Ukraine, the Soviets, as Lenin put it, wanted to -“bring in socialism straight away”: His method was the forcible requisition of grain from the farmers to feed the cities. His hurried policy did not work, the peasants rebelled all over Russia, and all over the Ukraine; the result of this ill-conceived policy was widespread famine - in 1921 about 5,000,000 died as a result. The deaths were due to economic and agricultural ignorance on the part of the Soviet regime, not a deliberate policy of extermination. However, in the Ukraine one ‘class’ was singled out by Lenin, the Kulaks. In August, 1918, he sent a letter to the communist authorities in the Ukraine to hang “at least 100 notorious kulaks:”

Comrades! The revolt by the five kulak volost's must be suppressed without mercy. The interest of the entire revolution demands this, because we have now before us our final decisive battle "with the kulaks." We need to set an example. 1

In the letter he calls the Kulaks “bloodsuckers”, and demanded that all their grain should be taken and the execution should be done in such a way- “that people for hundreds of miles around will see, tremble, know, and scream out”. In a postscript he says: “use your toughest men for this.” By 1921 the communist regime was in dire trouble, particularly following the Kronstadt naval rebellion; one of the navy’s demands was that the persecution of the countryside should stop. Lenin was opposed to any return of free trade in grain but finally realised if he did not agree to relax his demands on the farmers the regime would fall; in reply he introduced a temporary New Economic Policy (NEP), which allowed free trade; the regime retained its power. For several years this relaxation of Soviet policy encouraged a renewed upsurge of Ukrainian movement towards independence. When Lenin died in 1924, his successor, Joseph Stalin, found this movement to independence totally unacceptable. Kulak Before going on it is necessary to explain the term Kulak. In the Russian language the word means ‘fist’ (tight fisted), a pejorative term used to refer to wealthy peasants who owned larger farms and used hired labour. As stated earlier, the larger part of the peasant 1

Library of Congress, Lenin, Hanging Order. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/ad2kulak.html Visited 19 Dec. 09

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population were farmers, they worked as part of an agricultural commune - the commune owned the land and distributed strips to each household according to the number of people in that household. In 1906 agrarian reforms were introduced by Stolypin, Russian Prime minister, they were directed towards breaking up the communal farms and creating larger more prosperous private farms. These reforms brought about social inequality within the communal system, giving rise to well off peasants who became moneylenders, traders, and employers; at the same time the number of poorer farmers increased. The peasants were loosely divided into three broad groups: bednyaks, poor peasants, serednyaks, those of medium prosperity, and Kulaks, rich farmers (3-4%); there was another group, landless peasants, the batraks. Following the Revolution the communists considered only the batraks and bednyaks as true allies of the proletariat, serednyaks were considered unreliable, and the Kulaks as positive enemies of the state. Initially, being a Kulak carried no penalty from the regime other than a general mistrust, however, when Stalin came to power in 1929 a decree, the Sovnarkom, was issued that formalised the notion of the Kulak household: 1. Regular usage of hired labour 2. Ownership of a mill, a creamery, or other complex equipment, or a complex machine with mechanical motor. 3. Systematic letting of agricultural equipment or facilities for rent. 4. Involved in commerce, money lending, commercial brokerage, or other types of non-labour occupation. A year later, those who rented out land were also classified as Kulak, and local Party leaders were given the right to add other conditions as they saw fit. The Belgian historian Ludo Martens, in his book “Another View of Stalin”, states that the “bourgeoisie has always maintained that the Soviet collectivisation destroyed the dynamic forces in the countryside and caused a permanent stagnation of agriculture”. He then says that the idea of the Kulak being dynamic and entrepreneurial, is “nothing but a fable destined to tarnish socialism and glorify exploitation.” He quotes from a 19th C Russian specialist on peasant life: “they want neither skill nor industry; only promptitude to turn to their profit the needs, sorrows, the sufferings, and the misfortunes of others.” Martens also quotes E.J.Dillon, an American Russian specialist:

And of all the human monsters I have ever met in my travels, I cannot recall so malignant and odious as the Russian kulak 1

Stalin’s Genocide When Stalin came to power there were serious shortages of grain and a rising tide of working class protests over the shortages which persuaded the government to cut out free trade; to get rid of Lenin’s NEP. In November of 1927 he launched his “revolution from above”, setting two goals for Russia’s domestic agricultural policy: 1. Rapid industrialisation. 1

Martens L. Another View of Stalin. http://www.plp.org/books/Stalin/node30.html#SECTION00720100000000000000 Visited 19 Dec. 09

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2. Collectivisation of agriculture. One of his main aims was to get rid of all capitalist notions that had arisen under Lenin’s New Economic Policy, and to transform the Soviet Union into an industrialised state, his first FiveYear Plan of 1928 called for unrealistic directions for industrial expansion. The plan also called for transforming agriculture from predominantly individual farms into a system of large state collective farms which would produce enough grain to feed the population with a sufficient surplus to fund his plans for industrialization. Collectivization and Dekulakization The first decision to introduce collectivization, at a gradual pace, was made by the 15th Communist Party Congress in December 1927, in April 1929 the 16th Congress decided to increase the changes and set plans so that 20 percent of the nations farmland should be collectivized by 1933; the frenetic race to collectivization was accompanied by a dekulakisation movement. Stalin and other leaders of the regime thought that the collectivization could not be carried out successfully unless the peasant leadership of the villages was crushed. In his speech at the 15th Congress he stated that “as long as we have an agricultural base, such as is provided by small-peasant farming, we cannot advance our socialized industry”, the solution lies “ in enlarging the agricultural units“. He said that there were two ways to achieve this expansion - the capitalist way, which is not acceptable, or the socialist way – the amalgamation of small peasant farms into large collectives. He goes on to say that the party has “developed an offensive…against the capital elements in the countryside” and this has “brought about, and is bringing about very palpable and positive results.” This was Stalin’s proposal to get rid of the Kulak – “a decisive turn in our whole policy”. Five years earlier he says that the party cold not have undertaken such a policy because it did not have a “wide network of state collective farms…which could be used as strongholds in a determined offensive against the Kulaks.”

... Now we are able to carry on a determined offensive against the kulaks, to break their resistance, to eliminate them as a class and substitute for their output the output of the collective farms and state farms. 1

He winds up his speech by saying that the Kulaks are now being expropriated by the middle and poorer class peasants, and that the expropriation is no longer an administrative measure but - “...an integral part of the formation and development of the collective farms”, and finishes by saying that as the Kulak is a sworn enemy of the state they will not be permitted to join the collective farm movement. On the 30th January 1930, the Politburo approved a resolution On Measures for the Elimination of the Kulak Households in Districts of Comprehensive Collectivisation. The Kulaks were divided into three categories:

(I) `The counter-revolutionary activ'. Whether a kulak belonged this category was to be determined by the OGPU (political police), and the resolution set a limit of 63,000 for the whole of the USSR. Their means of production and personal property were to be confiscated; the heads of families were to be sentenced on the spot to imprisonment or confinement in a concentration camp; those among them who were `organisers of terrorist acts, counter-revolutionary demonstrations and insurrectionary organisations' could be sentenced to death. Members of their families were to be exiled as for Category II. (II) `The remaining elements of the kulak aktiv', especially the richest kulaks, large-scale kulaks and former semi-landowners. They `manifested less active opposition to the Soviet state but were arch1

Martens L., Another view of Stalin http://www.plp.org/books/Stalin/node31.html Visited 20 Dec. 09

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exploiters and naturally supported the counter-revolutionaries'. Lists of kulak households in this category were to be prepared by district soviets and approved by okrug executive committees on the basis of decisions by meetings of collective farmers and of groups of poor peasants and batraks, guided by instructions from village soviets… The means of production and part of the property of the families on these lists were to be confiscated; they could retain the most essential domestic goods, some means of production, a minimum amount of food and up to 500 rubles per family. They were then to be exiled to remote areas of the Northern region, Siberia, the Urals and Kazakhstan, or to remote districts of their own region. (III) The majority of kulaks were probably `reliable in their attitude to Soviet power'…Only part of the means of production were confiscated and they were installed in new land within the administrative district. 1

Those in the last category were moved to unproductive land and could not meet their quotas, and they were eventually deported. By March 1930 a very large proportion of the farms in the Ukraine were collectivised; the peasant had lost control of his land, and his crops, which were stored under the control of the state; watchtowers were set up in the fields over the main grain areas. The peasants reacted strongly to this take-over and slaughtered their cattle, sheep, and pigs (throughout Russia some 26,000,000 cows were slaughtered) rather than let the state have them. The collectivisation and dekulakisation of the villages was decided by outside soviet officials or by the group of ‘enthusiasts’ of the Soviet cause, called the twenty-five thousanders; the villagers would be coerced, often unsuccessfully, into the collective system and the expropriation of the Kulak. The collective recruits, under the protection of officials would then take everything of value from those designated as Kulaks - they could be the more prosperous farmers, the clergy, schoolteachers, and anyone else suspected of being ‘Kulak’. The Kulaks were left homeless, all their possessions taken from them, it was forbidden by law to help those who had been dispossessed. In 1930/1, two million peasants, the majority were Ukrainians, were deported to special settlements in Siberia and Kazakhstan.

1930; January 30: Communist Party Politburo Resolution "on measures to be taken for the liquidation of kulak ownership in complete collectivization regions." This Resolution determines "Dekulakization quotas" in "1st" and "2nd" categories for each region or republic. An initial estimate of 60,000 "1st category kulaks" defined as "activists, engaged in counter-revolutionary activities," were to be arrested and sent to labor camps after "a brief appearance before the troika" (political police extraordinary jurisdiction). The "most harmful and tenacious activists" were to be sentenced to death whereas "2nd category kulaks" defined as "exploiters, but less actively engaged in counter-revolutionary activities" and estimated at 129,000 to 154,000 families, were to be deported as families to "distant" regions of the country, following simple administrative procedures. Deprived of their civic rights, deported, administratively considered as "specially displaced," they were assigned to residence in "special villages" run by the OGPU (NKVD as of 1934). 2

These special settlements were the brain child of Genrikh Iagoda, head of the NKVD, who said that the deportees should be put to work, their labour not wasted sitting in prison. The state would create special resettlement villages, to be built by the deportees themselves, housing the dekulakised peasants that later would take in additional contingents of social and ethnic enemies. The whole operation of dekulakisation, deportation, and relocation was carried out in a hurry; central planning was done along the way. At the same time as dekulakization - what was to have been carried out at a “gradual pace”, collectivisation of peasant farms, was becoming more and more a process of coercion and 1

Martens L., Another view of Stalin http://www.plp.org/books/Stalin/node51.html#SECTION00750400000000000000 Visited 20 Dec. 09 2 Werth N., Mass Crimes Under Stalin, (1930-1953), 2008. http://www.massviolence.org/Mass-crimes-under-Stalin1930-1953?artpage=1#outil_sommaire_0 Visited 20 Dec. 09

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force carried out by overzealous party officials anxious to prove they could achieve the maximum conversions. Taking away everyone’s means of production and proclaiming them socialized did nothing to raise production. The peasants reacted violently to the process; they rebelled; slaughtering their animals, and they burnt their homes, and destroyed their tools rather than surrender them to the state; in some villages the local party officials were killed. Troops were sent in to put down the rebellion, the secret police, GPU, waged a campaign of terror against the farmers designed to force them into the collective, killing those who were uncooperative. But, resistance continued, the people simply refused to become cogs in the Soviet farm machine. Taking back their belongings, they returned to their own farms. In March 1930, the official party newspaper, Pravda, published an article by Stalin. He says that the collective farm movement has been very successful, and how important this is “for the fate of our country”. He follows by saying that such successes “induce a spirit of conceit and arrogance”:

People not infrequently become intoxicated by such successes; they become dizzy with success, loose all sense of proportion and the capacity to understand realities; they show a tendency to overrate their own strength and to underrate the strength of the enemy; adventurist attempts are made to solve all questions of socialist construction “in a trice. 1

He goes on – saying that the movement to collectivisation must have the support of the majority of the peasantry, the speed of collectivisation must take into account the diversity of the “conditions prevailing in the various districts of the USSR”, and that allowing for that diversity, coupled with the “voluntary principle” is the most important way forward. He accused the local bureaucracy of “boastful resolutions” and declaring collectives “on paper”, distorting the numbers, which can only be useful to the enemies of the state.

How could there have arisen in our midst such blockheaded exercises in “socialisation,” such ludicrous attempts to overleap oneself, attempts which aim at bypassing classes and the class struggle, and which in fact bring grist to the mill of our class enemies? They could have arisen only in the atmosphere of our “easy” and “unexpected” successes on the front of collective-farm development. They could have arisen only as a result of the blockheaded belief of a section of our Party: “We can achieve anything!”, “There’s nothing we can’ do!” They could have arisen only because some of our comrades have become dizzy with success and for the moment have lost clearness of mind an sobriety of vision. 2

He ends by saying that we must put an end to this frame of mind, and “this is one of the immediate tasks of the Party”. An addendum to an earlier Politburo minute issued in March 1932, “On the Forced Collectivisation of Cattle”, stated that all attempts to force collectivisation of cattle must stop, and, aid should be organised for the members of the kolkhozes “who have no cattle nor small livestock to purchase and raise young animals for their own personal needs”. 3 Stalin’s views on the collectivisation to date, as expressed in Pravda, were seen by the peasants as a tactical retreat, they were allowed to leave the collective farms. Sixteen million families had been collectivised - in a few weeks, 9,000,000 left. But, they were not allowed to reoccupy their original farms; they were allocated marginal land that was not at all suitable for growing grain. Heavy taxes were imposed, and a new wave of dekulakisation removed more of the recalcitrant. In the following two years, the bulk of the land was again collectivised. By 1

Pravda, No. 60, March 2, 1930, Dizzy with Success. http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1930/03/02.htm Visited 20 Dec. 09 2 Ibid. 3 Addendum to point 20, Politburo minutes no. 94, April 1931 http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/e2livest.html Visited 20 Dec. 09

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the middle of 1932, about 75% of Ukrainian farms were in the system. Now, Moscow launched the “terror-famine” against the peasants of the Ukrainian Kuban. The Famine In the Ukraine the grain demands of the party in 1931/32 had already left the country on the point of famine. In July 1932, Stalin issued a decree that over 6,000,000 tons of grain were to be delivered - the figure was far beyond possibility. Ukrainian party leaders complained that the demands were not practical; but, they were ordered to obey the directive. These impossible demands were to lead to the death of millions of Ukrainian peasants. By November 1932, some 40% of the demand for grain had been met, but, there was nothing left in villages. Ukrainian party officials complained again, saying that famine was raging; they were told to find the grain. Troops were sent in to purge the Ukrainian Communist Party officials, searches were made for hidden grain, which was confiscated regardless of whether the peasants had enough to feed themselves or enough seed to plant for the next harvest. The smallest amount that was found led to punishment by shooting or deportation to a labour camp. The peasant farmers and their families were living on all sorts of marginal edibles cats and dogs, chaff, nettles, worms, and ground bark. Borders between the Ukraine and Russia were closed; most available entries into the country were blockaded, preventing entry of any food supplies. The cities were allocated some small supplies, but, the countryside had nothing at all. Peasants who managed to get to the cities were not allowed to be fed or receive medical treatment, they usually died there, or went back to their villages to die; the bodies were removed twice a week from the streets. In the countryside, those that had the strength would beg food from the trains that passed near their villages. The stations were crowded with emaciated men and women, the infants had stick like limbs and swollen bellies. In December 1932, regulations were further tightened, and a complete economic blockade was ordered of the villages that did not meet their quotas. The exorbitant grain quotas demanded by the state, the economic blockade, and the confiscations was disastrous, the most fertile region in the world was the scene of a general famine. In the autumn of 1933, grain requisitions were stepped up even more to increase the low stocks in the cities, and to supply the export trade; hard currency was still needed to fund industrialisation. Deaths The death toll caused by the famine in the Ukraine is the subject of much debate; varying numbers have been put forward following research carried out by numerous individuals and groups, a short list follows: Library of Congress, Revelations from the Russian Archives;

6-7 million.

Nicolas Werth, The Great Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33, (includes Kuban, Caucusus) million. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vallin et al. Census studies carried out in 2002. Rummel R. J. Lethal Politics.

4

4-5 million. 2.2 million. 4 million.

Denial To compound the Party’s crime it was forbidden to even talk of famine or starvation, it was illegal; people were shot for even mentioning the words. The Soviet press and Soviet diplomats denied there was any famine at all…they said it hadn’t happened. Some western

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newspapers reported the facts, others were twisted or bribed to say it had not happened, and carefully staged photo opportunities were arranged in the Ukraine and other Soviet areas. George Bernard Shaw came away with a favourable impression, the former French premier, Edouard Herriot, was given a staged managed tour and he also came away with a good impression and declared - there was indeed no famine. It has been suggested that the Western countries were unwilling to disrupt lucrative trade agreements with the Soviet Union.

By the end of 1933, nearly 25 percent of the population of the Ukraine, including three million children, had perished. The Kulaks as a class were destroyed and an entire nation of village farmers had been laid low. With his immediate objectives now achieved, Stalin allowed food distribution to resume inside the Ukraine and the famine subsided. However, political persecutions and further round-ups of 'enemies' continued unchecked in the years following the famine, interrupted only in June 1941 when Nazi troops stormed into the country. Hitler's troops, like all previous invaders, arrived in the Ukraine to rob the breadbasket of Europe and simply replaced one reign of terror with another. 1

To end this section on the Ukrainian famine are presented several quotations from a meeting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 2003 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the famine. Mr. Chris Hartcher the proposer of the motion to be discussed, states in one of his initial points: “…that this constitutes one of the most heinous acts of genocide in history”. Winding up the debate he quotes from Arthur Koestler, “the great twentieth-century writer and intellectual”:

I saw the ravages of the famine of 1932-33 in the Ukraine: hordes of families in rags begging at the railway stations, the women lifting up to the compartment window their starving brats, which, with drumstick limbs, big cadaverous heads and puffed bellies, looked like embryos out of alcohol bottles. 2

Mr. Hartcher then says that the “genocide and famine were no accident, and quotes the General Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party in 1933:

... I am not sure that you understand what has been happening. A ruthless struggle is going on between the peasantry and our regime. It's a struggle to the death. This year [1933] was a test of our strength and endurance. It took a famine to show them who is master here. It has cost millions of lives, but the collective farm system is here to stay. We've won the war. 3

Hartcher concludes by quoting from the Soviet historian Kononenko:

Anyone who interprets the creation of the famine in Ukraine from 1932-1933 as a repressive measure employed to destroy the Ukrainian peasants' resistance to collectivization is grossly in error. To arrive at such a conclusion is to misconstrue absolutely the situation in Ukraine at that time. The swollen, starving peasants, were the least able to muster a resistance. The sole thought in everyone's mind was how to

1

th

The history Place, Genocide in the 20 Century, Stalins Forced Famine, 1932-1933. http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/stalin.htm Visited 21 Dec. 09 2 New South Wales Parliament, Legislative Assembly, UKRAINE FAMINE SEVENTIETH ANNIVERSARY, Mr. Chris Harcher. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hanstrans.nsf/V3ByKey/LA20031120 Visited 21 Dec. 09 33 New South Wales Parliament, Legislative Assembly, UKRAINE FAMINE SEVENTIETH ANNIVERSARY, Mr. Chris Harcher. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hanstrans.nsf/V3ByKey/LA20031120 Visited 21 Dec. 09

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obtain food... In fact, how can one even speak of resistance when by 1931 already 65.3% of all peasant households were collectivised … No, the famine was not a reaction against those who attempted to undermine Moscow's aims—it was the aim itself. 1

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New South Wales Parliament, Legislative Assembly, UKRAINE FAMINE SEVENTIETH ANNIVERSARY, Mr. Chris Harcher. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hanstrans.nsf/V3ByKey/LA20031120 Visited 21 Dec. 09

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Soviet Russia

• Figure 41 Map: Ancient Russia

According to research carried out by R.J.Rummel, (1988), Marxist governments have murdered around 92,000,000 people since 1900, of this total, further research revealed, nearly 62,000,000 were murdered in Russia since the 1917 revolution. This figure includes those murdered during the civil war to the post Stalin period 1954; the figure does not include war dead. Others have given figures from 20,000,000 to 80,000,000; Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn reckons 66,000,000 were murdered. Whether we consider the lower estimates, or the total revealed during Rummel’s research, the numbers are staggering, “monstrous” according to Rummel.

History The first people to establish some stability in what was later to become western Russia were the Scandinavians known as Rus, they established a “medieval state” around Kiev, from about 880 AD to the mid 12th Century. The Kievan Rus, as they became known, established trade routes with Byzantium along the rivers Dnieper, and Volga, introduced a legal code, and accepted Orthodox Christianity. The city of Novgorod, because of its control of trade along the Volga, became an important Rus republic. In the north east, Rostov was the most important city until “supplanted by Suzdal and then by the city of Vladimir”. The combined principality of Suzdal-Vladmir, a major power by the 12th century, sacked Kiev, and power was moved to the northeast. To the east of Kievan Rus were nomadic Turkic tribes, the Kipchaks and the Perchengs, who over the years attacked Rus territory. These constant battles and the growing disputes between the various Rus states ultimately led to their disintegration; the Mongol invasion and

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their destruction of Kiev in the 13 century, was the final blow. Cities such as Kiev and Vladimir never recovered from the Mongol invasion, newer cities, like Moscow, became important under Mongol rule. The Mongols administered Russia from their capital city Sarai, near present day Volgograd, allowing, on payment of suitable tribute, the local princes to rule much as they liked; Moscow (Muscovy) became an important state, and under Mongol rule it developed post roads, a census, its monetary system, and military organization, and the Orthodox Church was allowed to practice its religion.

The development of the Russian state can be traced from Vladimir-Suzdal' through Muscovy to the Russian Empire. Muscovy drew people and wealth to the north-eastern periphery of Kievan Rus'; established trade links to the Baltic Sea, the White Sea, and the Caspian Sea and to Siberia; and created a highly centralized and autocratic political system. Muscovite political traditions, therefore, exerted a powerful influence on Russian society. 1

Moscow was to be ruled by a series of princes - Daniil was the first of the Rurik dynasty, his son Ivan I, 1325-1340 was next, called by the Mongols Grand Prince of Vladimir. During the 14th century these princes began acquiring more land in order to increase the population and wealth under their rule. Ivan III, the Great, 1462-1505, conquered Novgorod and Tver; and Moscow gained full sovereignty over the ethnically Russian lands - the Mongols left in 1480. Under Ivan III, many other cities were taken and Muscovy tripled in size under his rule. He was the first to take the title of tsar, Ruler of all Rus; and he forced lesser princes to acknowledge him and his descendants as the unquestioned rulers with control over military, judicial, and foreign affairs. Ivan IV, the Terrible, was crowned tsar in 1547. The early years of his reign saw some useful reforms to the law and local government, but during the 1550’s, his mental instability took over; he began to mistrust his advisors and began to take his personal route in governing the state. He divided Muscovy into two parts; the more prosperous areas for himself, - his private domain, - and he began a reign of terror; he confiscated the best land and property, killing those who resisted, and imposed high taxes on the peasant population. His policy, called the Oprichnina, undermined the whole economic stability of the state and the policy was abandoned in 1572; during this period, territorial expansion continued eastwards, Ivan’s domestic and foreign policies led to a period of social struggle and civil war, the Time of Troubles…1598-1613. Ivan IV was succeeded by his mentally deficient son Fedor in 1584. Fedor’s brother in –law Boris Godunov, assumed power and was named tsar in 1598 when Fedor I died. During 1601 and 1603 widespread famine occurred because of crop failures; Godunov died in 1605 and his son Fedor was crowned tsar but was murdered and Dmitry, who claimed he was the son of Ivan IV, and became tsar; the first “false Dmitry”. Dmitry, an ally of the Poles, was overthrown by Vasily Shuyskiy in 1606, who, in turn, was overthrown by a second “False Dmitry” in 1610, when this one was crowned tsar the Poles occupied Moscow. By 1613 the Poles had been driven out of Moscow by a new Russian army, and the first of the Romanov family, Mikhail, was proclaimed tsar.

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Library of Congress Country Studies, Russia. Rise of Muscovy. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ru0016) Visited 21 Dec. 09

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Muscovy was in chaos for more than a decade, but the institution of the autocracy remained intact. Despite the tsar's persecution of the boyars, the townspeople's dissatisfaction, and the gradual enserfment of the peasantry, efforts at restricting the power of the tsar were only half-hearted. 1

Serfdom

…condition in medieval Europe in which a tenant farmer was bound to a hereditary plot of land and to the will of his landlord. The vast majority of serfs in medieval Europe obtained their subsistence by cultivating a plot of land that was owned by a lord. 2

The early Romanovs, Mikhail, and his son Aleksey, were weak rulers, but the autocracy survived because of a strong government; they controlled all social groups, the church, and trade. In 1649 the government introduced a comprehensive legal code, one of the most significant parts of which was that relating to the peasant population. In the previous century, the state had put restrictions on the right of peasants to move from land to landlord, then:

...the 1649 code officially attached peasants to their domicile. The state fully sanctioned serfdom, and runaway peasants became state fugitives. Landlords had complete power over their peasants and bought, sold, traded, and mortgaged them 3

Peasants living on state land were not considered serfs, but were still attached to the land they worked, and subject to government taxes. Fixing the peasants to specific landlords subordinated the people to the interests of the state. During the time of the Romanov dynasty, which lasted for over 300 years, expansion continued in all directions, Russian territory eventually stretched from the Baltic to the Pacific. Peter the Great, who now called himself Emperor, became sole ruler in 1696; he was responsible for setting the foundations for empire building over the next two hundred years. Eventually Russia became a major player in Europe, but, its retention of serfdom held back significant economic progress. This culture of serfdom, combined with the continuing autocratic rule lead to constant peasant revolts. Forty years after Peter the Great Catherine II came to power and continued his attempts to westernize Russian society. She reorganised the provincial administration, and nobles were no longer required to serve the central government, she issued a charter in 1785 confirming the liberation from compulsory service, but, no such relief was given to soften the conditions of serfdom. In 1790, Aleksandr Radishchev published his book: “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”, in which he fiercely criticized serfdom and the autocracy; he was banished to Siberia - Radishchev was later recognized as the father of Russian radicalism. During the attempts by Peter I and Catherine II to improve Russia’s standing in Europe and improve its economy there were many remaining problems, not least the fact that the minority elite remained alienated from the majority of ordinary Russians. The expansion of territory and the consequent incorporation of different nationalities into the Empire, not used to autocratic rule, also caused problems in later years. 1

Library of Congress Country Studies, Russia, Time of Troubles http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ru0018) V isited 21 Dec. 09 2 serfdom. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 21, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/535485/serfdom 3

Library of Congress Country Studies, Russia, Time of Troubles http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ru0018) Visited 21 Dec. 09

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The organization of society and the government system, from Peter the Great's central institutions to Catherine's provincial administration, remained basically unchanged until the emancipation of the serfs in 1861…1

In 1861 Alexander II, who became Emperor in 1855, issued a proclamation emancipating about 20 million serfs, they were given land, the poorest, and were expected to make payments to the government over the next 50 years; the landlords were issued with bonds as compensation for losing their land. Payments by the ex-serfs were not maintained because of low crop yields because the land was so poor, and the bonds issued to the landlord dropped in value; leading to much dissatisfaction on both sides. In 1866 an attempt was made to assassinate Alexander II and the government reintroduced censorship. Alexander was killed in 1881 by a group calling itself the People’s Will (Narodnaya volya), which led to the formation of the security police the Okhrana, who were given “extraordinary powers”. Alexander III, 1881-94, revived religious censorship, persecuting the non-orthodox population and introduced ant-Semitism; many Jews left the country or joined secret anti-government organisations. Start of Socialism The lifting of censorship by Alexander II allowed nationalist and radical writers to air their views, in an attempt to influence public opinion, “narod”. One of the most influential writers was Nikoly Chernyshevskiy who said that Russia could “bypass capitalism and move directly to socialism”. In 1876 the radicals moved towards terrorism, and in 1879 Georgiy Plekhanov advocated redistribution of all land to the peasants. The group called the Peoples Will, remained ‘underground’ until 1887 when Aleksandr Ul’yanov attempted to assassinate Alexander III, he was caught and executed. His younger brother, Vladimir, changed his name to Lenin. During the reign of Nicholas II, 1894, several political movements emerged. The liberals, industrialists and the nobility, desiring peaceful social reform and retention of the monarchy – founded the Constitutional Democrats. Then there were the Narodniks, they wanted land to be given to those who worked it - the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. The most radical party to emerge was the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RDSLP), formed in 1898 - they advocated complete social, economic, and political reform. In 1903, the party split into the Bolsheviks, and the more moderate Mensheviks. Under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks advocated strict party discipline in order to seize power by force. The time that Nicholas II was on the throne was chaotic for the Russian people. Then there was the disastrous war with Japan, Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg, 1905, where hundreds were killed during a procession, followed by industrial strikes. Several attempts were made to form a national legislature, the Duma, was rejected by the socialists. In 1914 Russia entered WW I, mounting casualties, food and fuel shortages, and inflation all added to more and more unrest; not least was the continuing reluctance of Nicholas II to share power with the Duma. The increasing conflict between them underlined the general feeling of incompetence, and brought to an end monarchist rule.

In early 1917, deteriorating rail transport caused acute food and fuel shortages, which resulted in riots and strikes. Authorities summoned troops to quell the disorders in Petrograd (as St. Petersburg had been called

1

Library of Congress Country Studies, Russia, Imperial Expansion and Maturation: Catherine II http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ru0021) Visited 21 Dec. 09

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since 1914, to Russianize the Germanic name). In 1905 troops had fired on demonstrators and saved the monarchy, but in 1917 the troops turned their guns over to the angry crowds. Public support for the tsarist regime simply evaporated in 1917, ending three centuries of Romanov rule. 1

Revolution

• Figure 42 Map: Russia

Following the collapse of the monarchy a Provisional Government was made up of moderate socialists and the Mensheviks on one side and the Bolsheviks in opposition. Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks, returned from his exile in Switzerland in July 1917, and gave his “April Thesis” speech in Petrograd advocating the overthrow of the Provisional Government and transfer of land and factories to the people. The speech inspired workers, soldiers and sailors to take to the streets and to take power from the government; the uprising eventually died down and the Bolsheviks were outlawed, Lenin fled to Finland, and Leon Trotsky, another leading Bolshevik, was jailed. The government survived, but popular support moved leftwards in the autumn of 1917. Workers took control of factories, peasants took the land, and the military deserted. By September the Bolsheviks dominated the government, Trotsky was freed form jail and made chairman of the Petrograd Soviet. 2 Lenin returned from Finland in October and convinced the Bolshevik Central Committee to carry out an armed uprising. Trotsky won over the military in Petrograd leaving the government without support.

The actual insurrection--the Bolshevik Revolution--began on November 6, when Kerenskiy ordered the Bolshevik press closed. Interpreting this action as a counterrevolutionary move, the Bolsheviks called on their supporters to defend the Petrograd Soviet. By evening, the Bolsheviks had taken control of utilities and most government buildings in Petrograd, thus enabling Lenin to proclaim the downfall of the Provisional Government on the morning of the next day, November 7. 3

1

Library of Congress Country Studies, Russia, The Fatal Weakening of Tsarism http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ru0030) Visited 21 Dec. 09 The Soviet was the primary unit of government. 3 Library of Congress Country Studies, Russia, The Period of Dual Power http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ru0033) Visited 21 Dec. 09 2

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Moscow was under Bolshevik control in three weeks, the Bolsheviks and left wing Socialist Revolutionaries declared the Soviets the governors of Russia, and the Council of Peoples Commissars to serve in the cabinet.

Lenin became chairman of this council. Trotsky took the post of commissar of foreign affairs; Stalin, a Georgian, became commissar of nationalities. Thus, by acting decisively while their opponents vacillated, the Bolsheviks succeeded in effecting their coup d'état. 1

During the next three years a brutal civil war was fought between the Bolsheviks, the “Reds”, and the anticommunist forces, the “Whites”. When the war ended, the Bolsheviks were in full control of the country and in a position to rid itself of all opposition to its policies of converting to Communism, eliminating capitalism – private ownership of the means of production and the ownership of land – according the theories of Marx; according to Lenin the means of achieving this was dictatorship, power without limit, no laws, and “absolutely unrestrained by rules”. During the course of building this ideal state sixty two million people were murdered.

The Genocide According to R.J.Rummel 2 in chapter I, of his “Lethal Politics”, the killing can be divided into eight periods: civil war, National Economic Policy, collectivization, The Great Terror, pre-WW II, WW II, post war and Stalin’s twilight, and post-Stalin. Red Terror During the civil war began a period known as the Red Terror; a period of mass repression used in the annihilation of the idealists and leaders of the enemies of the proletariat; “we are exterminating the bourgeoisie, as a class” stated Latsis, one of the creators of the terror; Stalin is reported as saying there should be “an open and systematic mass terror”. Declaration of the terror was made in August 1918, following the assassination of the chairman of the Petrograd Extraordinary Commission, Uritsky, and the attempted assassination of Lenin. The state security service, the Cheka, was put in charge of the day to day organisation of the terror, and carried it out with no regard to the process of law. Terror spread all over the country, tens of thousands were arrested and shot. In the River Don region alone 70%, out of a population of about 1,000,000 Cossacks were killed in January 1919; they had opposed the revolution. Calls from local heads of the Extraordinary Commission, the press, and Central Government, were to kill the bourgeoisie parasites: those who oppose the Soviets, and counterrevolutionaries; the All-Russian Cheka Daily, in its first edition said:

Let us abandon all long, fruitless, and futile speeches about the Red Terror. The time has come, not by words but by deeds, to carry on the most pitiless, sternly organized mass terror. 3

The whole country was covered by Extraordinary Commissions for Battle Against CounterRevolution, Sabotage, and Speculation, meting out the pitiless settlement of accounts with our enemies. The main characteristic of the terror was to eliminate all opposition regardless of their class; even those who had taken part in the civil war were subjected to wholesale destruction. The Bolsheviks felt insecure having only a quarter of the popular vote following 1

Library of Congress Country Studies, Russia, The Period of Dual Power http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ru0033) Visited 21 Dec. 09

2

Rummel includes Genocide in his definition of Democide: The murder of any person or people by a government, including genocide, politicide, and mass murder. 3 The record of the Red terror, S. Melgunoff, from his “The Red Terror in Russia”.

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the revolution; this reign of terror would keep them in power. In January 1920, the head of the Cheka, Dzerzhinsky, declared that the most extreme punishments should stop. Earlier, the Central Executive Committee had said that terrorism should cease and law and justice take over - the shooting began again in May.

Power has passed from a monarchy based on the police and gendarmerie into the hands of usurpers Communists - who have given the toilers not freedom but the daily dread of ending up in the torture chambers of the Cheka, the horrors of which exceed many times the rule of tsarism's gendarmerie. 1 In March, 1921, Lenin told the 10th Congress of the Bolshevik Party that “something had gone awry”. The instantaneous attempt to socialism, the removal of the means of production, and ownership of land, which had been taken into state control, had left the country on “the very edge of the abyss”. His forcible requisition of grain from the Ukraine to feed the cities had resulted in the death of about 5,000,000 from famine.

The attempted instantaneous obliteration of the market economy-had brought only starvation, death, and destruction. 2

NEP The failure of the rapid attempt at socialist control of industry and agriculture necessitated a drastic change; the Lenin administration initiated the National Economic Policy (NEP). Industry and agriculture would be run on capitalist lines, but their control would be by the state; Trotsky is alleged to have said: “the workers control the government; the workers’ government has control of industry and is carrying on this industry according to capitalist methods”. The state had a monopoly on foreign trade, and owned all the agricultural land, and charged the peasant farmers about 10% of their crop as a tax; by 1922, the effects of the earlier famine were abating; industry was improving and exporting goods. The industrial revival was achieved, in some part, by diverting funds from other ‘none essential’ needs (education, health) to improve its industrial infrastructure; as well as increased production, workers wages improved, and the number of jobs available increased. Following the death of Lenin in 1924, the NEP, which retained some aspects of capitalism, became anathema, especially to Stalin, who was to become undisputed leader of the Party. At the 15th All Union Congress in December, 1927, Stalin forced through “measures that signified the end of the NEP…” When he came to power he started a terror campaign that was to last until his death in 1953. th

According to a report by Khrushchev to the 20 Communist Party Congress in February 1956 - when Stalin came to power the repressive measures against his enemies and “rightists”, was carried out long after they had been “politically defeated by the Party”. His concept (Stalin) “enemies of the people” began the lawlessness, allowing anyone who disagreed with him to be eliminated. The only proof of guilt was the individuals “confession”, usually acquired “through physical pressure” - torture. There were mass arrests and deportations, and executions without trial which caused insecurity and fear among the population.

1

Lenin and the First Communist Revolutions, IX. Naked Power: The First Show Trials, The Conquest of the Caucasus, and

Kronstadt. http://economics.gmu.edu/bcaplan/museum/his1i.htm Visited 21 Dec. 09

2

War Communism to NEP: The Road from Serfdom, Sheldon L. Richman

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Stalin One of Stalin’s earliest atrocities was his directive to collectivise agriculture, which resulted in the death of 5,000,000 people. During his leadership of the Party, 1924-1953, he maintained his position by means of terror campaigns; that known as the Great Terror, occurred between 1935 and 1939, a period of Purges of all sections of society; it began in earnest following the murder of his closest rival, Sergei Kirov, in December 1934. Opinion is that Stalin initiated the st killing; he then used the death as a pretext to issue his Law of 1 December, (1934) which established “special measures” to deal with counter-revolutionary terrorism; the NKVD, the renamed security force, now had the authority to arrest and execute suspects without the process of law. The December directive from Stalin, without approval of the Politburo, stated:

"1. Investigative agencies are directed to speed up the cases of those accused of the preparation or execution of acts of terror. 2. Judicial organs are directed not to hold up the execution of death sentences pertaining to crimes of this category in order to consider the possibility of pardon, because the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR does not consider as possible the receiving of petitions of this sort. 3. The organs of the Commissariat of Internal Affairs [NKVD] are directed to execute the death sentences against criminals of the above-mentioned category immediately after the passage of sentences." 1

There was a slackening of the earlier repression in 1934, but between 1937 and 1938, there was an extraordinary paroxysm of violence; the majority of all executions by the NKVD occurred in this two year period; and around this period there were several “show trials” of prominent Party members allegedly responsible for the murder of Kirov. Zinoviev and Kaminev, plus fourteen others were executed in 1936. Seventeen “leading Bolsheviks” were executed in January 1937, followed in June by the execution of “the cream of the army”; 60,000 army officers were purged”. The third trial, March 1938, was of Bukharin and twenty others, all executed.

These public show trials and the secret trials of the generals provide only a faint idea of the extent of the Great Terror. Every member of Lenin's Politburo except Stalin and Trotsky were either killed or committed suicide to avoid execution. 2

As mentioned previously, all sections of society were sought out and either killed straight away, deported, imprisoned, or sent to a Gulag; the risks of being targeted were - political, ethnic, social origin, religion, criminal background, previous association with anti Stalinist factions, and denunciation by colleagues/neighbours. The professional class was particularly at risk; managers, teachers, doctors, the intelligentsia; the NKVD rounded them up in mass operations. Depending on how keen the local officials were it invariably turned out that there were always more to be cleansed; using falsified reports of transgressions against the state sentences were prepared in advance. Head of the NKVD, Yezhov, sent “383 …lists containing the names of many thousands of Party, soviet, Komsomol, (youth groups) Army, and economic workers” to Stalin - he approved them all. Mass execution replaced imprisonment as the method of removing those who were thought not to toe the party line. By 1939, the wave of mass arrests began to recede, but Stalin still approved the use off force on those obstinate enemies of the people as justifiable and appropriate.

1

Modern History Sourcebook, Khrushchev Secret Speech, 1956. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1956khrushchev-secret1.html Visited 21 Dec. 09 2 Kreis S., The history Guide, Lecture 10, The Age of Totalitarianism: Stalin and Hitler. http://www.historyguide.org/europe/lecture10.html Visited 21 Dec. 09

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During the years of Russia’s involvement in the Second World War, 1941-1945, the populations of minority ethnic groups, perceived as enemies of the Sate, were deported; about 1.8 million were forcibly relocated. Thousands were killed during the roundup period, tens of thousands died en route to their destination, scholarly estimates report up to 25% died. Soviet archives have revealed the groups involved in the deportation: Major Ethnic Deportations, 1937 - 1944 Number Nationality Deporte d SOURCE: Based on Pohl, J. Otto. (1999). Ethnic Cleansing in the USSR, 1937 1949. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Koreans

171,781

Finns

89,000

Germans

749,613

Kalmyks

93,139

Karachais

69,267

Chechens

387,229

Ingush

91,250

Balkars

37,713

Crimean Tatars

183,155

Crimean Greeks

15,040

Meskhetian Turks, Kurds, and Khemshils Total 1,982,142

94,955

Date of Deportat ion

8/21/37 10/25/37 8/31/41 9/7/41 9/3/41 10/15/41 12/28/43 12/29/43 11/6/43 2/23/44 2/29/44 2/23/44 2/29/44 3/8/44 3/9/44 5/18/44 5/20/44 6/27/44 6/28/44 5/11/44 11/26/44

Place of Resettlement

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, Siberia Siberia, Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan, Molotov Uzbekistan, Mari ASSR Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan

1

• Table 4 Ethnic Deportations in Russia.

In his report to the 20th Congress in 1956, Khrushchev stated that the Ukrainians avoided deportation because “there were too many of them” and “nowhere to put them”. Gulag When the Bolsheviks came to power in 1918, a system of labour camps was established to confine class enemies and other undesirables; known as the Northern Special Purpose 1

Answeres.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/deportation Visited 21 Dec. 09

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Camps; they were at Archangel, and the Solovetskiye Islands in the White Sea. By the 1930’s, there was a system of corrective labour camps all over Russia which received the millions of people taken in the mass arrests of the NKVD under Stalin. The GULAG proper was formed in 1934 to bring together all the existing labour camps under one central organization; over the years five major systems evolved: (1) the Yagry near Arkhangel’sk; (2) the Pechora, including Kotlas and Vorkuta; (3) the Karaganda in Kazakhstan; (4) the Tayshet-Komsomolsk (now Komsomolsk) in the Lake Baikal-Amur River region; and (5) the Dalstroy in the Magadan-Kolyma region. The idea of the GULAG as political rehabilitation was nonsense; prisoners were exploited to provide the manpower to achieve Stalin’s economic goals, including - railway, road, and canal construction, gold mining, coal mining, oil extraction, and forestry, and many other manufactures; by 1940, the economy relied heavily on the very large prison population. The administration of the GULAG was a separate entity, but mirrored the bureaucracy and social control of the Soviet system of government - security, education, political indoctrination, health care, and food supply were supposed to be available from the administration. Although the camp system was not set up as an extermination regime, never the less, millions died from malnutrition, disease, neglect, and exposure to the harsh climatic conditions, and overwork. During the war years, conditions in the camps deteriorated drastically as supplies were diverted for the war effort. When the Russian army entered Poland, about 2 million Poles were sent to the Gulag. At the end of WW II, camp numbers were swelled by the influx of Russian prisoners of war returning home – because they had allowed themselves to be captured Stalin saw them as enemies of the State The following paragraphs will give some idea of the plight of the people during the terror campaigns; the arrests, interrogation, the deportations, and the conditions in the GULAG/prison system. All members of society, professionals, as well as the ordinary citizen, were in constant fear of the “knock on the door”, to be arrested, falsely charged with offences against the State, and imprisoned to await interrogation. Conditions in the prisons were appalling; overcrowded, sometimes by as much as 800%, unsanitary, basic toilet facilities intentionally absent. Some cells were kept overheated, with the object of breeding more lice to feed off the prisoners; food was sparse and inedible. All this was done to make it easier for the NKVD to extract a confession from the prisoners; those who were reluctant to sign their confession were subjected to horrendous physical torture. Oleg Khlevniuk, a Russian historian, stated “Soviet punitive agents were at that time members of one of the most criminalized and brutal security services in history”. The interrogators had been trained to inflict pain in the most efficient manner. The prisoners were subjected to beatings, they were burned, frozen, cut and raped; deprived of sleep for days on end. They were put in narrow cells where they could only stand, when exhausted they collapsed and became wedged between the walls. Some prisoners were put among those that were to be shot, lined up against a wall waiting for their turn, which didn’t come. One of the more effective methods of getting a confession was to threaten prisoners with the arrest of their close family, wife, and children. In the end, most people signed a confession, wearied by the physical and psychological torture. If they were not immediately shot, they were deported to the Gulag. The deportees were transported to their destination, usually by rail, in cattle trucks; in the heat of summer, they were too hot and thirsty; in the winter they had to suffer the freezing temperatures. Little sanitation was provided and the trucks soon became filthy and stinking; food and water were given out by their guards in very small quantities. The unsanitary conditions and lack of proper food led to disease and malnutrition; thousands died on the journey. The prisoners convicted on false charges were mixed with the hardened criminals who often robbed them of what little they possessed; rape and murder were commonplace on the journey. When they arrived at heir destination, which could be thousands of miles from

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where they started, the camp was already established, or they had to start from scratch and build it. On arrival at the camp began a regime of survival. Living conditions were appalling, overcrowded lice infested barracks, bedding, if there was any, consisted of a mattress filled with wood shavings or straw and a thin blanket. Food was allocated on the basis of whether the work “norms” were achieved; the more work done the more was allocated. Due to the harsh conditions in the camp and the unrealistic production targets set, most were on the lowest ration: 300 gms of bread and a litre of thin soup for breakfast, then, after 10/12 hours of work, a litre of the same soup and a spoonful of groats for supper. The survival of the camp inmates depended on what job they were assigned; certain jobs would almost certainly lead to death. The hardest jobs were those in the open, where the prisoners were exposed to the elements. Cutting timber, which became known as “the green execution”, was one of the worst; mining and construction work were next; prisoners would only last a few months before dying of exhaustion.

Within the camp, there were individuals called trusties who were given better jobs and had the power to dominate the lives of others. These were the people who worked in the cafeteria, the bathhouse, or the barbershop. They could control who got rest, who got food, and who would do the lethal jobs that meant almost certain death. 1

Those that survived in the camps were subjected to daily abuse by the guards and the professional criminals, the “urka”, who dominated prison life. Political prisoners lived in fear of these criminals who possessed no moral or ethical code ; they were violent and often abused other prisoners both physically and sexually; some forced others to carry out their work allocation. The work regime in the camps was hard, and to avoid it some prisoners resorted to self mutilation to gain a few days respite in the hospital. Prisoners would resort to burning themselves, cutting off their toes/fingers, freezing their extremities, aggravating wounds so that they would not heal, drinking paraffin, injecting soap into their urinary system to simulate venereal disease; others would resort to cutting open their veins.

“The GULAG was conceived in order to transform human matter into a docile, exhausted, ill-smelling mass of individuals living only for themselves and thinking of nothing else but how to appease the constant torture of hunger, living in the instant, concerned with nothing apart from evading kicks, cold and ill treatment.” 2

According to a report by the United States Dept. of Sate Office of International Information, 1952, Inside Soviet State Labour Camps, 1939-1942, “it is estimated that one out of every six Soviet citizens was persecuted in the Stalin era”. Death The following table, is extracted from chapter 1 of R.J.Rummel’s “Lethal Politics” 3, which gives the “most probable estimates” of the dead from the time of the revolution in 1917, to the post Stalin era in 1954.

1

Horsford, Kachurin, and Lamont, GULAG: Soviet prison camps and their legacy, Hosford, Kachurin and Lamont. http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~nrc/Gulag.pdf Visited 21 Dec. 09 2 Ibid. 3 http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/USSR.TAB1.1.GIF Visited 24 Dec. 09

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• Table 5 Soviet Democide

Source: Data from secret 1953 report prepared shortly after Stalin's death. This document was requested by the Kremlin leadership for purposes of assessing the extent of crimes committed during the years of Stalin's ascendancy. The numbers were compiled into table form by V. P. Popov and published as such in Otechestvennye arkhivy 1992 no. 2 (28-29); reprinted in Istoriia Rossii 1917-1940: Khrestomatiia (Ekaterinburg, 1993), 340.

• Table 6 Sentences handed out by the Cheka/NKVD

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China The Chinese have had the longest shared common culture of any other group on earth, dating back about 4000 years. An imperial dynastic governmental system was established as early as 221 BCE; this system, although overturned from time to time over the centuries, survived despite being ruled by foreign invaders such as the Mongols, and the Manchu. The system of dynastic rule came to an end in 1911, and was followed by a weak republican government, then a period of disjointed rule by ‘warlords’, who controlled their own provinces throughout the country. The ‘warlords’ were followed by a Nationalist government, who were followed by the present Communist regime - the Peoples Republic of China, PRC.

History About 3000 years ago the Chinese people began to live in large settled groups along the Yellow River, where they cultivated the fertile land and domesticated animals. The earliest documented era was that of the Shang Dynasty, (1766-1122 BCE), a highly developed hierarchy of king, nobles, commoners, and slaves. The Chou Dynasty followed, and ruled for almost 900 years. During the Chou Dynasty Confucius developed his ethical code which was to dominate Chinese thought for the next 2500 years. When the Chou Dynasty ended in 221 BCE, the Ch’in unified China and established the first Empire, stretching from the Mongolian plateau to Vietnam; they introduced a central bureaucracy replacing the feudal system. Eventually the Ch’in rapidly fell apart, a government official, Liu Pang, formed the Han Empire in 202 BCE, which continued for 400 years. The Han Empire was divided into two parts, Earlier or Western Han, and the Later or Eastern Han. The Later Empire had great problems because of its eunuchs, castrated males from the lower classes who were recruited as bodyguards in the court. Some of them seeing the power wielded by court officials became ambitious to share their power; conflicts between eunuch and officials were prolonged and destructive. Dominant army generals, themselves greedy for power, massacred 2000 eunuchs about 190 AD. By 207 AD, General Ts’ao Ts’ao became dictator in the north, and when he died in 220 AD, his son, Wei took over, and deposed the Emperor ending the Han Empire. For the following 350 years China was divided into three Kingdoms: Wei, in the north, Shu Han, in the southwest, and Wu, in the southeast. This period of disunity was ended by a northern general, Yang Ti, in 581 AD when he founded the short lived Sui Dynasty; when he was killed in 618 AD, the T’ang Dynasty emerged. The T’ang Dynasty lasted nearly three hundred years, its capital city; Chang’an became one th of the greatest commercial centres in the world. In the early 8 century China controlled Tibet and Central Asia in the west, Mongolia and Manchuria in the northeast, and Korea in the north and Amman in the south; but, the Dynasty was troubled by rebellion. By 907 AD, the T’ang dynasty disintegrated, leaving China divided once again into north and south; five rulers in the north and ten in the south. In 960 AD, the Sung Dynasty was formed; again, there were two distinct periods, north, and south Sung. In the north, general Chaos K’uang-yin became the emperor Sung T’ai Tsu, this northern Dynasty lasted until 1126 AD, when Kao Tsung became emperor south of the Huai River, the southern dynasty lasted until 1279 AD and by this time the Mongol army had invaded China, by 1276 AD, the southern capital Hangzhou had been defeated, and the rest of the Sung fell in 1279. The Mongol armies under Genghis Khan had invaded northern China in 1210 AD, and he set up his capital city in Peking, and declared himself emperor of China, his grandson, Kublai khan founded the Yuan Dynasty in 1271 AD; but the Mongols did not reign long in China. They distrusted the Chinese elite and relegated them to subservient roles; they did not take on Chinese culture and persisted with their own language. Following the death of Kublai khan in 1294, successive weak and incompetent khans made the already hated Mongol rule intolerable which led to the rise of rebel groups. One of the rebel leaders, Chu Yuan, with his

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army captured Nanjing, and by 1368 AD, he had declared himself emperor Hung-wu, and went on to capture the Yuan capital Peking, beginning the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty lasted for almost three hundred years, 1368-1644 AD, but did not unify the whole of China. A period of stability followed the restoration of the economy and government, which was followed by a gradual decline. The last one hundred years of the Ming were troubled with widespread corruption in the government, weak emperors, and border security; the Mongols recaptured Peking in 1550, in the north the Manchu became a threat. Rebel groups formed within China again in response to a famine in the northwest in 1628. One of the rebel leaders, Li Tzu, captured Peking in 1644, where he found the last Ming emperor had committed suicide. Li Tzu, and the rest of the rebels were defeated by the Manchu who had been asked by a Ming general, Wu San, to eliminate them. The Manchu remained, and founded the Ch’ing Dynasty.

• Figure 43 Map: China Ch’ing Dynasty

The Manchu, like the Mongols, ruled the whole of China, their methods became more acceptable to the Chinese population, and they ruled for 267 years. Under the benevolence of the Manchu the population grew from about 100,000,000 to 300,000,000 by the end of the th 18 century. Land became scarce because of the increasing population, and once again government corruption spread through the court, and military organization deteriorated. Throughout the Ch’ing dynasty there were many rebellions, one of the most serious was the th White Lotus Rebellion, 1796-1804, and China entered the 19 century rocked by revolt. What changed the Empire more than anything else was the incursion of European countries into China.

Revolutionary struggle. There were many disputes between China and European countries, such as the Opium Wars against Great Britain, 1839-1842, which ended with the treaty of Nanjing. The treaty opened five ports to the British and various other Western countries. The second opium War, The Arrow War, 1856-1860, was fought between Britain and France. The presence of the European countries disrupted the life and economy of the old China, introducing new customs and means of trade. Not only was the Empire struggling with the influx of Europe, they were also suffering from internal rebellion; the Taiping Rebellion was the worst; its leader, Hung Hsiu-ch’an, wanted to overthrow the Manchu Dynasty, and change society. Within a few

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years Hung had a large following, and in 1852, The Heavenly Kingdom of Peace was proclaimed, and in 1853, the rebels took Nanjing.

Before the Chinese army succeeded in crushing the revolt, however, 14 years had passed, and well over 30 million people were reported killed. 1

Around the same period other revolts erupted, the Nien Rebellion in the northeast, the Moslem rebellions in the southwest and northwest. The Taiping Rebellion were defeated in 1864, the Niens by 1868, and the Moslems by 1873; although these internal rebellions had been put down, the Empire was still in trouble. Foreign powers were still interested in their footholds in China which led to many conflicts. In 1870, the Tianjin Massacre involving France, the Ili crisis involving Russia in 1879, the SinoFrench War with France, 1884-1885, and the Sino-Japanese War from 1894-1895; each conflict impinging more and more on the Empire; then, in 1900, there was the Boxer Rebellion. Boxer Rebellion By the middle of 1900 members of a secret society calling themselves the “Righteous and Harmonious Fists” were destroying foreign property and killing foreigners in north-eastern China; because of their boxing skill, they became know as the Boxers; most were peasants or thugs who resented the presence of Westerners in China. They first appeared in 1898 when they opposed the building of railways by the Germans - railways would put Chinese boatmen out of business. The governor of Shantung province, General Yuan Shih k’ai, could have put down the rebels, but had been secretly instructed by the Empress dowager, Tz’u-hsi, not to interfere with the rebel activities, or with any one else opposing the Westerners. The Boxers rampaged through northern China killing foreign missionaries and Chinese Christian converts, and anyone else that got in their way; eventually they arrived in Peking and began looting and killing; in July, the boxers laid siege to the foreign legations. A multinational force was organised in the port of Tientsin to proceed to Peking and put down the rebellion, the dowager empress, Tz’u-hsi, ordered Chinese Imperial troops to block the advance of the expeditionary force and it was turned back. Foreign troops then took Chinese coastal forts to insure access to the capital, this act apparently enraged Tz’u-his and she ordered the death of all foreigners in china. A further foreign army was sent to relive Peking; th and they captured the city on August 14 1900. Along the way to the capital, according to an American General, James H. Wilson, the countryside was “ravaged...by the Allied advance”, 2 and, “…it was evident that the allied armies had spared no Chinaman..” The residents of Peking fared no better from the atrocities committed by the Allied forces. They were tortured, killed, raped, and robbed “around the clock”. “An uncontrollable, blood-lusting madness 3 seemed to have seized the occupation forces from many lands.” The pacification process which followed the capture of the capital saw the complete destruction of many towns and villages in the surrounding provinces. Following the failure of the boxer uprising, the Manchu dynasty lasted another decade or so, Tz’u-hsi died in 1908, and was followed by a weak regent, the new emperor was only two years old at the time. Revolutionary conflicts, based on Chinese nationalism, were growing throughout the country some were put down by the government; but, in 1911, the Szechwan rebellion was the beginning of republican China, and the end of more than 2000 years of monarchy.

1

Emergence of Modern China: The Taiping Rebellion. http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/modern2.html Visited 21 Dec. 09 2 Quoted in Rummel’s China’s bloody Century, pg 38 3 Ibid.

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Republican China Sun Yat-sen, who became known as the “Father of the Revolution”, returned to China in 1911. Whilst living in exile he had been bringing together various groups of revolutionaries into a single movement known as the Tung-meng Hui, the leaders of this group elected Sun president of the Republic of China. During the revolutionary conflicts the Manchu government called on General Yuan Shih-kai to return from retirement and put down these rebels using the northern army to save the Dynasty; he agreed only in return for unlimited control of the army and ‘extraordinary powers’. Yuan could see that the Dynasty was coming to end, and after partially subduing the rebels entered into negotiations with their leaders. In the meantime, with his army stood down, more and more provinces declared independence from the Manchu government. Early in 1912, Yuan agreed with the rebel leaders that if Sun would resign as leader of the revolutionaries, he would persuade the emperor to abdicate. On th February 12 , the boy Emperor P’u-yi abdicated and passed power to Yuan. Sun Yat-sen resigned his leadership of the Republic, and Yuan was elected as Provisional president of China. Parliamentary elections took place in 1913, the Kuomintang, which was the Tung-meng Hui, became the strongest party under the leadership of Sung Chio-jen. There were strong differences of policy between Sung and Yuan, Sung’s Republicans wanted total independence, but, Yuan wanted input from abroad. Sung was assassinated, probably because of his differences with Yuan, and this led to fighting between the Republican forces and the army of Yuan, the Republicans were easily defeated. Following this victory Yuan’s power grew, and so did his ambitions. Early in 1914, Yuan dissolved the National assembly and elected himself President “with dictatorial powers for life”; his object was to form a new Dynasty, with himself as Emperor. Yuan’s immediate plans were interrupted in 1915 when Japan demanded special privileges from China which would in effect make China subject to Japan. These demands provoked anti-Japanese demonstrations but Yuan was prepared to accept the Japanese demands believing Japan would support his plans to become Emperor; an agreement was signed on the 25th May 1915 - the National Congress of Representatives voted for monarchy and invited Yuan to become Emperor. But, the Chinese people had not rid themselves of one monarchy to replace it with another one, the army generals Yuan had appointed to rule the provinces when the Empress Dowager was alive rebelled, and each declared their independence. The rebellion of the generals and the refusal of the Japanese to support Yuan’s ambition to become Emperor destroyed his authority. Despite the efforts of Yuan to prevent the split with the generals, the central government collapsed; Yuan died in 1916, leaving the country at the mercy of the provincial “warlords”, his ex generals.

Genocide th

th

The period from the late 19 century to the early 20 century when the struggle began to overthrow the Ch’in Dynasty was witness to genocide, especially during the Boxer rebellion. Not only were the Chinese government responsible for genocide, so were the European governments. The Boxer rebels, virtually endorsed by the Monarchy on their rampage through the countryside and their massacre and rape in Peking, were responsible for about 100,000 deaths. The international force sent to relieve the embassies in Peking, as narrated above, were responsible for killing an estimated 5,000 people on their march from the coast to the capital.

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The Warlord Period, 1917-1927

• Figure 44 Map: China Warlord Period

The failed attempt of Yuan Shih-kai to form a new dynasty led China into a period of utter chaos; government became a succession of moving alliances between the warlords who ruled the various provinces throughout the country; several of the strongest - depending on who was the most dominant at the time - were to form the changing central government in Peking. Most of the warlords were in the northern area, they were generally ruthless; they were motivated by power and personal gain; the peasant populations were treated brutally and suffered greatly from heavy taxation and demands for food. Some were conservative in their mode of rule, occupying the southern areas, and loosely allied to the Nationalists. Fighting between the various factions, or cliques, went on constantly, it has been suggested that there were hundreds of wars between them, but not only was there fighting between the warlords, the redeveloping Nationalists, and the newly developing Communist forces, who were allies at this time, were fighting to get rid of the warlords. In 1918, the current ruling warlord government in Peking, signed an agreement to let the Japanese retain Chinese territory in Shandung, which they had taken from the Germans at the end of WW I; their possession was confirmed at the Paris Peace conference in 1919. When the agreement became public knowledge there were massive demonstrations against

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the government and the Japanese on May 4 1919 - afterwards known as the May Fourth Movement. Later the same year, Sun Yat-sen re-established the Kuomintang (KMT) in collaboration with the southern warlords, by 1921, Sun was president of the southern government. Round about the same period the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was emerging, and were encouraged by Soviet Russia to cooperate with the KMT. In 1923, the KMT was receiving assistance from the Russians to reorganize the party along the same lines as the Communist Party in Russia. One of Sun’s colleagues from the KMT spent time studying politics and military tactics in Moscow, his name was Chiang Kai-shek, who would soon emerge as the leader of the KMT; Sun died in March 1925. The same year that Sun died Chiang Kai-shek led the National Revolutionary Army north against the warlords and within nine months, half of China had been conquered. Early in 1926, the KMT divided into left and right factions, the communists within the KMT were growing.

In March 1926, after thwarting a kidnapping attempt against him, Chiang abruptly dismissed his Soviet advisers, imposed restrictions on CCP members' participation in the top leadership, and emerged as the pre-eminent Guomindang leader. 1

Early in 1927, the KMT and the CCP, along with KMT leftists, had split; the CCP set up government in Wuhan, the KMT set up an anti communist government in Nanjing; with the warlord government still in Peking. The communists staged several unsuccessful armed insurrections against the KMT, one, the Autumn Harvest Uprising was led by Mao Tse-Tung. By 1928 all of China was under the rule of Chiang.

Genocide Chiang Kai-shek became ever more suspicious that the communist elements in the government wanted him eliminated; in April, 1927, he began to purge all of them from the Nationalist KMT; it began in Shanghai, 5000 were hunted down and massacred. The killing went on throughout all the territory controlled by the Nationalist forces; some resistance was made by the communists but was crushed. Chinese newspapers reported systematic massacres, people killed by shooting, being hacked to pieces, disembowelled, and burnt. Not only were communists killed but anyone who opposed KMT rule or ideas. Following the killing in Shanghai nearly 40,000 people were condemned to death by the KMT; these executions were over and above those killed in the purge of the communists. According to Rummel, in his “China’s Bloody Century”, “it is likely some 139,000 people were murdered by Chiang Kai-shek’s forces” - known as the “White Terror”. The communists were also responsible for their own killing, all be it on a smaller scale than the KMT. Wherever they were able to take over cities or towns, landlords, gentry, and government officials were massacred. Mao Tse-tung, emerging as the communist leader, said that every village should be in a state of terror otherwise counter-revolutionary ideas cannot be suppressed. Again, according to Rummel, “perhaps near 43,000 people were murdered in this Red Terror”. The warlords, before being brought under some control by Chiang’s Northern Expedition, ruled as absolute dictators. Their poorly paid soldiers were treated like scum, often beaten and starved, they were encouraged to loot and rape as part of their ‘wages’. The leaders killed off all opposition to their rule, and left trails of severed heads as warnings to those who would oppose them. Several states were completely devastated following successful battles by the warlord armies. In Hunan, thousands of houses were destroyed and large numbers of innocent civilians were killed. Besieged by a warlord army, about 80,000 people starved to 1

Republican China, Opposing the Warlords. http://www.chaos.umd.edu/history/republican.html#warlords Visited 21 Dec. 09

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death in the city of Sian. Genocide by the warlords, according to Rummel, was “in total perhaps some 450,000 Chinese…”. The total of none war dead killed by the KMT, the communists, and the warlords, throughout this period was “most likely 632,000”, according to Rummel.

Struggle for Nationalism The next twenty years or so was a period of greater turmoil in China. The Nationalist KMT, under Chiang Kai-shek, continued their struggle against the remaining warlords and the expanding communist party to unify China. During the latter part of this period there was war with the Japanese when the KMT and CCP combined to rid China of their neighbours who were ambitious to rule the whole of Asia; their ambitions were ended when the Japanese were defeated in WW II. Not least of Chinas problems was civil war, the struggle continued for supremacy between the Nationalists and the Communists at the end of WW II. The KMT captured Peking in June 1928, other political centres were under KMT control, and Chiang began his task of unifying the whole of China, hopefully by negotiation. Chiang’s proposals for a central government with a smaller army were seen by some of the remaining warlords as undermining their power; 27 revolts were to take place in the following years. In 1931, Japan began its encroachment into Manchuria. Also in 1931, the Communists established the Chinese Soviet Republic in the south-eastern province of Jiangxi, forming the first “Red Army” under Mao Tse-tung. The KMT forces were involved in several extermination campaigns against the Communists, the fifth one was conducted under a new strategy devised by Chiang’s German advisors - instead of fighting face to face on the battlefield, the new tactic was to be one of siege. In October 1934, Mao and over 100,000 people broke out of the KMT siege of Jiangxi, and set off on the 6,000 mile Long March to find a new base in the northwest. The Japanese in the meantime had occupied Manchuria and set up the state of Manchukuo in 1932. By 1939 the Japanese had taken Peking and occupied most of China’s east coast including Shanghai, Nanjing, and Canton. Because of massive unrest against the Japanese occupation Chiang Kai-shek, in December 1936, was forced to join with the Communists in a combined effort against the Japanese which lasted for much of the WW II period. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the unstable alliance between the KMT and the CCP fell apart, and civil war began; the dispute was which side should take over the arms and the land that had been occupied by the Japanese.

Genocide Between 1929 and 1937, the years that the KMT fought the remaining warlords and the Communists something in the order of 3,000,000 Chinese people were murdered; the KMT outdid the Communists by about 2:1; the warlords were also responsible for atrocities. It is estimated that between 1932 and 1934, in Szechwan Province, their treatment of the civilian population caused up to 500,000 deaths. During the siege in Jiangxi, the communists carried out purges of army and government personnel considered reactionary. During the Long March, those considered unsympathetic to the communist cause were rounded up and executed. The KMT executed those left behind when the Long March began. Communist Party members were killed, in Ning-tu more than eight thousand households were murdered - taking an average number in each of five people, this was more than 40,000. Twelve thousand men were murdered in the former capital city of Juichin. Nationalist reprisals were so severe that the population of some areas was decimated, and some areas became a no-mans-land.

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In many other areas, including those along the route of the Long March, the Nationalists ordered that as a matter of necessity the civilian population be exterminated. 1

Chiang Kai-shek had stated earlier: “it was impossible to tell a Red bandit from a good citizen.” The numbers killed in the Nationalist terror, the anti communist massacres, and the killing of non combatants in the warlord wars, in a period of less than nine years, was 2,724,000; 1,524,000 by the KMT, and 850,000 by the Communists.

The Sino-Japanese War

• Figure 45 Map: China: Japanese Occupation

Pink = Japanese

Hatched = Communists

End of WW II

The Japanese occupied Manchuria in 1932 and by 1935 were established north of the Yellow river. Clashes between the Chinese and the Japanese occurred during these years but the 1

China’s Bloody Century, R.J.Rummel, pg. 88

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war proper did not begin until 1937 following the Japanese takeover of the Marco Polo Bridge on the railway south west of Peking, which was the only link to the KMT forces in the south. By 1939, the Japanese had isolated the KMT in the west, they had cut them off from their trading routes. Still having to run a government - half the Chinese population remaining under their control - the KMT imposed heavy taxes, depriving the population of their crops, and imposed a system of conscription to keep their army going. Within a month of the war starting the communists had agreed to a united front with the KMT against the Japanese, they fought aggressively using guerrilla tactics, but they still believed their main enemy were the Nationalists, and purged all counter-revolutionaries. Similarly, Chiang Kai-shek considered the communists his greatest threat; he was of the opinion that their two factions could not coexist after the war; in April 1939, the KMT and Communists forces began fighting each other once again. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, the KMT began to receive aid from the USA because they were keeping a large Japanese army out of the main war. In the last years of the war with the Japanese the Nationalist forces suffered an uninterrupted series of defeats, their support was waning, and they were suffering severe economic problems. There were many peasant revolts and defections to the Japanese, and between 1941 and 1943, 67 general officers defected; the Nationalist were saved when WW II ended in 1945, but, they were to face a well armed communist force wanting total power over China.

Genocide During this war, the Nationalists, the Communists, and the remaining Warlords were all guilty of genocide. The Japanese committed hundreds of atrocities - mass murder, bombings, and germ warfare during the conflict; which will be dealt with in the next section. Japanese civilians and prisoners of war were murdered by the Nationalists, but the worst to suffer were the Chinese themselves. KMT soldiers were treated very badly, often lacking sufficient food and water, bad sanitation, poor medical facilities, and suffered badly from disease such as malaria; on the march the sick were left to die. Peasants were routinely looted, raped, burned out, and turned out of their villages - Government repression still prevailed. Perceived dissidents and political opponents were all executed. The greatest genocide was committed against army conscripts. Peasants working in their fields were rounded up, chained together, and marched off sometimes hundreds of miles to army camps. As well as being rounded up by the army, civilian press gangs were active, selling their captives to the army. On the march stragglers were shot, the disobedient were executed, starvation was common, medical help was none existent; perhaps only half of those who had set out would reach camp. Estimates of the numbers of conscripts who died vary from 11,000,000 - professor Ch’I His-Sheng; White and Jacoby - 7,000,000 dead or missing. R.J. Rummel reckons from his research - 3,081,293 men died. In 1938, to prevent the Japanese linking up at Chengchow, the Nationalists blew up dikes along the Yellow River near Kaifeng. Three provinces and forty-four counties were inundated; thousands of towns and villages were flooded. The cost in Chinese lives was horrendous, about 4,000,000 people were displaced, most of the peasant crops were destroyed, and nearly 900,000 lost their lives. In Honan province, 1942/3, drought produced famine, the result of which was multiplied by Nationalist policies. Grain was forcibly requisitioned from the peasant; high taxes were imposed making it difficult for the population to buy food. Corrupt KMT officials smuggled grain out of the region to be sold for their personal gain, whilst peasants were dying of starvation.

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The army officers and local officials who collected the grain regarded their right to tax as a supplement to their salary, a franchise to loot…1

2,000,000 to 3,000,000 people starved to death or died of related diseases. In a similar incident in Kwangtung, 1943/44, 1,500,000 people died. During this war the Nationalists probably killed around 5.9 million people. Comparing this with information coming out of Germany, in the same period, regarding millions of Jews who were being exterminated, little was known of the genocide in China. The Communists , once again, were responsible for genocide in their own right. They killed critics, Nationalist sympathizers, counterrevolutionaries, and anti-communists. There were continued purges within the Red Army of those with the wrong ‘line’. Large numbers of Chinese soldiers in the Red Army, wounded in Japanese attacks, were left to die with the object of encouraging hatred against the Japanese, thus gaining more support for the communists. The Communists also committed atrocities against Japanese POW’s according to Rummel, 250,000 were killed by the Communists. The total killed by the Nationalists, the Communists, and the Warlords was “most likely” 10,216.000. But, this is not the full count of genocide carried out during the war; the Japanese committed appalling atrocities against the Chinese.

Japanese Atrocities. The Japanese carried out hundreds of atrocities and massacres; they slaughtered Chinese soldiers and civilians, bombed cities, and carried out germ warfare. In the Yangtze Delta, a foreign observer noted that at least 300,000 civilians had been slaughtered in cold blood. Following bombing raids on Japanese cities from airfields in China - The Doolittle Campaign reprisals by the Japanese killed around 250,000 Chinese. The deadliest campaign was against communist guerrillas in northern China in 1941. Japanese troops were ordered to ‘Loot All, Kill All, and Burn All’, the population was reduced by about 19,000,000; not all of these were killed but fled from the conflict. Rummel estimates maybe 5% were killed, a total of “near 1,000,000”. In efforts to terrorize Chinese civilians bombing raids were carried out on towns and cities, by 1945, 350,000 were dead. Many of these raids later estimated to number over 900, dropped germ laden bombs. Plague laden bombs were dropped on Ningpo, a food distribution centre for the Nationalist forces, Changteh, Hsinking, and heavily populated areas south of Shanghai were sprayed from the air with plague fleas. During the retaliatory campaign mentioned above:

Germs of cholera, dysentery, typhoid, plague, and paratyphoid were all used. Flasks containing pure germs were poured…into reservoirs, wells, and rivers. 2

There are no official numbers for those killed by germ warfare; Rummel estimates 208,000. Germ warfare was only a small portion of Japanese atrocities - they slaughtered indiscriminately millions of civilians and prisoners of war. The Japanese government considered the events in their occupation of China as an “incident” not a war. Consequently, the Japanese did not ratify the 1929 Geneva Convention on treatment of prisoners of war (POW); there were no prisoner of war camps. Prisoners were shot outright, tortured, used as targets, used for bayonet practice, and worked to death; Rummel states that he could find no reference to large numbers of surviving POW’s, and says that near 1,000,000 were killed. 1 2

China’s Bloody Century, R.J. Rummel, pg. 117. China’s Bloody Century, R.J.Rummel, pg. 141.

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The Chinese capital city of Nanjing was subjected to terrible atrocities when the Japanese occupied it in December 1937. Being the capital city it had large numbers of foreign diplomats, news correspondents and hundreds of thousands of Chinese refuges, and wounded KMT soldiers - on the morning of December 13th 1937, the Japanese entered the city, and the killing began. Civilians tried to escape the city but in some places were prevented from using certain city gates by the retreating KMT forces; they completely lost control of their own fate. The Japanese forces began slaughtering the people with machine guns, rifles, and hand guns.

Large numbers of elderly, women and children and wounded soldiers fell with the gun shots, most of them died immediately, some of them still crying. Forthwith, blood and flesh scattered all over the streets, bodies laid everywhere. Japanese intruders continued to shoot the bare-handed people. This day was only the beginning of the massacre. 1 On the 14th December, tanks entered the city and the killing continued, even outside the city gates. Thousands were driven into the river and drowned; in a short time tens of thousands were killed. Refugees and 10,000 prisoners of war were moved to CaoXieXia, altogether 57,000 were massacred. About 30,000 soldiers and refugees were tied up and driven into a forest at GuanYinMen, the forest was fired, and all were burned to death. Women and young girls suffered terribly ay the hands of the Japanese soldiers, raped and mutilated. After raping the women the Japanese soldiers would cut open the women’s abdomens and pull out their entrails, cut off their breasts, and push sticks into their lower body “and stir, until they were dead”.

The bodies in the villages, piled up in tens or hundreds, laid in ditches, ponds, fields or among haystacks. The horror of the scenes is hard to describe. Especially women..., their faces were dark, teeth fell, cheeks broken, blood in their mouth, their breasts had been cut off, chest and abdomen had been pierced through, intestines dragged on the ground, lower abdomens had been kicked at, their bodies had been bayoneted randomly… 2

It was reported that one Japanese officer ‘advised’ his men, after they had raped them, to kill them to avoid trouble; rape and killing of women continued throughout the Japanese occupation of Nanjing. In January 1938, the massacre in Nanjing was condemned by the world; the Japanese government admitted the atrocity, withdrew over eighty high ranking officers to Japan; then ordered the International Committee in the city to bury the dead. The organizations that took part in the burials kept records of the numbers and locations of the burials, over 150,000 were buried. Altogether more than 300,000 Chinese were massacred:

However, the then Jap. foreign minister Hirota Koki told the truth. In a document sent by Hirota Koki to the Japanese Embassy in Washington in January 17, 1938, he stated "based upon investigation, over 300,000 Chinese killed". (ref. National Archives, Washington, D.C., Released in Sept. 1994) 3

Nanjing was the worst, but other cities suffered similar fates, in Pieping (Peking), Shanghai, Hankow, and Canton, pillage and rape was the order of the day. According to Judge Hsiang

1

NANJING MASSACRE RECORD, Two Roads of Blood. http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/njmassac/bloodrds.htm Visited 21 Dec. 09 2 NANJING MASSACRE RECORD, Rape of Nanjing. http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/njmassac/rape.htm Visited 21 Dec. 09 3 NANJING MASSACRE RECORD, The number of people murdered in Nanjing by the Japanese http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/njmassac/japaccou.htm Visited 21 Dec. 09

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at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Tokyo War Crimes Trial, “more than 95,000 separate cases were perpetrated between 1937 and 1945. The Japanese army used Chinese forced labour in Manchuria and in Japan itself. The heavy work load and the bad living conditions - starvation rations and virtually no medical help caused tens of thousands of deaths. In total the number of those killed in the nine years of the Japanese occupation of China was 3,949,000. 1 Whatever the cause of these atrocities:

…it should be clear that the Japanese soldiers did murder millions of innocent people, guilty of nothing more than being Chinese. 2

Civil War 1945-1949 The Sino-Japanese war ended in 1945 when the Japanese surrendered following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese forces still occupied most of eastern China, see map, the Nationalists were concentrated in the south east; and the Russians had moved into Manchuria when the Japanese surrendered. Chiang Kai-shek’s main priority was to get control of the occupied territory, and he ordered the Japanese to surrender only to Nationalist forces. But the communists also wanted the occupied lands, and demanded that the Japanese surrender to them in areas near to their armies; this inevitably led to clashes between the KMT and CCP forces. The Americans helped the KMT by airlifting troops to the trouble spots, and later attempted to broker a political settlement between the KMT and CCP in December 1945; in January, 1946, a cease-fire was agreed which did not last long. As previously agreed, the Russians pulled their troops out of Manchuria, they allowed the KMT to occupy major cities and the rail network, and allowed the communists to take over large stocks of guns and ammunition left by the Japanese. The civil war began when Chiang Kai-shek consolidated his occupation of Manchuria and attacked Shantung and Kiangsu in north eastern China in July 1946. At the beginning of the civil war period the KMT had superior numbers in their army, they had sufficient weapons, taken from the Japanese, to equip an army of 2,000,000 men. They held all the major political and economic centres; and they were internationally recognised as the legal government, and received aid from the Americans; but, in the space of four years they had lost the whole of mainland China to the communists. They constantly overstretched themselves in regards to military strategy; their general officers were too ambitious and lacked the flexibility of the communist armies; by trying to hold on to too many cities they became fixed; whereas the communists were more flexible, only fighting battles they could win. The communists were able to take over the countryside, and their relaxed treatment of the peasant population gained them much support which enabled them to recruit volunteers into the army. The KMT forces however were mainly poorly treated conscripts which led in the end to whole armies defecting to the communists. Many peasants joined the communists after being looted, subjected to brutal treatment, high taxes, and requisition of their food by the KMT forces, and the peasants rebelled in cities and towns against their treatment by the KMT. When the war started in 1946, there was widespread repression, critics and opponents were killed or disappeared; by 1948, assassination, torture, and imprisonment were commonplace. The economy was chaotic, 96% of government revenues were spent on maintaining the army, corruption was widespread, and despite huge financial aid from the Americans, funds were not sufficient to meet the government expenditure. The political oppression, the corruption in government, and the economic decline, despite government 1 2

China’s Bloody Century, R.J.Rummel, pg. 149 Ibid, pg. 155.

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promises to bring in honest administration and democracy, led to more and more support for the communists. In early 1947, KMT military success was waning, later that year the communists began a major offensive, cutting off KMT troops in Manchuria, winning battle after battle. In April 1948, the communists had recaptured their capital of Yenan, by June they had accepted the surrender of about 300,000 KMT troops. In late 1948, the KMT began what was to be their final offensive 100 miles north of Nanjing. Half a million troops on each side faced each other, within a few weeks the KMT were utterly defeated; Peiping (Peking) was in communist hands by January 1949, and there was an unsuccessful attempt at a truce; then the communists crossed the Yangtze River and drove the KMT armies out of mainland China. On the 1st of October, 1949, Mao Tse-tung declared the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). In December, the nationalists had set up the Republic of China, RPC, on the island of Formosa. (Taiwan)

• Figure 46 Map: Communist advance against the KMT

Genocide The Nationalist repression carried out during the Sino- Japanese war continued during the period of the civil war; executions, assassinations, and massacre were even more widespread, reaching their peak as the nationalists fled in defeat. The island of Formosa was ceded to the Japanese during the earlier Sino-Japanese war in 1895, at the end of the

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second war, 1945, the KMT set up their government on the island and launched a campaign of repression following an attack by the islanders in 1947; 10,000 to 40,000 people were murdered. The deadly conscription process which began in the war with Japan was carried on during the civil war, 1,320,000 may have been killed according to Rummel. In an effort to split the communist forces another Yellow River flood was engineered by the KMT in 1947, though not as costly as the previous one, more than 100,000 were made homeless and up to 6,000 were killed. As the KMT reoccupied territory from the Japanese, or captured territory from the communists, they carried out killings of those people not sympathetic to the nationalist cause.

According to one communist source, in just one sub-district the total killed by returning nationalists was near 10,000 people. Considering that this went on in one way or another in an area encompassing over 100,000,000 peasants, the human toll must have been huge. I estimate it at 1,191,000, but even twice this mortality would not be surprising. 1

Overall Rummel estimates that the KMT killed 2,645,000. When the Japanese were defeated in 1945, the communists began the Anti-Traitor Accusation Movement. Those perceived to be unsympathetic to the communist cause were gathered up, put on ‘trial’ and shot; Kiangsu province, in northern China, held over 12,000 of these anti-traitor and anti-despot trials. The peasant population in the communist held territory often revolted against landlords and officials who had mistreated them during the war, killing perhaps tens of thousands. Counterrevolutionaries were the prime target of the CCP, anti-communists, those seen as not sufficiently communist, and membership of the KMT were singled out and put to death. Christians were singled out as counterrevolutionary. In 1946, in the most important Christian centre of Siwantzu all were massacred. Purges within the communist party itself were still carried out in this period. The communists began a policy of land reform in 1946 directed at the rich landlords; it involved the forceful transfer of wealth from the rich and middle peasants to the poorest peasants. This was going to be a painful and bloody transformation of a social system that was thousands of years old. Peasants were encouraged to vent their anger at the evil landlords or rich peasants; to call for their death. Estimates of those killed by the communists in this period vary from 10,000,000 to 40,000,000; Rummel calculates from his research, most likely 2,323,000 were killed. Overall, the nationalists and communists murdered 4,968,000 during the civil war. The single party rule of the KMT was superseded by the one party rule of the PRC; repression and terror continued under a different name.

The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) Almost immediately following the declaration by Mao Tse-tung of the PRC, moves were made to centralise power and eliminate any opposition. The population, particularly the peasants, had to be made to carry out government policy enabling complete nationalisation, collectivisation, and forced industrialization, leading to true communism. In achieving this “totalization” of Chinese life millions were killed, committed suicide, or were sent to forced labour camps to die of overwork, disease, and starvation. Over the next four years there was a massive campaign against enemies of the state - war criminals, KMT supporters, capitalists, counterevolutionalists, Christians, and the landlords. At the same time as this political cleansing, several movements aimed at economic development were initiated; the most important of these was Land Reform; the Agrarian 1

China’s Bloody Century, R.J.Rummel, pg, 185.

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Reform Law of June 28 1950. Redistribution of land had already been tried during the Civil War and was now to be more vigorously enforced; a party directive stated:

Adopt every possible measure to incite the hatred of the people and excite them into a frenzy…to allow the Land Reform squads a free hand in executing landlords…1

It took only a few years to destroy the power of the landlords; the process was concluded in 1953. A member of the Central Party stated that maybe 30,000,000 would have to be killed; Rummel’s ‘conservative’ estimate is - 4,500,000 landlords and better off peasants were killed. The campaign for the Suppression of Counterrevolutionaries was aimed specifically at the remaining KMT supporters, who were also known as bandits. The accused were brought in front of mass meetings, tried, and then shot. According to Chou En-lai, Prime Minister of the PRC, 28,000 were killed in Kwangtung Province in one month. Rummel estimates that “the number murdered in this one movement was likely around 3,000,000”. In 1951, and then 1952, the “san fan” (three anti) and the “wu fan” (five anti) movements were started. The “san fan” was directed against the evils of corruption, waste, and bureaucratism, aimed at eliminating incompetent and politically unreliable public officials to bring about a more efficient bureaucratic system. The “wu fan” was aimed at getting rid of corrupt businessmen accused of tax evasion, bribery, cheating in government contracts, and stealing state assets. There were about 200,000 suicides because of these two movements. Forced labour took a terrible toll of lives, 23,000,000 to 100,000,000 people were forced to work on water conservation projects on the Yellow River and the Ching River and others; millions more worked on road and rail projects. The work was dangerous and exposed, many died from accidents, malnutrition, and overwork. As an example - the Sikang-Tibet highway at 17,500 feet and with temperatures of 25 below freezing, workers had one meal per day and slept on a layer of twigs on the snow. Within two months 3,500 of 8000 had perished. During the 1950’s 15,000,000 people were forced to move from their natural homes to colonize the remote interior regions, redistributing the population. Then there were those counterrevolutionaries and other ‘criminals’; those that were not shot, were deported to forced labour camps; up to 15,000,000 were deported in the 1950’s.

…once in the camps, prisoners were wakened at 5:30 in the morning to labour up to twelve or more hours,…in mines, or on dams, bridges, roads, canals,…with insufficient food… in some places like the swill peasants gave pigs. 2

Prisoners died of starvation, disease, and overwork; many were executed for the ‘wrong attitude’. Using Rummel’s estimates again, the dead in forced labour camps was “about 2,125,000”. Another problem for the Chinese people was famine. In 1953, wide scale famine threatened some regions; the government could not keep up with sufficient relief, but they continued to export rice, and told the peasants they were on their own. Floods, a periodic disaster for the Chinese, were another problem. The peasants would normally move to avoid the flood, but were told by the government to stay put; according to government reports, “great numbers” died. The PRC, in their efforts to bring the whole country under total communist control between 1949 and 1953, cost 8,427,000 lives. (Rummel)

1 2

China’s bloody Century, R.J.Rummel, pg. 221 China’s Bloody Century, R.J.Rummel, pg.229.

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Collectivisation In 1953, Mao Tse-tung proposed his first five year plan to achieve industrialization, collectivization of agriculture, and political centralization. Aid and technical assistance was expected from Russia in the implementation of Mao’s plans. For the purpose of economic planning the first census was taken in 1953, the population was an unexpected 583,000,000. By 1956, 90% of agriculture was collectivized, out of 120,000,000 households, 110,000,000 had been converted, and the next step was the commune. The experimental commune “Sputnik” was set up in Honan Province in April 1958, according to the Beijing China Youth News, the peasants of the commune said: “The place where we live doesn’t matter to us, we are at home anywhere”. The success of this commune, the Party reported, led to a “spontaneous demand” by the peasants; in August the party ordered communes to be set up everywhere. Everything became the property of the commune, tools, and even houses were turned over for communal use; the property of hundreds of millions was nationalised. By the end of September 1958, nearly 25,000 communes were set up ‘employing’ 450,000,000 people. The peasants had handed over their tools, and left it to the Party to arrange their lives.

Family life and traditions, personal property and privacy, personal initiative and individual freedom, were destroyed or lost in an instant for around one-seventh of all mankind. 1

But not all were in agreement with this communal policy. There were rebellions, officials were killed, crops burned and equipment sabotaged. The Tibetans, more or less independent since the fall of the last Dynasty in 1912, objected strongly against the collectivisation of their traditional culture. Enforcement of collectivisation, and, the suppression of the Buddhist religion, cost the lives of 200,000 between 1956 and 1959. This enormous social engineering project throughout China was not the only movement carried out by the PRC. There were still purges of the remaining counterrevolutionaries; Mao said that 5% remained to be purged. One movement that went wrong for the government following a speech given by Mao in 1957: “Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom”, invited open criticism of the Party by intellectuals, giving rise to the “Bloom and Contend” Movement; soon it became clear that there were many objections to communist oppression and terror throughout the country. Following this ‘outbreak’ of criticism rigid censorship was re-imposed; those who had spoken out were punished, and the “Anti-Rightist” movement began. A quota system was imposed on educational institutions, from primary to university level; the government wanted from 5% to 10% of staffs to be delivered to the state as “rightists”. In May 1958, Mao undertook the “Great Leap Forward”, a movement to catch up with the industrialised countries of the West, particularly in steel production. Millions of people were mobilised, iron smelters were erected throughout the countryside, and by October, 100,000,000 were employed in the “battle for steel”. Unfortunately much of the steel produced in these ‘back street’ furnaces was junk. But, according to government statistics, agricultural production had increased by 100% and machine tools by 200%. Despite this huge increase in food production, in 1956 and 1957 there was famine in some districts. According to some academics and ‘official’ reports, tens of millions were killed in this period of collectivisation and the Great Leap Forward. Pummel states: “7,474,000 were murdered by the party”.

1

China’s Bloody Century, R.J.Rummel, pg. 239.

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Famine The Great Leap Forward period was a total disaster. The Honan Peasants Daily newspaper reported in 1959 - numerous peasants died from overwork and malnutrition. Tens of thousands died in the fields, and there was no escape, they were forbidden to leave the commune. In 1959 and 1960 there were peasant rebellions in several provinces covering a large area of the country. The worst disaster for the people was famine, the worst ever famine in world history. A PRC economist, Sun Zhifang stated in an official report - in 1960 alone the population declined by 11,000,000. During the collectivisation/Great Leap Forward period 90,000,000 peasants had been removed from agriculture and 30,000,000 to construction projects. Local officials, having regard only for their personal worth, and promotion of the success of the commune system, exaggerated production figures, which eventually led the government to reduce the amount of land to be cultivated by 12%. These same inexperienced officials enforced poor agricultural techniques; the government took too much grain for export and to feed the cities; the agricultural system was all but destroyed. The famine took hold in the spring of 1959, and as well as government mismanagement, the famine was exaggerated by the fact that the same government refused to acknowledge it and did not provide relief.

The true extent of the famine was not revealed until the publication of single year age distributions from the country’s first reliable census in 1982. These data made it possible to estimate the total number of excess deaths between 1959 and 1961, and the first calculations by American demographers put the toll at between 16.5 and 23 million. More detailed studies came up with 23 to 30 million excess deaths. 1

In 1961 and 1962 there was continuous guerrilla warfare, an official report said that nearly 150,000 raids had been made on granaries, about 95,000 arson attacks, and near 4,000 revolts. More mass movements began to suppress counterrevolutionaries, landlords, reactionaries, and bad elements. Every day thousands were moved into forced labour, about 5,000,000 were killed. Overall, including famine deaths of 27,000,000, nearly 38,000,000 were killed in this period. Cultural Revolution In 1961 some more ‘right’ leaning members of the government were pushing for a more moderate leadership in an effort to stabilise the economy. Several party members, Deng Xiaoping probably the most well known, started a series of corrective measures, one of the most important being the reorganisation of the commune system; the production brigades were given more say in the running and planning. Six regional bureaus were established to promote a more populist leadership realising that heavy handed methods had alienated the population; organisation of industry was left to the factory manager.

By early 1965 the country was well on its way to recovery under the direction of the party apparatus, or, to be more specific, the Central Committee's Secretariat headed by Secretary General Deng Xiaoping. 2

During this period of recovery Mao Tse-tung had been moved to one side by the rest of the party. But, in 1962, having grown increasingly worried he believed the growth of anti-socialist and capitalist tendencies were corrupting the masses, and were counterrevolutionary, he launched the Socialist Education Movement. The Movement was aimed at restoring 1

China’s Great Famine: 40 years later, Vaclav Smil, BMJ 1999; 319; 1619-1621. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1619 Visited 21 Dec. 09 2 The People’s Republic of China: II, The Great Leap Forward. http://www.chaos.umd.edu/history/prc2.html Visited 21 Dec. 09

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ideological purity and revolutionary fervour into the government, and intensifying the class struggle; a thorough reform of the education system was put into effect.

It had the dual purpose of providing mass education less expensively than previously and of re-educating intellectuals and scholars to accept the need for their own participation in manual labour. The drafting of intellectuals for manual labour was part of the party's rectification campaign, publicized through the mass media as an effort to remove "bourgeois" influences from professional workers--particularly, their tendency to have greater regard for their own specialized fields than for the goals of the party. Official propaganda accused them of being more concerned with having "expertise" than being "red”. 1

By the middle of 1965 Mao regained control of the party supported by his fourth wife- Jiang Qing, Lin Biao, and Chen Boda. In the next six months a wide variety of public figures and party leaders had gone; by 1966 the campaign became known as The Cultural Revolution. Getting rid of the “Four Olds”, old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas was at the forefront of this movement. The army, PLA, was seen as a “great school” for training a new generation of revolutionary fighters; students were recruited and became known as the Red Guards; millions were encouraged to criticise party members in the capital and in the provinces. Mao’s aim was to get rid of his party opponents, train a new generation of revolutionaries, and replace old ideas with his own thoughts.

He was determined to launch the Chinese revolution again, giving it the utmost intensity and extending it evenly to every domain of national life, making it total and irreversible for each individual just as much as for society. 2

The Red Guards began a reign of terror in August 1966 against the bourgeoisie and counterrevolutionaries, in fact anyone who disagreed with Mao’s thoughts. Until 1975 much of the same was to take place as previously - terror campaigns and killing over the whole of the country - whole cities were destroyed; survivors described the massacres as worse than those committed during the Japanese occupation. One fanatical group or another carried on the killing of landlords, rich peasants, counterrevolutionaries, rightists, leftists, and spies, the children of “bad” people, intellectuals, and scientists. The peasant population, who had just survived the great famine, began to revolt. In 1969, there was trouble in twenty one provinces. Tibet suffered badly, fighting between the peasants and the Red Guards severely disrupted food distribution; by early 1968 the Tibetan peasants were suffering from starvation, which lasted until 1973. Tens of thousands were reported killed in the fighting. Forced labour camps were still active during the revolution with the same harsh conditions and killing as before. An official CCP report states that 100,000,000 people suffered some kind of persecution during the Cultural Revolution. Estimates of those murdered vary widely, one, given by Deng Xiaopeng, is 1,000,000 killed by mob action. A high estimate from a communist “restricted internal communication” is 20,000,000. A “prudent figure” given by Rummel is 7,731,000, from 1964 to 1975. Liberalisation The Cultural Revolution had a devastating effect on the party leadership. By the time the ninth CCP congress was convened in April 1969, two thirds of the central committee were missing, and the conference declared that the revolution was at an end. The main emphasis 1

The People’s Republic of China: III, The Cultural Revolution Decade, 1966-76 http://www.chaos.umd.edu/history/prc3.html Visited 21 Dec. 09 China’s Bloody Century, R.J.Rummel, pg. 255.

2

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after 1969 was the rebuilding of the party and stabilization of the economy. Chou En-lai, who had been premier since the beginning of the PRC, eventually took control, Deng Xiaoping and other more liberal thinkers were re-established in the government. Chou and Deng had a strong influence in the CCP, their moderate line to modernise all sectors of the economy was confirmed at the 10th National Party Congress (NPC) in august 1973. Despite opposition, Chou proposed his Four Modernisations policy for agriculture, industry, national defence, and science and technology at the 4th National Peoples Congress; reaffirmed in 1977 at the 11th Congress. Deng Xiaoping was elected vice chairman of the CCP and became China’s first civilian chief of the PLA. Chou and Mao died in 1976, following the death of Chou there was a massive demonstration in Tiananmen Square in his memory, the demonstrators also criticised Mao and those that had opposed Chou. Deng Xiaoping, who had been under house arrest in 1976, was rehabilitated in 1977 and by 1978 was the leader of the party and the country. Under Deng’s more liberal leadership the party undertook the decentralization of the economy, introduced limited free market policies, especially in agriculture, and reopened China to western ideas. But these liberal policies to improve China’s economy did not extend to criticism of communism itself; free speech, organisation of independent political groups was banned; politically the party remained very strict. Hundreds of thousands were still sent to forced labour camps, executions of criminals continued, not only the robbers, rapists, and drug dealers, but the political “criminals”. Any hope for political diversity was ended when the government massacred pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The CCP reported 300 killed, independent sources reported that up to 12,000 were killed. Thousands were arrested and sent to forced labour camps. Ethnic minority groups such as the Tibetans continued to be killed during this period. By 1987, 80% of the Buddhist monasteries had been destroyed, most of the written philosophical works were destroyed, and tens of thousands sent to forced labour. Most of those killed from 1976 were forced labourers. According to Rummel in this period of liberalization, 874,000 were killed by the government. In concluding this chapter on China’s genocide I am including table 1.1 from Rummel’s “China’s Bloody Century, Genocide, and Mass Murder Since 1900”. Throughout this book Rummel is dealing with Democide, in the text and his numerous tables and figures. Rummel coined the word Democide, and defined it as: Genocide: among other things, the killing of people by a government because of their indelible group membership (race, ethnicity, religion, language). Politicide: the murder of any person or people by a government because of their politics or for political purposes. Mass Murder: the indiscriminate killing of any person or people by a government. Democide: The murder of any person or people by a government, including genocide, politicide, and mass murder. 1 I leave the reader to decide which term he chooses to use to describe the horrendous atrocities committed by the various Chinese and Japanese regimes that are dealt with in this chapter.

1

Rummel R. J. Death by Government, Definition of Democide http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DBG.CHAP2.HTM Visited 21 Dec. 09

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• Table 7 China: Democide/Famine/War Deaths.

In the table above:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Among all the democide estimates appearing on this website, and in the table on the lower right, some have been revised upward. I have changed that for Mao's famine, 1958-1962, from zero to 38,000,000. And thus I have had to change the overall democide for the PRC (1928-1987) from 38,702,000 to 76,702,000. 1

1

th

Rummel R. J. 20 Century Democide. http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM Visited 21 Dec. 09

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Colonial Genocide Colonialism, according to Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia, is: “Control by one power over a dependent area or people. The purposes of colonialism include economic exploitation of the colony’s natural recourses, creation of new markets for the colonizer…” Europeans have been the most active ‘colonizers’, the earliest of these being Portugal and Spain in the early 15th century. Following the Spanish discovery of the Americas in 1492, and earlier exploration by Portugal, the world was divided between Spain and Portugal in 1494 by the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Spanish were allotted the western hemisphere, and the Portuguese, the eastern hemisphere; a north/south line was drawn 300 leagues west of the Azores. Between 1500 and 1900 Europeans had colonised North and South America, Africa, and substantial areas of Asia and the Far East. But, colonialism was not a new phenomenon; the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Mongols, the Moors, and the Ottomans had vast Empires; most of their atrocities have already been dealt with earlier in this essay. As examples, in this chapter I will deal with the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the genocide perpetrated by the Belgian King Leopold II, which occurred during the “Scramble for Africa”, and the genocide of the North American Indians begun by British colonialists and carried on by the American immigrants and the American government.

Spanish Genocide in the Americas

• Figure 47 Map: 15th century Hispaniola

Caribbean Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti/Dominican Republic) in 1492; he is reputed to have said: "I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men and govern them as I please"; govern them as “I please” was certainly the way things went. Later that year he returned to Spain with native hostages, gold and other “exotic loot”; he returned to Hispaniola in 1493 with seventeen ships and 1500 well armed men with the object of obtaining gold and other valuable commodities. His demands on the Indian population for food and valuables –their refusal incurred brutal punishment - eventually led to violent resistance by the Indians, bur resistance was soon overcome by the superior weaponry of the Spanish. Thus began “the bloody slaughter and destruction of Men”; this quoted in the “Brief

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Account of the Devastation of the Indies (1542)” by Bartoleme de las Casas, bishop of Chiapas. (Reproduced in Project Gutenberg.)

Composed first in Spanish by Bartholomew de las Casas, _a Bishop there, and Eye-Witness of most of these Barbarous Cruelties; afterward Translated by him into_ Latin, then by other hands, into High-Dutch, Low-Dutch, French, and now Taught to Speak Modern English. London, Printed for R. Hewson at the Crown in Cornhil, near the Stocks-Market. 1689.

1

The island of Hispaniola had many gold mines which would later be worked by slaves from other parts of the Caribbean and South America that had been conquered by the Spaniards. The six “kingdoms” of the island were successively brutalised by the Spaniards, some descriptions of the brutality were described by Las Casas: “They laid wagers among themselves, who should, with a sword at one blow cut, or divide a Man in two. Those that they intended to remain alive: they dismiss’d, their hands half cut, and still hanging by the skin, to carry their letters missive … to those who were hiding in the mountains. Leaders of the Indians were subjected to burning …they ordered Gridirons to be placed and supported by forks, and putting fire under them, these miserable wretches by degrees and with loud shrieks and exquisite torments, at last expired” In Xraqua three hundred Dynasta’s (nobles) were murdered, some burnt in a thatched house, “the rest to be pierced by lances”, boys who tried to escape had their legs cut off. In Hiquey, the fifth kingdom, Queen Hiquinama was crucified; Las Casa says that – “the numbers burnt and dismembered and rakt with various torments”, and those who were enslaved, “is infinite”. Men were sent to the gold mines, “an intolerable labour”, women were used to work in the fields, hard for even strong men; “allowing them no other food but herbage”. The men died in the mines of overwork and starvation, similarly, the women died in the fields.

Thus an infinite number of inhabitants that formerly peopled this island were exterminated and dwindled away to nothing by such consumptions. 2

Las Casas states: “that of three millions of persons, which lived in Hispaniola itself, there is at present but the inconsiderable remnant of scarce three hundred”. (Population exaggerated by Las Casas?)

1

The Project Guttenberg E Book of a Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies, by Bartolome de las Casas http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20321/20321-8.txt Visited 21 Dec. 09 Ibid.

2

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• Figure 48 Map: Central America and Caribbean

The islands of St. John and Jamaica were treated in the same way as Hispaniola - murder, burning, roasting, and men torn to pieces by dogs. Las Casas reckons out of a combined population of 600,000, there were “scarce two hundred men were to be found”. In 1511, the Spaniards passed over to Cuba. Las Casas was there for three or four months, in that time he states that 6000 children were murdered because “they had lost their parents who labour’d in the mines”. By the time the Spaniards moved to Cuba word had spread regarding their treatment of the Indian population, many had hidden themselves in the mountains but were rooted out and massacred - the island “made desolate”, and “laid waste like a dessert”. Central America In the year 1513, “a certain unhappy Governor landed on the firm land or Continent” - this was most likely Vasco Nunez de Balboa, and the land was Panama. Las Casas states that Balboa was destitute of all mercy and prudence; he did not only ravage and depopulate the coastal areas, “but buried the largest regions and most ample kingdoms in their own ruins, sending thousands to hell by his butcheries”. In September 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa set out from the Atlantic coast of present day Panama; Spain at the time called it Castillo Del Oro; to find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean. Following this successful journey, he returned in January 1514 with gold and other valuables. On his return, Balboa discovered that he had been accused of treason, and was replaced as governor by Pedro Arias de Avila; Balboa was executed in 1517; de Avila, became known as “Pedrarios the Cruel”. Balboa’s trek across Panama included thousands of Indians to carry baggage: “fifteen thousand of them perished” by the time he reached Machuacan on the Pacific coast, where he was received peaceably by the local King. Because the kingdom was rumoured to possess gold and silver, the king was arrested and tortured to reveal the source of this treasure. The king was bound and set in stocks so that his feet were exposed to fire, oiled, and roasted; he was rescued by a Franciscan monk but died later.

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And this was the severe Fate of many Cacics and Indian Lords, who dyed with the same Torments which they were expos’d to by the Spaniards, in order to the engrossing of their Gold and Sliver to themselves. 1

From Manchuaca, Balboa went into the Kingdom of Xalisco, where he “burnt eight hundred towns to ashes”; the Indians retaliated and then retired to hide in the mountains where the Spaniards sought them out, “where they were miserably massacred”. The later administration of Panama under Pedrarios was disastrous. Thousands of Spaniards died of disease, tens of thousands of the Indian population died from European diseases, and from slavery, and massacre. Following the atrocities of Pedrarios, the remaining Indian population fled to the mountainous regions to avoid further slaughter. In 1517, King Charles V of Spain granted a concession to import 4000 slaves from Africa to the Caribbean Islands; and for 200 years Panama became the distribution centre for this trade in slaves. Bartoleme Las Casas, fearing for the welfare of the Indian population, was the one who had suggested to the King that he replace the Indians with slaves. Also in Central America; between 1523 and 1533, in Nicaragua, 500,000, “and upwards”, were taken as slaves, many thousands more were slaughtered, leaving the country gravely depopulated. Mexico

• Figure 49 Map: Cortez conquest of Mexico

Following the discovery of Mainland America, Hernan Cortez sailed from Cuba in 1517 with a fleet of ships and a well armed force of 700 men; he landed at a point that is now Vera Cruz, in Mexico. On April 18th; lured by the acquisition of gold, he set off to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. As well as destroying the capital city, murdering the ruler, Moctezuma, and tens of thousands of his citizens, he murdered his way from the coast inland to the capital, and then set about the surrounding countryside; in the period (twelve years) of the initial Spanish occupation he:

…destroyed in the said continent, by spears, fire and sword, computing men, women, youth, and children above four millions of people…2

1

The Project Guttenberg E Book of a Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies, by Bartolome de las Casas http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20321/20321-8.txt Visited 21 Dec. 09

2

Ibid.

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Cortez sent “two other Captains, who exceeded him in impiety and cruelty, if possible”, to Honduras and Guatemala; Las Casas does not say who these other Captains were; the New Advent Catholic Encyclopaedia states:

Alvarado penetrated as far as Guatemala; Cristóbal de Olid reached Honduras .

1

Of Honduras - Las Casas states that in eleven years, “there fell … above two millions of men, and now there are hardly remaining two thousand…”. Of Guatemala - “…four millions at least in fifteen or sixteen years, that is, from 1524 to 1540 were murdered…”. The Indian population of Guatemala were subjected to horrendous brutalities by the Spanish. Leaders were burnt, hundreds at a time, women were raped having been taken from their husbands, and children, tens of thousands were enslaved and shipped to other Spanish provinces to work in the mines. Some Indians were recruited into the Spanish army, no doubt to save themselves, but kept short of food these recruits were allowed to cannibalise their captives. South America st

On August 1 1498, Columbus was the first European to set foot on South American soil which was to become known as Venezuela - the location was the Peninsula de Paria, which he could see from his anchorage on the Island of Tobago. Columbus spent several weeks exploring the mainland around the River Orinoco delta, when he was there he had noticed that the natives were wearing much jewellery made from pearls. The pearl beds were exploited by the Spaniards until by the 1520’s the beds had become denuded. Subsequent exploration was made westward along the coast, and then later he went inland and exploited another resource.

The next of Venezuela's native riches to be extracted by the Spanish was its people. Slave raiding, which began in the Península de Paria and gradually moved inland, helped supply the vast labour needs in Panama and the Caribbean islands…2

The following, rather long extract, is what Las Casas had to say regarding the pearl fishing: There can be nothing more cruel and detestable then the Tyrannical usage of the Spaniards towards the Indians in their Pearl-Fishing; for the Torments undergone in the unnatural Exenteration and tearing out with Paracidal hands the richer bowels of our common Mother, or the inward cruciating racks of the most profligate, Heaven daring Desperado can admit of no comparison with these, although the extracting or digging for Gold is one of the sharpest subterranean Drudgeries, they plunge them down four or five ells deep under Water, where swimming about without breathing, they eradicate and pull up Oisters, wherein the Pearls are engendred. Sometimes they rise up to the superfities of the Water with Nets full of Oisters for respiration and Air, but if these miserable Creatures stay but a little more then is Ordinary to rest themselves the Hangman is immediately upon them in a Canow or small Boat, who beating them with many stripes drag them by the hair of the head under Water, that they may drudge again at their expilcation or Pearl Fishing. Their Food is Fish, and the same which contains the Pearls and Cassabus made of Roots with a few Mahids, the Bread of that Countrey; in the former there is little or no nutriment or substance, and the other is not made without great trouble, nor for all this have they a sufficient allowance thereof to support nature. Their Lodging or Bed is the Earth confined to a pair of Stocks, for fear that they should run away: And it frequently happens that they are drown’d with the toil of this kind of Fishing and never more seen, for the Tuberoms and Maroxi (certain Marine Monsters that devour a 1

Crivelli, Camillus. "Mexico." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. Dec. 2009 . 2 US Library of Congress, Venezuela, History. Discovery and Conquest. http://countrystudies.us/venezuela/2.htm Visited 21 Dec. 09

21

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complete proportioned Man wholly at once) prey upon them under Water. You must consider withal, that it is impossible for the strongest constitution to continue long under Water without breathing, and they ordinarily dye through the extream rigor of the Cold, spitting Blood which is occasioned by the too great compression of the Breast, procreated by a continued holding breath under Water, for by too much cold a profluvium of blood follows. Their hair naturally black is changed into a combust, burnt or Sun-colour like that of the Sea Wolves, their shoulders and backs covered, or overspread with a saltish humor that they appear rather like Monsters in humane shape then Men. They have destroy’d all the Lucayans by this intolerable or rather Diabolical exercise, for the accustomary emolument or gain of lucre, and by this means gain’d the value of fifty, sometime one hundred Crowns of every individual Indian. They sell them (though it is prohibited) publickly; for the Lucayans were excellent Swimmers, and several perished in this Isle that came from other Provinces. (Las Casas) Of the trade in slaves he states: “for there is a necessity of taking with them a great number of Indians, that they may gain a great sum of money by them”. A third died on the journey to Hispaniola because of the poor rations and the bodies were thrown overboard; Las Casas was told that - “there being such a multitude of men thus destroyed, a ship may sail from the isle of Lucaya to Hispaniola…without chart or compass, by the sole direction or observation of dead fluctuating carcasses”.

…they transported from this place, among them, to the Isles of Hispaniola and St. John Two Millions of Men and upward, and made the Coast a Desert. 1

And of the atrocities committed throughout Venezuela, Las Casas reckons:

I judge that they by new invented and unusual torments ruinated four or five millions of souls and sent them to hell. 2

1

The Project Guttenberg E Book of a Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies, by Bartolome de las Casas http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20321/20321-8.txt Visited 21 Dec. 09

2

Ibid.

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Peru

• Figure 50 Map: Peru

Las Casas tells us that “a notorious tyrant in the year 1531 entered the kingdoms of Perusia”; that tyrant was Francisco Pizarro. His expedition “was excited by tales of the Inca’s great wealth”, and he was determined to carry on the Spanish tradition of conquest and plunder that had begun in other Spanish provinces of the New World. Pizzaro with his army arrived in the Inca summer capital Cajamarca in November 1532. He demanded an audience with the Inca leader, Atahualpa, and insisted that he renounce his gods and accept a treaty with Spain - Atahualpa refused. The ensuing hostilities led to the defeat of the Inca army of about 6000 men, and the imprisonment of Atahualpa. In order to gain his freedom Atahualpa gave Pizzaro “a fabulous cache of Inca treasure”; when this was received the king was executed. Forty years later the Inca Empire was finally put to rest in 1572, when the last reigning Inca, Tupac Amaru was executed by the Spaniards. The comments of Las Casas on the death of Atahualpa follow: The King understanding the sentence of Death past upon him, said; Why do you burn me? What Fact have I committed deserving Death? Did you not promise to set me free for a Sum of Gold? And did I not give you a far larger quantity than I promised? But if it is your pleasure so to do, send me to your King of Spain, and thus using many words to the same purpose tending to the Confusion and Detestation of the Spanish Injustice, he was burnt to Death. Las Casas tells of an eye- witness account by a Franciscan monk, Frier Marcus de Xlicia, of the atrocities committed by the Spanish. Marcus says that the Indians “transcend all others in meekness, clemency and love to the Spaniards”, and they never took up arms against them “unless compelled to”, and that the Spaniards were given liberal gifts of gold, silver, and

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jewels. He goes on to say that as soon as the Spaniards entered Inca territories that all the Casiques (chiefs) were killed. Further, “to gratify their bloody mindedness” they cut off hands, noses, and ears, and set their dogs on the people, they snatched babies from their mothers and “threw them away as far as they would”, and then burnt their villages. The Spaniards were never to know that “there are to his day, far greater quantities of gold kept hid and concealed than were ever yet detected or brought to light”.

…and with less fear of God and the King, nay with less Mercy have they destroyed the greatest part of Mankind in these Kingdoms, above Four Millions suffering by violent Death. 1

North America

In April, 1528, Pánfilo de Narváez landed on the Florida coast with 600 men; an expedition which was to turn into a disaster. Instead of befriending the Indian population, he killed them, and being short on food robbed their storehouses; the expedition alienated every native tribe it encountered. His men were killed by the Indians, or died of disease picked up from the swamps, and were hungry; the expedition was abandoned. Narváez is considered to be one of the most ruthless and incompetent conquistadors of the colonial era.

In May, 1539, Hernando de Soto sailed from Cuba with a large fleet and about 1000 men; better supplied than Narváez - with horses, cattle, mules, and pigs; he landed at Tampa Bay. Las Casas says of de Soto: “at his first arrival, (he) acted like a bloody tyrant, even to ecstasy and madness”; De Soto died in 1542. His trail through Florida and the southern areas of North America left the native population murdered, massacred, diseased, and placed them in “a role subordinate to humanity”. This idea of subordination of the American Indians was in the minds of later colonists in North America. Bartolome de Las Casas finished his treatise in 1542 and ended by saying - “This deep, bloody American tragedy is now concluded, and my pen is ckoakt up with Indian blood and gore.” In the short space of time between the landings of Columbus on Hispaniola, to the publishing of the treatise of Las Casas, in 1542, upwards of 50,000,000 people were killed:

Nay we dare boldly affirm, that during the Forty Years space, wherein they exercised their sanguinary and detestable Tyranny in these Regions, above Twelve Millions (computing Men, Women, and Children) have undeservedly perished; nor do I conceive that I should deviate from the Truth by saying that above Fifty Millions in all paid their last Debt to Nature. 2

African Genocide th

Following the early 15 century colonists from the Iberian Peninsula came more Europeans th into Africa in the 19 century. The opening up of the African continent by early explorers such as - Livingstone, Stanley, Burton, and others - led to the wholesale colonisation of the country. Britain, France, Germany, and Belgium along with several others created more than eighty 1

The Project Guttenberg E Book of a Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies, by Bartolome de las Casas http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20321/20321-8.txt Visited 21 Dec. 09

2

Ibid.

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colonies. In the middle of the 19th century Europe was at the height of the industrial revolution; raw materials and new markets were essential for progress; and Africa was ripe for exploitation. One of the worst atrocities committed by the early colonists was that perpetrated by King Leopold II of the Belgians. Belgium Leopold II occupied the Belgian throne from 1835 to 1909, and he was very keen to improve the greatness of the country by acquiring overseas territory; the Belgium government however were not interested at the time in expansion. In 1876, Leopold formed a private holding company - Association Internationale Africaine - and in 1879 secretly acquired the services of Henry Morgan Stanley to explore along the Congo River and acquire as much territory as he could from the native tribes. Land was gained from the native population mainly by trickery, instead of signing treaties of friendship; the tribal chiefs were in fact ceding their land to the private company of Leopold. After much debate at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 - in February of 1885, the Congo Free State (CFS) was born (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) - essentially the private domain of Leopold II - with a population of about 30,000,000; in total disregard of the Treaty of Berlin, the CFS decided it was the sole landlord. Foreign traders were thrown out and the native population was only allowed to trade with the CFS. A Major Parminter trading at the time, 1902, comments:

To sum up, the application of the new decrees of the Government signifies this: that the State considers as its private property the whole of the Congo Basin,… the products of this immense region are its private property, and it monopolizes the trade in them. 1

Under Leopold’s administration, the people of his CFS were brutalised and killed in the quest for profit; tribes were subjugated and slavery was commonplace. The native population were the workhorses; they were set quotas to provide ivory and rubber to the administration, which was overseen by the Force Publique (FP). The FP was recruited from the black population, and were under the control of white officers, they committed appalling atrocities.

…the Force Publique routinely took and tortured hostages (mostly women), flogged, and raped the natives. They also burned recalcitrant villages, and above all, took human hands as trophies on the orders of white officers to show that bullets hadn't been wasted. 2

Over two thousand State Agents, called ‘capitas’, head men, were put in place throughout the country, one or more in each village to ensure that the villagers met their allotted quota. The capitas were the main perpetrators of the atrocities committed against the native population.

Day or night they could never get away from him. He called for palm wine. He called for women. He beat them, mutilated them, and shot them down at his pleasure. He enforced public incest in order to amuse himself by the sight. Sometimes they plucked up spirit and killed him. 3

Whole villages were massacred for not meeting their rubber quota. Orders were given to decapitate the bodies and hang the heads, and the men’s “sexual members”, on the village fence. 1

University of San Diego, The Crime of the Congo, A. Conan Doyle. http://www.archive.org/stream/crimeofcongo00doyliala/crimeofcongo00doyliala_djvu.txt Visited 21 Dec. 09 2 3

Ibid. ibid

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According to Conan Doyle, in his book “Crime of the Congo” written in 1909:

But never before has there been such a mixture of wholesale expropriation and wholesale massacre all done under an odious guise of philanthropy and with the lowest commercial motives as a reason. It is this sordid cause and the unctious hypocrisy which makes this crime unparalleled in its horror. 1

Conan Doyle tells us that the evidence for the atrocities comes from several English consuls and missionaries of various countries. He blames America for being the first to agree to “Leopold’s enterprise”, and England for signing the treaty of 1885, he goes on to say that “…the Belgians have sacked the country…”. During the early years of the Congo Free State little news came out of the country other than that the plans of Leopold for a humanitarian enterprise were being fulfilled; but, around the end of the century, stories emerged of the atrocities. Letters were sent to the Belgian press by disillusioned members of the administration who were appalled by the treatment of the native population. Some of these protesters disappeared or were murdered, one, Commandant Dooms, was said to have been drowned by a hippopotamus. Some of the perpetrators were tried and given light sentences and later reappeared to carry on killing. Eventually, because of reports from missionaries, and journalists among others, there arose great public concern regarding the events in the Congo. In 1903, the House of Commons passed a resolution calling on the British government to hold an inquiry into the alleged violations of the Berlin Agreement. In 1904, the British Consul, Sir Roger Casement, delivered a long damning report of the atrocities. Pressure from Britain, the USA, and several European countries pressured the Belgian government to force Leopold II to set up an independent enquiry; in 1905 Casement’s damning report was confirmed. All the countries involved in the discussion wanted an end to Leopold’s rule. A reluctant Belgium government took over the administration of the Congo in November 1908. The Deaths The Encyclopaedia Britannica claims that the population declined from about 30,000,000 to 8,000,000. Sir Roger Casement estimates the death toll in eight of the twenty year regime, to have been “as many as 3,000,000”. The investigative reporter, Peter Forbath, in his book ‘The River Congo’ claims at least 5,000,000 were killed. In Adam Hochschild’s “King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa”, he estimates that 10,000,000 were murdered.

American Genocide The early colonisation of the Americas has been dealt with above; this section deals with the near extermination of the indigenous population of North America – the “Red Indians”, th following the influx of Europeans from the early 17 century. The many tribes of Indians found in North America at the time of the first colonisers had been there for upwards of 12,000 years. They had evolved with their own cultures and customs, at one with “Mother Earth”, they worshipped many deities who put them in touch with their land, and the animals that lived on it; the land and the animals were their lifeblood. The first colony to be established by the English was at Roanoke in 1584, but the inhabitants had ‘disappeared’ six years later by the time a much awaited supply ship arrived; seventeen 1

University of San Diego, The Crime of the Congo, A. Conan Doyle. http://www.archive.org/stream/crimeofcongo00doyliala/crimeofcongo00doyliala_djvu.txt Visited 21 Dec. 09

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years later in 1607, the first permanent colony, Virginia, was founded. By 1732, thirteen individual colonies had been founded, bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and in the west by the Appalachian Mountains. English colonisation of North America was first considered by Henry VII when he commissioned John Cabot to sail “only to lands unknown to all Christians” in 1497.

…we haue granted to them, and also to euery of them, the heires of them, and euery of them, and their deputies, and haue giuen them licence to set vp our banners and ensignes in euery village, towns, castle, isle, or maine land of them newly found. And'that the aforesayd Iohn and his sonnes, or their heires and assignee may subdue, occupy and possesse all such townes, cities, castles and isles of them found, which they can subdue, occupy and possesse, as our vassals, and lieutenants, getting vnto vs the rule, title, and jurisdiction of the same villages, townes, castles, & firme land so found. 1

Permissions such as this were known as ‘patents’. The first - authorizing English settlement in the “New World” was given in 1502 with instructions not to enter Portuguese held land. The task of colonizing America was undertaken by merchants and industrialists who saw the opportunity to expand their business by investing in the New World. The Protestant clergy saw the opportunity to halt the expansion of Roman Catholicism, begun by the Spanish, and they too were involved in early colonisation. With the proclamation of Henry VII, the philosophy of English colonisation of America was set. The English laid claim to the whole of the country from east to west, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. But, the thirteen colonies on the Atlantic coast were prevented from expanding eastwards by what appeared to be impassable mountains, if they could be negotiated, the French held the country from the east of the mountains to the Mississippi River. The French had moved down the Missippippi River from their holdings in Canada. Following the war between England and France, 1754-1763, England gained title to all the lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River; this new territory was now open for colonial expansion. The Indians of the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley now became convinced that England intended to possess the whole of their country and they began hostilities against them under the leadership of the Ottawa chief, Pontiac. The frontier stretching about 1000 miles was involved in savage warfare. Because of the hostilities with the Indians, the English government forbade settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains. A year after the war with the Indians began peace treaties were negotiated with the various tribes involved in the conflict, extensive areas were ceded by the Indians, and the frontier population began to cross the Appalachian Mountains. The inexorable western expansion of the settlers had now begun in earnest, and the indigenous Indian was doomed.

1

The Avalon Project, Richard Hakluyt, Principale Navigations, (1509). The Letters Patents of King Henry the Seventh Granted unto Iohn Cabot and his Three Sonnes, Lewis, Sebastian and Sancius for the the Discouerie of New and Unknowen Lands. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/15th_century/cabot01.asp Visited 24 Dec. 09

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The westward expansion of the frontiers from the original colonies is illustrated by the following series of maps taken from the University of Texas Perry-Castaneda Library map collection: Territorial Growth. 1

1

Territorial Growth 1775-1900 http://lib.utexas.edu/maps/histus.html Visited 21 Dec. 09

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• Figure 51 Maps showing American expansion

In September 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed between the United States and Britain ending the war between them and gaining independence for America; the new government encouraged westward expansion much more than the British had done. Beginning in 1785, new laws were passed providing rights to the surveying and sale of land beyond the new Sates borders. The native Indians were given assurances that their “rights and interests” would be protected. The settlers that moved west into the “Old Northwest”, were mostly farmers, and their methods of cultivation soon exhausted the land and they pushed further and further westwards in search of fresh land. The cultivation of cotton and tobacco in the “Old Southwest” had the same damaging effect on the land, and these settlers too moved ever westwards. By 1809, the rapid expansion of the settlers, lead to more and more confrontation with the Indian population. The Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, attempted to unite

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all Indian peoples to resist further settlement, but, by the 1830’s, the settlement of the area between the Appalachians and the Mississippi was complete, and the desire for further economic opportunity drove the settlers far beyond the westward boundary of the Mississippi. The sale of land by France to the United States in 1803 - The Louisiana Purchase, opened up a further vast area of land. The lust for farmland was not the only thing that moved the frontier westward. The country was rich in gold, silver, tin, copper, iron, oil and very large tracts of grazing land. The growing industrial base in the east and expanding export markets were tremendous incentives for westward movement, and the growth of the railways made it easier to move goods and minerals to eastern markets. By the start of the 20th century, the whole country had been taken by the ever increasing influx of settlers from all over the world; and the native Indians had been marginalised. The native Indians were pushed further and further from their traditional lands by treaty after treaty, forced on them by the US government. The agreements made were much the same A declaration of peace between the Indian and the government - setting of boundaries giving the Indian possession of the land “where they were settled”, they were to cede all lands they were not now living on - and they were given guarantees that no settlers would move onto their land. Some later treaties, such as the Fort Laramie Treaty, 1868, included conditions that the Indians should become farmers instead of hunters, and they should compel their children to attend school to learn the culture of the white man. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson envisioned an Indian Colonization zone east of the Mississippi, with whites in the east and Indians in the west. The west bank of the river would be Indian Territory; the limits of this Indian Territory were made clear by President Andrew Jackson in 1825 - by 1830 the policy of Indian Removal had begun. The 1830 Removal Act authorised movement of eastern tribes across the Mississippi onto land not already occupied by white settlers, but many settlers had ignored regulations prohibiting movement, and had already crossed the river. In Jackson’s first annual message to congress in December, 1830, he stated:

The tribes which occupied the countries now constituting the Eastern States were annihilated or have melted away to make room for the whites. The waves of population and civilization are rolling to the westward, and we now propose to acquire the countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by a fair exchange, and, at the expense of the United States, to send them to a land where their existence may be prolonged and perhaps made perpetual. 1

He goes on to compare the removal of the Indians – who for thousands of years had lived on their land, buried their ancestors there, and who had no desire to move – with the settlers who of necessity - had to move thousands of miles from their home countries because of famine or lack of work and would be happy to avail themselves of the opportunities offered by the government. In June 1834, Congress passed an Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse with the Indian Tribes and Preserve Peace on the Frontiers. Before the law could be put into effect, thousands of settlers had passed beyond the proposed boundary of the Mississippi. th The “permanent Indian frontier” was moved westward to the 95 meridian, beginning around the headwaters of the Mississippi, west of the river proper down to Galveston Bay in Texas. In the next fifty years the Indians were defeated, totally.

Genocide The first deliberate attempt to kill off the Indians, “the total extirpation of those Indian Nations”, was carried out during the siege of fort Pitt by the tribes of the Five Nations confederacy, which was led by the Ottawa chief, Pontiac. In June 1763, smallpox had broken out in the fort 1

President Andrew Jackson's Case for the Removal. First Annual Message to Congress, 8 December 1830 Act http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/andrew.htm Visited 21 Dec. 09

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and the senior officer, Swiss mercenary Captain Ecuyer, decided to give the Indians a gift of two blankets and a handkerchief which had become infected with the disease in the hospital of the fort. By mid July, the Indians were dying. During July, 1763, a series of letters passed between, Colonel Henry Bouquet, the officer commanding the troops attempting to relieve the fort Pitt siege, and General Amherst, commander of all troops in North America. Bouquet stated he would “try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets”. He said in the same letter he would like to “hunt them with English Dogs”. Amherst replied to Bouquet a few days later:

…P.S. You will Do well to try to Innoculate the Indians by means of Blankets, as well as to try Every other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execrable Race. I should be very glad your Scheme for Hunting them Down by Dogs could take Effect, but England is at too great a Distance to think of that at present. 1

Bouquet replied - “all your directions will be observed”. In the 17th to the 19th centuries there were many conflicts between the Indians and the white settlers, which led to the killing of Indians and whites alike. During the Pequot War, 1637, in Connecticut and Rhode Island - 600 natives were killed and many more were sold into slavery. Then King Phillips War, 1675-78 - in which many on both sides were slaughtered. In North and South Carolina - Indian tribes defeated the white settlers in 1711-18. Lord Drummonds War, 1774, - defeated tribes in the Ohio River Valley following a wave of Indian raids on the settlers. During 1790 to 1794 - following defeats by the Indians - the Americans won a decisive victory under “Mad Anthony” Wayne in the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The Creek War, 1814, led by the future president Andrew Jackson - resulted in the Creek Nation giving up “a vast tract of land”. Again under Jackson - the Florida Seminoles had to give up their territory in 1818. The Navajo Conflicts between 1849 and 1863 - resulted in the tribe being forced onto “an inhospitable reservation”. The settlers, who moved across the central plains, now the States of Wyoming, South Dakota, and Minnesota, were resisted by the Sioux, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse in an effort to preserve their traditional hunting grounds. More Indians were moved onto reservations following their defeat in the Rogue River War in Oregon. The Apache Indians whose traditional hunting grounds were in the south of the country, rejected moves to reservations, and between 1861 and 1900, they attacked settlers hundreds of times. The Nez Perce tribe, led by Chief Joseph, following fighting for their homes in the Wallowa Valley, Montana, retreated towards Canada but had to surrender because of hardship in 1877. One of the worst conflicts – The Wounded Knee Massacre, took place in South Dakota in 1890; around 300 Lakota Indians were shot by the army. These are only a few of the problems of the native Indians who were desperately trying to prevent the loss of their traditional lands because of the ever growing westward movement of white settlers. To illustrate the deliberate actions of the US government to solve the Indian problem, leaving the country open for the ever increasing numbers of white settlers, two examples – of the many hundreds – will be illustrated - the removal of the Cherokee tribes from the south – “The Trail of Tears”, and the “Wounded Knee Massacre” - that finally put an end to the resistance of the Sioux on the northern plains. The Trail of Tears The Cherokee tribe had traditionally held land in the present state of Georgia. Observing the ever increasing influx of white settlers they wrote and adopted a Cherokee constitution declaring an independent sovereign nation in 1827. But Georgia would not recognize the Cherokee status, even after a Supreme Court ruling in 1831 deciding in favour of the 1

d’Errico P. Jeffrey Amherst and Smallpox Blankets, Letter to Booquet. http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amherst/fn2.html Visited 21 Dec. 09

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Cherokee - Georgia refused to abide by the Court’s decision, and President Jackson refused to enforce it. In 1835, a group of unrepresentative Cherokee signed the Treaty of New Echota, which relinquished all land east of the Mississippi in exchange for land in the Indian Territory (Okalahoma). The legitimate leaders of the tribe, headed by Chief John Ross, sent a petition to the government opposing the treaty. However:

Georgia and the U.S. government prevailed and used it as justification to force almost all of the 17,000 Cherokees from their south-eastern homeland. 1

In 1836, the Cherokee were given two years to move voluntarily, at the end of which time they would be forcibly moved; by the end of 1838, only about 2,000 had moved - so began the Trail of Tears. In May 1838, Major General Winfield Scott of the Cherokee Agency delivered an ultimatum to the Indians remaining in Georgia:

Cherokees! The President of the United States has sent me with a powerful army, to cause you, in obedience to the treaty of 1835 [the Treaty of New Echota], to join that part of your people who have already established in prosperity on the other side of the Mississippi. Unhappily, the two years which were allowed for the purpose, you have suffered to pass away without following and without making any preparation to follow; and now, or by the time that this solemn address shall reach your distant settlements, the emigration must be commenced in haste, but I hope without disorder. I have no power, by granting a farther delay, to correct the error that you have committed. The full moon of May is already on the wane; and before another shall have passed away, every Cherokee man, woman and child in those states must be in motion to join their brethren in the far West. 2

More than 30 forts had been built by 1838 to house the Cherokee during their movement west - in Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee. The troops under General Winfield began to round up the Indians and move them into temporary homes before moving them on to the Indian Territory. According to a military report in July 1838, “more than 4,800 Cherokee were in seven of these camps”. The troops were heavy handed in their roundup, this despite Gen. Winfield telling the Indians that his troops were “friendly”; the Indians were not allowed time to gather their belongings, and as they left, white settlers looted their homes. An army private described what he had witnessed:

"[I] witnessed the execution of the most brutal order in the history of American warfare. I saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes, and driven at the bayonet point into the stockades. And in the chill of a drizzling rain on an October morning I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and forty-five wagons and headed for the West." - Pvt. John G. Burnett, 1838. 3

In light of the ill-treatment by the army Chief Ross appealed to the President to oversee their own removal. Ross and his brother Lewis divided the 16,000 Indians into detachments of about 1,000 each; they were then transported to the Indian Territory either by river, or overland. During the course of this movement from their traditional homeland to the unknown Indian Territory, 4000 Cherokee people died of cold, hunger, and disease; several thousands more died on arrival in the Territory; they had no houses and no means of support. 1

Cherokee Nation, A Brief History of the Trail of Tears http://www.cherokee.org/Culture/58/Page/default.aspx Visited 21 Dec. 09 2 Cherokee Nation, Letter to the Cherokee from Major General Scott http://www.cherokee.org/Culture/125/Page/default.aspx Visited 21 Dec. 09 3 National Park service, Cherokee Roundup. http://www.nps.gov/fosm/historyculture/cherokee-round-up.htm Visited 21 Dec. 09

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• Figure 52 Map of Trail of Tears

Wounded Knee The Sioux, and other Indian tribes living in the northern plains of America, had for many years been pushed further and further westward by white settlers, in turn, the settlers were constantly harassed by the Indians who blocked the roads and attacked their wagon trains. In 1851, at Fort Laramie on the Platte River, a treaty was negotiated with the various Indian tribes in an effort to put an end to the hostilities; their principle chiefs and government Commissioners were present. The treaty began by affirming “good faith and friendship…and to make an effective and lasting peace.” The second Article in the treaty stated that the government had the right to build roads in the Indian territories. Further Articles stated the government would protect “the aforesaid Indian nations against the commission of all depredations by the people of the said United States”; and that the Indians were to “make restitutions...for any wrongs committed against people living or passing through their lands...” Boundaries were then set for the various tribes involved; the Sioux were assigned land as follows: The territory of the Sioux or Dahcotah Nation, commencing the mouth of the White Earth River, on the Missouri River; thence in a south-westerly direction to the forks of the Platte River; thence up the north fork of the Platte River to a point known as the Red Buts, or where the road leaves the river; thence along the range of mountains known as the Black Hills, to the head-waters of Heart River; thence down Heart River to its mouth; and thence down the Missouri River to the place of beginning. A significant signature missing from the treaty was that of the Oglala chief, Mahpiua-luta - Red Cloud. Despite the treaty, incursions into Sioux territory continued; the Indians attacked the settlers and the army units sent out to protect them; by 1865, the tribes were scattered between the Black Hills (Dakota) in the east, and the Bighorns (Wyoming) in the west. Rumour had it that soldiers were advancing on them from four directions; in fact, General Patrick E. Connor was directing three armies against them. In July 1865 Connor announced that the Indians “must be hunted like wolves”, and later told his officers to “attack and kill every male Indian over twelve years of age”. The fourth column advancing on the Indians was a party looking for gold in Montana, and was accompanied by two companies of soldiers; the Indians attacked their Wagons and later succeeded in arranging a parley with the leaders. Chief Red Cloud was at the meeting and demanded to know why soldiers were on their land, he told them to leave and go north, out of his country. It was during the talks with the leaders of this eastbound wagon train that Red Cloud and the other chiefs learned that soldiers were building a fort on the Powder River. The Indians resisted the invasion by Conner - his only success was the destruction of an Arapaho camp on the Tongue River. By the end of the year, 1865, most troops had been recalled from Fort Connor; only two companies were to remain there. The Indians did not attack these troops who had been left at the fort but cut off

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their supplies from Fort Laramie; half the troops were dead from malnutrition and disease before the end of the winter. The Indians continued to resist the passage of settlers through their country. According to Colonel Maynadier at Fort Laramie – “the travel next spring will be very great”; he told the Indians. But talks at the fort to open up the country for settlement and passage west were resisted by Chief Red Cloud. In June 1866, 700 soldiers under Colonel Henry Carrington arrived at Fort Laramie; Carrington was taking these troops to guard the road to Montana. Commissioner Taylor informed the Indians: “that the United States government intended to open a road through the Powder River country regardless of the treaty.” (The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851). Later in the year Red cloud had gathered together three thousand Indians; they continued the fight for their lands. Because of continued fighting interspersed by talks, the government decided to abandon their forts along the Powder River and instructed the commander at the time, General Sherman, to obtain a peace treaty with Red Cloud, and a representative from Sherman went out to invite him to talk of peace; a few days later Red Cloud sent a message:

We are on the mountains looking down on the soldiers and the forts. When we see the soldiers moving away and the forts abandoned, then I will come down and talk. 1

A second Fort Laramie treaty was signed on the 29th of April in 1868. Except for the declaration of peace, the sixteen other articles were a source of dispute for the next twenty years. The Indians said that what was agreed was not what was written down. The conditions of the treaty were continually disregarded, and American settlers drove westward battles between the Indians and the US army continued - Battle for The buffalo, 1874. Battle for the Black Hills, 1875-76. The Battle of the Little Big Horn, 1876, which culminated in the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. During this time, the land allotted to the Indians in 1868 at Fort Laramie became smaller and smaller, their crops failed, and supplies promised by the treaty were late or did not arrive at all; life for the Indians became more and more difficult. Ghost Dance In 1889, the Indians saw a way out of their problems by following the teachings of the Paiute mystic -.Wovoka. He said he had seen the Spirit World, and been told that the dead would rise, the buffalo would return, and the white man would disappear; and there would be no war, no lying, and no stealing. A necessary part of this ‘new religion’ was dancing, when the participants would gain a trance- like state and “see the Messiah” - this ritual became known as The Ghost Dance. The dancers wore sacred shirts decorated with magic symbols; Kicking Bear, who had introduced the Montana reservations to the ritual, said that not even bullets of the Bluecoat guns could penetrate a Ghost Shirt. The ritual spread rapidly, and the Indian Bureau and the Army became increasingly worried:

Hearing rumours of the prophecy and fearing that it was a portent of renewed violence, white homesteaders panicked and the government responded. The Bureau feared the swelling numbers of Ghost Dancers and believed that the ritual was a precursor to renewed Indian militancy and violent rebellion. 2

When he refused to stop the “pernicious system of religion”, instructions came from the government to arrest Sitting Bull, the chief at Standing Rock. On the morning of the arrest by Indian policemen, a gathering of Ghost Dancers interfered and tried to prevent the police from taking him; in the struggle that followed, the great Sioux chief Sitting Bull was killed. 1

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown Grant and Dvorak, The American 1890s: A Chronology.The Wounded Knee Massacre, Ghost Dance Religion. http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/woundedknee/WKghost.html Visited 21 Dec. 09

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When Sitting Bull was killed hundreds fled from the Standing Rock reservation to take refuge at Pine Ridge under the leadership of the last great chief, Red Cloud. Others joined Big Foot’s camp at Cherry Creek. When Big Foot learned that Sitting Bull had been killed he set out with his followers to join Red Cloud at Pine Ridge. On his way there he was stopped by th troops commanded by Major Samuel Whitside on the 28 December. Whitside had orders to capture and disarm Big Foot’s band; they were moved to a camp at the creek of Wounded Knee; on arrival they were counted – there were 120 men and 230 women. Massacre The Indian camp was surrounded by soldiers, and Hotchkiss guns were set up on the hills above the camp. During the night more of the 7th Cavalry arrived commanded by Colonel James Forsyth who took charge of the operation; he had orders to take Big Foot’s band to a military prison in Omaha. On the morning of the 29th December, mounted troops surrounded the camp and the Indians were told they were to move onto the Pine Ridge reservation. After breakfast they were then told that they would be disarmed, the Indians stacked their rifles in the centre of the camp, but the army officers were not satisfied that every rifle had been given up and decided a search was necessary; they found two more rifles. One of the rifles was owned by a young brave – Black Coyote – in the struggle to get the weapon from him it discharged, and all hell let loose. Immediately the soldiers opened fire on the Indians and indiscriminate killing followed.

When the madness ended, Big Foot and more than half his people were dead or seriously wounded; 153 were known dead, but many of the wounded crawled away to die afterward. 1

The dead were left where they had fallen. The next day a burial party found the bodies frozen in the snow that had fallen over-night; the dead were buried in a mass grave. Following the massacre at Wounded Knee, Indian resistance had virtually ended.

• Figure 53 location of Sioux tribes

1

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown.

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Other Incidents The two examples dealt with above are not the only incidents involving the deliberate killing of the Indians. At Mystic Fort, 1637, about 500 Pequot were killed. The French killed 1,000 Natchez in the lower Mississippi in 1773. During the Sand Creek (Colorado) massacre in 1864, the US army killed Cheyenne Indians who were trying to surrender. At Washita, in present day Okalahoma, over 100 Cheyenne were killed in 1868. One hundred and seventy three Blackfeet Indians were killed at Piegan Village in Montana in 1870. During the Bear River (present day Idaho) massacre in 1863, 250 Shoshoni were killed. The number of Indians deliberately killed to make room for the settlers were not particularly large as massacres go, but, the inexorable movement of the Indians from their traditional lands, either voluntarily or by force, had a devastating effect on their culture and lifestyle. Tens of thousands died because of diseases to which they had no immunity; they died from starvation, because of crop failures and the deliberate slaughter of their traditional game animals such as the Bison. The Indians, who had for thousands of years been hunters, were to be changed into farmers. Their children were forced into government schools so that future generations of Indians would forget their traditional culture. Tribal authority, traditional religions, and languages were abolished; they were to come under “the guardianship of the Federal government”. Their final humiliation was to be confined on ‘reservations’, denied the freedom to hunt and fish on their vast traditional lands; Indian lands were reduced:

…from 155 million acres in 1881 to 77 million in 1900 and just 48 million acres in 1934.

• Figure 54 Present day Indian reservations.

1

2

1

Digital History, Native Americans at the Turn of the Century http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=558 Visited 21 Dec. 09

2

Republic of Lakotah. http://www.republicoflakotah.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/bia-map-indian-reservations-usafull.jpg Visited 21 Dec. 09

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As can be seen in the above map, the vast area of North America that was the ‘hunting ground’ of the Indian nations has been reduced to a small proportion of the original - taken from them by the US government.

• 55 Map of Wounded Knee

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Slavery The institution of slavery has been recognised from the earliest written records of Sumeria, Egypt, and Babylon. It has been practiced from time immemorial in Africa, Asia, Europe, and pre-Columbian America; approved by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible accept slavery, but say the slaves must be treated humanely; in the Bible the Jews are reminded that they were once slaves in Egypt. The Qur’an assumes the existence of slavery; it regulates the practice of the institution and thus implicitly accepts it. The earliest records of slavery have been found in China, relating to a period around 1500 BCE during the Shang dynasty, and in the records of ancient Egypt. The Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, (c.1750 BCE), and the Hittite Code of Nesilim, (1650-1500 BCE), both have passages dealing with slavery. Legal codes produced by the Sumerians show that slavery existed as early as the 4th millennium BCE. The ancient Greeks had the first true slave society between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, with markets in the capital city of Athens and on the islands in the Aegean. Aristotle, in his “The Politics – On Slavery”, c. 330 BCE, says that the slave is a living possession of the household and wholly belongs to his master. Then asks: “is there any one thus intended by nature to be a slave, … or rather is not all slavery a violation of nature?”; his answer:

For that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule....Again, the male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; and the one rules, and the other is ruled; this principle, of necessity, extends to all mankind. 1

Rome Slavery was a common feature of the countries round the Mediterranean Sea; the Roman Empire was dependent on its slave population, and compared with other countries, the Roman Empire possessed the most. Slaves were distributed throughout the Empire, but Italy had the most, the capital city possessing the greatest numbers. The rulers and the civil service had the majority, but certain important individuals had thousands - Gaius Caecilius Isidorus bequeathed 4116 in his will. Several scholars have estimated the total number of st slaves in the city of Rome in the 1 century AD, to be 300,000 to 350,000 out of a total population of about 900,000. In the whole of Italy there were about 2,000,000 out of a total population of 6,000,000 around the time of Augustus. Throughout the empire numbers varied from province to province, one scholarly estimate is that the total was about 16.6%-20% of st the population in the 1 century AD. In the century between Cicero (c.100 BCE), and Tiberius, the Romans needed 100,000 new slaves every year. The most important source for renewal was prisoners taken in the many wars fought by the Romans as they established their Empire. But, when Emperor Augustus suggested that the Empire be confined to its present boundaries, warfare slowed down, and so did the source of its slaves. The alternative to prisoners of war, were the “vernae”, the offspring of the existing slaves. Roman law stated that children born of slaves were also slaves; they knew nothing other than slavery so they were easier to manage. Another source were foundlings, also known as exposed children, children abandoned by their parents because they did not want them, or they could not afford to keep them. This was not confined to the lower classes, the elite also abandoned their children; and the practice was widespread throughout the Empire. Trade was another source - much Italian wine was traded for slaves in other parts of the Empire. Pirates operating round the Mediterranean raided coastal towns, and they captured the 1

Ancient History Sourcebook, Halsall P. Aristotle; The Politics---On Slavery, c. 330 BCE http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/greek-slaves.html Visited 22 Dec. 09

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inhabitants and sold them on to slave merchants, who in turn would sell them in the Roman forum. The Roman slave owning elite realised that they could make money by using slaves, but more than this, owning slaves was one of social prestige; and the ability to exercise power over the their slaves. The Roman slave society was taken to every part of the Empire; the Romans did not understand why some societies they conquered did not have the same ideas regarding the use of slaves. The slaves in Rome were regarded as property, and could be disposed of like any other property of their owners; they were cut off from all rights and rituals of human society. Slaves were allowed to marry and have children, but had no legal authority over their family; children of slaves were slaves, they did not belong to the family. A slave was regarded as being without honour or dignity; the essence of being a slave was the inability to protect one’s body. They had no right to trial; they were beaten and raped by their owners who had impunity from the law. Even if their owner treated them quite well:

Romans believed that you were degraded simply by being subject to another man's ability to treat you poorly if he chose 1

Enslavement, for those imported from foreign wars or captured by traders, meant a sudden and complete removal from family and known society; they were transported to a completely foreign existence and their language and customs disappeared. Their lives depended on the labour to which they were assigned - galley slaves, working in mines, on farms, or trained as gladiators. Those who possessed the skills to turn a profit - jewellers, weavers, calligraphers, potters, and other specialists had the better standard of living. The Romans were constantly in fear of trouble from their slaves; some did kill their masters from time to time; injuries inflicted by a slave on his owner were responded to by the slaughter of the slave and his whole family. In the first century BCE a large scale rebellion, involving tens of thousands of slaves, was led by Spartacus, the rebellion was put down after two years, and all the surviving slaves were crucified. After the rebellion was over, the Romans began to treat their slaves a little less harshly.

In 73 B.C. the "Speaking Tools" - as the Romans called their slaves, especially those upon the great estates of Southern Italy--burst loose in a terrible insurrection [Arkenberg: the third such in fifty years], to quell which taxed the whole power of the government. Despite the sympathy one must have for these slaves and their gallant leader, their success would have been a calamity to civilization. An army of such brutalized wretches could only destroy; they could never have erected a firm and tolerable government. After these outbreaks and the havoc and terror spread by them, the Romans out of sheer fear seem to have begun to treat their slaves less harshly than before. 2

Islam As was stated above, the Moslem world practiced slavery, similar to that which existed in other parts of the ancient world but regulated by the ‘law’ of the Qur’an. The word ‘slave’ is rarely used in the Qur’an, they are usually referred to as - ‘that which your right hand own’. Rights of master and slave are recognised, and it is urged to treat the slave kindly, and recommends his freedom by purchase or manumission. In numerous hadiths (traditions) the Prophet is quoted as urging consideration:

1

Roman Civilization: Roman Slavery. http://abacus.bates.edu/~mimber/Rciv/slavery.htm Visited 22 Dec. 09 Ancient History Soucebook, Halsall P. Slavery in the Roman Republic: The Last Great Slave Revolt http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/slavery-romrep1.html Visited 22 Dec. 09

2

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…sometimes even equal treatment for slaves, denouncing cruelty, harshness, or even discourtesy, recommending the liberation of slaves, and reminding the Muslims that his apostolate was to free and slave alike. 1

After the death of the Prophet Mohamed, the early caliphs who ruled Islam introduced humanitarian reforms regarding their slaves. Free Moslems could not be enslaved, and it was illegal for a freeman to sell himself or his children into slavery, nor could the freeman be enslaved because of debt or crime - the presumed status of mankind was freedom, but, rebels and heretics were sometimes committed to slavery.

…by and large, and certainly in the central lands of Islam, under regimes of high civilization, the rule was honoured, and free subjects of the state, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, were protected from unlawful enslavement. 2

Slavery could only arise if you were born to slave parents or by being captured in war as an infidel; because of these reforms slaves became scarce. Under Islamic law slaves could only be recruited by capture or importation, unless born into slavery. Huge increases in the number of slaves came from the Moslem expansion; the jihad campaigns of Islamization. 3 The Moslem slave population was acquired by capture, tribute, offspring, and purchase. During the years of their expansion the Moslems took most of their slave requirements from prisoners of war; and as in Roman times, as the rate of conquest declined supplies became severely limited. Among the conquered states an annual tribute was imposed to supply slaves; such as that imposed on Nubia in 652 AD, which continued until the 12th century. Numbers provided by the children of existing slaves slowly diminished because the law encouraged freedom, the large proportion of eunuchs could not provide offspring. Casual sex and marriage were not permitted among the lower orders, domestic and manual workers; and the high death rate among slaves all contributed to their scarcity. Purchase became the most important method of acquiring new slaves. They were bought at the borders of the Moslem world and imported to towns and cities where there were slave markets; and over time a massive network of acquisition and marketing evolved.

In one of the sad paradoxes of human history, it was the humanitarian reforms brought by Islam that resulted in a vast development of the slave trade inside, and still more outside, the Islamic empire. 4

The ‘recruitment’ of slaves came from many countries in times of conquest - Egypt, Iran, North Africa, Central Asia, India, and Spain. As capture dried up they were bought from some of the above countries but most came from countries north and south of the Islamic world. Black slaves from Africa were moved from south of the Sahara to Morocco or Tunisia; others, from East Africa, were moved down the Nile or across the Red Sea to Arabia, or 1

Bernard Lewis. Race and Slavery in the Middle East. Oxford Univ Press 1994. Chpt. 1 Slavery http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html Visited 22 Dec. 09 2

Ibid.

3

The term "Jihad" used without any qualifiers is generally understood in the West to be referring to on behalf of Islam In

broader usage and interpretation, the term has accrued both violent and non-violent meanings. It can simply mean striving to live a moral and virtuous life, spreading and defending Islam as well as fighting injustice and oppression, among other things. The relative importance of these two forms of jihad is a matter of controversy.

4

Bernard Lewis. Race and Slavery in the Middle East. Oxford Univ Press 1994. Chpt. 1 Slavery http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html Visited 22 Dec. 09

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across the Indian Ocean to Persia and India. White slaves from central and Eastern Europe were taken from the Slavic countries, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, and Slovakia, they were moved through France and Spain, or down through the Crimea and traded with Venetian merchants, who in turn sold them on mainly in slave markets in North Africa. The Ottoman Empire eventually had to get its slaves from the Caucasian countries on the eastern shores of the Black Sea - Georgians, Dagestanis, Circasians, and others from the region they were then taken via the Crimea to markets in Istanbul and other cities; this source came to end when Russia took the Crimea in 1783. More and more slaves had to come from African sources - Nubia, Sennaar, Darfur and Kordofan in the Sudan. The Ottoman rulers of Sudan agreed officially to cease taking slaves in the country in the 19th century, but they were still taking them near the end of the 20th.

Europe In the 8th century the Vikings took slaves, ‘thralls’, from Western Europe - Celts, AngloSaxons, and Franks; Slavs, Germans, and Latins from Eastern Europe. Slavery was discouraged in the Scandinavian countries as they came under the influence of the Catholic Church, and the ‘thrall’ system was abolished in the middle of the 14th century. Slavery began again in the 17th century when Denmark, Sweden, and Norway established trading posts in Africa; blacks were considered ‘fair game’ - the church considered they were ripe for conversion. The Visigothic Code, a set of rules or laws, made by several Spanish Kings who ruled from 586-711 AD, included rules regarding slavery:

No slave, of either sex, shall be tortured in order to obtain evidence of crime against either his or her master or mistress, unless for adultery; or for some offence against the Crown, or against their country; or for counterfeiting, homicide, or witchcraft. And if slaves tortured for such reasons should be proved to be cognizant of the crimes of their masters, and to have concealed them, they shall be punished along with their masters in such way as the king may direct. But if they should voluntarily confess the truth before being put to the question, it will be sufficient if they undergo the torture in order to confirm their testimony, and they shall not suffer the penalty of death. But any slave of either sex, who, after being put to the torture for a capital crime, should also implicate his or her master, and the commission of said crime can be proved by competent evidence, they shall be subject to the same punishment as their master. 1 Where a slave is accused of any crime, the accuser must before the torture is inflicted, bind himself to give to the master in his stead, another slave of equal value, if the innocence of the slave should be established. But if the accused slave should be found innocent, and should die, or be disabled from the effects of the torture, the accuser must at once give to the master two other slaves, each equal in value to the one killed or disabled. 2 The Carolingian Empire had slaves in the 9th century, the Anglo Saxons until the 12th century when slavery was abolished. The Magyars of Hungary raided as far as Spain; Jewish traders, Rhadanites, were involved as long as their merchandise was not Jewish. In the 14th and 15th centuries the slave trade was run by the Venetians and the Genoans, their main 1

Scott S. P. Ed. Library of Iberian Resources Online, The Visigothic Code. Ancient Law: III. For what Offences, and in

what manner, Slaves, of Either Sex, shall be put to the Torture, on account of the Crimes of their Masters. http://libro.uca.edu/vcode/vg6-1.htm#l1 Visited 22 Dec. 09

2

Scott S. P. Ed. Library of Iberian Resources Online, The Visigothic Code. FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING. IV. For

what Offences, and in what manner, a Slave, or a Freedman, shall be Tortured. http://libro.uca.edu/vcode/vg6-1.htm#l1 Visited 22 Dec. 09

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customers were the Mongols of the Golden Horde, and the Mamluks in Egypt. When the Golden Horde collapsed, Khanates such as Astrakhan, on the Caspian Sea, regularly raided Russia and captured tens of thousands to put to slavery. Malta had a slave market till the late 18th century and used thousands of slaves in their galleys. The Russians used slaves in the home and in agriculture, later known as ‘serfs’; slavery under another guise. Beginning in 1419 the Portuguese began their exploration of the West African coast. The monarchy perceived they had a duty to spread the word of Christendom, and rid the world of Islam. In 1441 the first shipment of slaves was received in Lisbon, in 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued a papal bull regarding slavery: Dum Diversas, which legitimised the African slave trade for the catholic religion.

"We grant you [Kings of Spain and Portugal] by these present documents, with our Apostolic Authority, full and free permission to invade, search out, capture, and subjugate the Saracens and pagans and any other unbelievers and enemies of Christ wherever they may be, as well as their kingdoms, duchies, counties, principalities, and other property [...] and to reduce their persons into perpetual slavery. 1

Subsequent Papal bulls reaffirmed the right of Christians to take slaves; but in 1686 the Papacy decreed that Africans taken in ‘unjust’ wars were to be freed. Portuguese exploration of the West African coast reached present day Cape Verde by 1444 and the Portuguese had set up a slave market in Lagos, and by 1450 they were bringing ‘seven to eight hundred’ each year to the market. Following the voyages of Columbus to the Americas in 1492, the local population became decimated and labourers had to be imported. Portugal, along with the English, Dutch, and French supplied them, first to Hispaniola, and then to other Spanish occupied territories. The contracts (asiertos) given by the Spanish allowed only slaves to be imported, any other goods were prohibited. The first African slaves arrived in Hispaniola in 1501; organised shipment began in 1518 when the first slave ship arrived. This trade in human cargo was the precursor to the ‘African Slave Trade’ to the Americas. Throughout the Middle Ages the slave trade in England was on a large scale. Fairs had many men and women for sale who were often exchanged for goods that were not manufactured in England. These unfortunate people often found themselves in other European countries after they had been sold - sent to Italy, Ireland, and Denmark, from Denmark they also probably made their way into Germany. According to The Chronicle of the Kings of England, 1065, the sister of King Canute:

… was in the habit of purchasing companies of slaves in England, and sending them into Denmark; more especially girls, whose beauty and age rendered them more valuable, that she might accumulate money by this horrid traffic. 2

St. Wolstan, 1066, tells of men and women from all over England being shipped to Ireland from Bristol. In 1080, William the Conqueror found that slaves were being sold from the north of England and Bristol despite his law banning the trade; they were still being sold one hundred years later according to Giraldus Cambrensis.

The African Slave Trade African people had a long and varied culture before the arrival of the Europeans in their country. It was divided into a wide variety of kingdoms and city states each with their own 1

Hayes, Diana. 1998. "Reflections on Slavery." in Curran, Charles E. Change in Official Catholic Moral Teaching http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dum_Diversas#cite_note-8 Visited 22 Dec. 09 2 Halsall P. Medeival Sourcebook Traffic in Slaves: England, 1065-66 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1066serfs3.html Visited 22 Dec. 09

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languages, cultures, and political systems with hundreds of thousands of subjects. As throughout history, disagreements arose between kingdoms which were usually arbited by war, and prisoners taken as slaves. African kingdoms had a ‘slave’ culture reaching back over a thousand years, using their captives for their own purposes. The Moslems requirement for slaves began sometime around the 6th century and was met by trading with the sub-Saharan kingdoms, and they established ever increasing trading routes across the desert and to the east coast; as the map below shows, by medieval times there was an extensive network - for hundreds of years millions of slaves were exported:

…Four million slaves exported via the Red Sea, another four million through the Swahili ports of the Indian Ocean, perhaps as many as nine million along the trans-Saharan caravan route…1

• Figure 56 Medieval slave trade routes

By the time that the Portuguese and other European countries arrived on the west coast of Africa the trade in slaves was in the hands of the major African kingdoms - Asanti, Benin, Dahomey and the Kongo; Europeans who required slaves had to deal with their leaders. As stated above, the Portuguese were the first to import African slaves into Europe, and by 1552, they were using slave labour on the sugar plantations in their island colony of Madeira, ten years later they had set up an important way-station on the Islands of Cape Verde. Despite the Papal Bull, Romanus Pontiflex, granting Portugal virtual monopoly in African trade, the Spanish began to trade small numbers of slaves from Africa. Following the discovery of the ‘New World’ (Hispaniola) by Columbus in 1492, and the subsequent decimation of the native population of the islands, more labour was required to work in the gold and silver mines and in agriculture. On the 22nd January 1510, the Spanish king, Ferdinand, authorised shipment of slaves to Santo Domingo; beginning the systematic transportation of African slaves to the New World. Several years later In 1518, Charles V

1

Mbakolo E. Le Monde Diplomatique, The impact of the Slave Trade on Africa. http://mondediplo.com/1998/04/02africa Visited 22 Dec. 09

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gave permission for Lorenzo de Gorrevod to import 4000 slaves into New Spain; from then on, thousands of slaves were sent to the New world every year. By 1580, Spain had become the most important slave trader when Spain and Portugal were brought together under Phillip II; but, fifteen years later, Phillip granted a Portuguese merchant a near monopoly in the slave trade - Gomes Reinal agreed to provide over 4000 slaves a year to Spanish America; other merchants were to supply a further 1000. The driving force behind the slave trade to the America’s was commerce - the European demand for precious metals, and later - sugar, coffee, cotton, and tobacco. The Portuguese discovered Brazil in 1500, and sixty years later they were shipping large numbers of slaves to man their sugar industry, starting the major direct traffic from African factories; previously the slaves were first moved to European markets and then on to the America’s. By the time of the Dutch invasion in 1630, the provinces of Pernambuco, Bahia, and Rio de Janeiro were supplying most of the European demand for sugar; the later discovery of gold in Brazil further increased the shipment of slaves - Brazil became by far the largest market for African slaves to cross the Atlantic, originating in Benin, and Biafra. Following their incursion into Brazil the Dutch took sugar cane into the Caribbean, where production eventually outstripped that of Brazil, coffee replaced sugar cultivation in Brazil and became the predominant Brazilian crop in the first half of the 18th century. Large numbers of slaves were still required - to 1866, nearly 6,000,000 slaves were imported into Brazil. When the Dutch introduced sugar into the Caribbean islands they became the world’s largest producers, some island economies became dependant on it; like Guadalupe, and Barbados; but by 1750, the French administered island of Saint Dominique (Haiti) became the world’s largest producer. The British island colonies of Barbados and Jamaica also became major sugar producers. By 1866, the French imported over 1,000,000 slaves into their Caribbean dependencies, the British over 2,000,000, the Dutch nearly 500,000, and the Danes over 100,000. The British colonisation of eastern America began with Jamestown (Virginia); successfully settled in 1609; a century and a half later most of the east coast was settled, from Georgia in the south to Maine in the north. Their early economies relied on the exchange of goods with Britain - sugar, rice, tobacco, and later raw cotton. Virginia began growing tobacco in about 1612, and established large plantations that were first worked by indentured labour from Britain. The supply of these labourers - who volunteered or were forced to migrate to the colonies, and were indentured to work for between three and seven years for the plantation th masters - became scarce by the 18 century and were replaced by African slaves. Black African slavery spread throughout the colonial territories:

…from 1700 to 1720 slaves entered British North America at the rate of almost 1,000 a year. This figure rose to over 2,500 in the next two decades and reached a peak of over 5,000 a year in the 1740s and 1750s 1

The American states that emerged in the south on the Gulf of Mexico also imported large numbers of African slaves to work their cotton and sugar plantations. Cotton, one of the most important imports for Britain at that time, was produced from eastern Texas to North Carolina; “60% of slaves worked in the fields producing cotton”. 2

1

Gaspar D. B. African Migration to British America in the 17th and 18th Centuries http://www.dlt.ncssm.edu/lmtm/docs/africanmigration.htm Visited 22 Dec. 09 th The Times Complete History of the World, 7 edition, 2007.

2

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James Rawley estimates that "between 1620 and 1870 traders brought nearly 600,000 slaves into territory that would eventually become the United States, and the vast majority of them came here during the eighteenth century. 1

The trade in this human cargo went on for more than three hundred years. Their heavy work regime and usually poor treatment by their masters followed what for most of them was the more horrendous experience of capture and transportation from their natural home - the transfer from Africa to their destination across the Atlantic Ocean to the America’s became known as ‘The Middle Passage’. The Middle Passage Before their sea voyage some Africans had been imprisoned for up to two years after being captured. Travelling from the African interior, chained and bullied, they arrived in the slave ports to await their sale, and then wait for the right sailing conditions; probably one third of those captured did not survive to cross the Atlantic. The voyage must have been even more horrendous, they were packed like ‘sardines’ in the hold of the ship: see diagram below:

1

Gaspar D. B. African Migration to British America in the 17th and 18th Centuries http://www.dlt.ncssm.edu/lmtm/docs/africanmigration.htm Visited 22 Dec. 09

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• Figure 57 Slave ship

Once on board the ship the Africans were chained together and packed shoulder to shoulder to enable the maximum numbers to be shipped. Urine, faeces, and vomit filled the hold with unbearable smells. The passage took an average of two months, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, mainly dependant on the weather. The death rate during the voyage was very high, and reached 25% in the early passages; dysentery, scurvy, smallpox, measles, and malnutrition accounting for most; although some were killed following rebellions. By the th middle of the 18 century ‘slavers’ were carrying up to 700 Africans per voyage. The horror of the journey for the Africans was unbearable, so much so that there were many suicides and attempted suicides; some jumped overboard during the infrequent exercise periods on deck; others chose to starve themselves; if they could. Those that would not eat were force fed by a diabolical instrument - the ‘speculum oris’ - an instrument that was used to force open their jaws allowing food to be introduced into their mouths. The Africans were nothing more than commodities for sale or exchange; a dead one was worthless, especially one who had starved - drowned slaves however were insured. An example of the inhumanity shown by the slavers during the middle passage is illustrated by the well documented story of the slave ship Zong. The ship sailed from Africa in September 1781, after two months it had reached the Caribbean, short of water and with many sick slaves. Collinwood, the ships captain was aware that death from natural causes was not covered by the insurers, and he decided to throw them overboard to drown; 132 slaves were murdered. The claim was eventually refused. The legal issue was whether the actions of Collingwood were to preserve property – not the moral issue of drowning the slaves.

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A similar incident occurred on the slave ship La Rodeur in 1812. There was an outbreak of the eye disease opthalmia, which caused blindness. The captain knowing that blind slaves would be impossible to sell threw 39 overboard, hoping to claim on the insurance. At the time:

...the human misery quotient generated by the forced movement of millions of people in slave ships cannot have been matched by any other human activity. 1

An account of the Middle Passage was given by a slave Olaudah Equiano in 1789 - he was taken as a slave when he was eleven years old, and was given his freedom in 1766 - relates his fear of being eaten by the strange looking men on board the slave ship; his fears are heightened when he sees a large copper pot being heated on deck. When the ship sailed, and he was put under deck with the rest of the slaves, he became sick and dejected because of the conditions, he states: ‘I now wished for the last friend, Death, to relieve me.’ He could not eat, and was flogged, saying some were flogged hourly for not eating; ‘I have never seen among my people such instances of brutal cruelty’. The conditions below deck were ‘pestilential’, they were packed so close they could hardly move and ‘almost suffocated’; the ‘air became unfit for respiration from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness…from which many died’. Equiano became so ill he was moved on deck with other sick slaves; again, he hoped death would put an end to his misery. He was not in chains himself, and tells of two of his companions that were, who jumped overboard, soon followed by another unchained fellow. Two of them were drowned; one was rescued and flogged ‘unmercifully’.

I can now relate hardships which are inseparable from this accursed trade. Many a time we were near suffocation from the want of fresh air, which we were often without for whole days together. This, and the stench of the necessary tubs, carried off many. 2

Source: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African (London, 1789). Alexander Falconbridge, a surgeon who worked on slave ships, gave his account of the Middle Passage in 1788. Ships arriving on the African coast could be there for upwards of three months waiting to load slaves sometimes brought from 200 miles inland. Some of the captured said they had travelled for ‘several moons’ from their homes to fairs held ‘generally every six weeks’, when several thousand were offered for sale. (I think the fairs referred to here are held inland by the African dealers). On arrival at the coast the slaves were examined by the European dealers, diseased and lame would be rejected, those accepted were moved on board ship and shackled with handcuffs and leg irons, then put below; men, women, and children in separate compartments.

The traders frequently beat those Negroes which are objected to by the captains and use them with great severity. It matters not whether they are refused on account of age, illness, deformity or for any other reason.

1

Eltis D. 2007, A Brief Overview of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade . The Middle Passage.http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/assessment/essays-intro-07.faces Visited 22 Dec. 09 2 University of North Carolina Library, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African. Pg. 82. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/equiano1/equiano1.html Visited 22 Dec. 09

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At New Calabar, in particular, the traders have frequently been known to put them to death. Instances have happened at that place, when Negroes have been objected to, that the traders have dropped their canoes under the stern of the vessel and instantly beheaded them in sight of the captain. 1

The arrangement of the ship to accommodate the slaves the doctor describes is much the same as the diagram on page 250, packed so close they could only lie on their sides. Toilet arrangements were buckets, sometimes placed too far away for some to make the journey, they eventually did not make the effort and ‘ease themselves as they lie’; some captains he says - ‘paid more attention to the health and convenience of the slaves’. The captives were taken on deck in the morning about eight o-clock, fastened to a long chain that was bolted to the deck to prevent their escape, if the weather was good they stayed until evening. The diet consisted of a pulp of boiled horse beans; boiled yams and rice, and sometimes a small quantity of pork or beef. Fed, usually twice a day, from a communal bucket shared by ten people, the meal was accompanied by a half pint of water; short rations were applied on a long voyage. Refusal to take food could lead to the individual being tortured:

I have seen coals of fire, glowing hot, put on a shovel and placed so near their lips as to scorch and burn them. And this has been accompanied with threats of forcing them to swallow the coals if they any longer persisted in refusing to eat. 2

The crew of some ships were allowed to have ‘intercourse with such of the black women whose consent they could procure’; of the officers the doctor states: they ‘are permitted to indulge their passions among them at pleasure and sometimes are guilty of such excesses as disgrace human nature’. Suffocation was a problem when ventilation was cut during bad weather; all hatches and portholes had to be closed; the air was ‘rendered noxious by the effluvia exhaled from their bodies, and being repeatedly breathed, soon produces fevers and fluxes…’ causing many deaths. During one of Falconbridge’s voyages he describes his inspection of one of the slave decks; the heat was intolerable, but was not the only reason ‘The deck, that is the floor of their rooms, was so covered with the blood and mucus which had proceeded from them in consequence of the flux, that it resembled a slaughter house’.

It is not in the power of the human imagination to picture a situation more dreadful or disgusting.

3

In 1840, the British stationed the frigate Crescent in the harbour of Rio de Janeiro in their efforts to stem the slave trade. Dr. Thomas Nelson, who had the care of the slaves, kept records of the medical condition of the Africans aboard some of the hundreds of slavers captured by the Crescent and other British ships. His first account was of the scene and wretchedness: ‘of the loathsome spectacle’ when he went aboard the slaver. There were three hundred and sixty two negroes with disease, ‘which beggars all powers of description’. They were suffering from exhaustion, emaciation, small-pox, dysentery, and, probably worst of all, ‘virulent ophthalmia’ causing the eyelids to swell and discharge pus; some of the slaves were already blinded by the disease.

1

PBS. Black Voyage-Eyewitness Accounts of the Atlantic Slave Trade, by Alexander Falconbridge, edited By Thomas Howard Little Brown & Company, Boston. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h281t.html Visited 22 Dec. 09 2

Eye witness statement of Bristol surgeon Alexander Falconbridge made to Thomas Clarkson regarding slave ships

http://www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/englandpast/education/bristol_pdfs/A14.pdf Visited 22 Dec. 09 3

Ibid.

253

On every side, squalid and sunken visages were rendered still more hideous by the swollen eyelids and the puriform discharge of a virulent ophthalmia [a dangerous eye inflamation], with which the majority appeared to be afflicted. 1

In another story relating to the Portuguese ship Vencedora, Nelson and the surgeon of the Crescent, Dr. Gunn, ‘were astonished at the smallness of the vessel’, it was so crowded on deck they had to walk along the bulwark top; a later count revealed that 460 had sailed from Africa, 338 survived the voyage. So closely packed had they been that many could not walk, they were fixed in the position in which they had lain, and had to be carried off the Vencedora. ‘All those not affected with contagious diseases are now on board the Crescent, and the most of them look like animated skeletons’. A slaver captured by H.M.S. Dolphin in 1843, was the largest Nelson had seen; ‘better fitted than the common run of slavers’. It was of American build and fitted with more decks than usual to increase the number carried, the hold had been fitted with two decks instead of the usual one. Nelson states - ‘the negroes have been as badly off, if not worse, than they would have been in a smaller vessel’. He abandoned his efforts to go below deck because of the heat and smell. The usual diseases were prevalent, ophthalamia being the worst, with many already blinded. Of the estimated 700 plus that sailed from Africa, ‘Five hundred and seventy two Africans were found on board’. Nelson remarks on the ‘sagacity’ of the negro:

Not only do they appear perfectly aware that their interest is consulted, and give no trouble, but exhort each other to stand firm while the necessary painful operations of scarifying and of touching the inflamed and ulcerated parts are performed. 2

Arrival On arrival in the Americas the slaves were prepared for sale; cleaned up, fed, and oiled down to hide disease and improve their appearance. Dr. Falconbridge had observed that those suffering from dysentery had oakum inserted into their anus to prevent discharge being apparent. Sales took place on board ship, in enclosed pens, or the ‘goods’ were lined up on the dock. Auctions were held or there could be a ‘scramble’ where each buyer rounded up as many as they could by corralling them with ropes. The buyers closely examined every part of their prospective purchases, rejecting any they considered unfit, diseased, or deformed; the young men sold first and brought the highest prices; the rejected ones could be bought cheaply by speculators, hoping to make the unfit sound for resale at a large profit. Printed advertisements were posted describing the merchandise for sale:

1

After the Middle Passage: The Condition of Africans upon Their Arrival in Brazil, as described by a British Physician

(1841-1843) http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/slatta/hi216/documents/slavery/midpassage.htm Visited 22 Dec. 09

2

Ibid.

254

• Figure 58 Slave sale

An English physician, George Pickard described the arrival of a load of slaves delivered to the West Indies in 1806. The white settlers considered it a day for ‘feasting and hilarity’, but he says for the Africans ‘it was a period of heavy grief and affliction’. They were examined as though they were beasts of burden, poked, and prodded; the buyers had them jump up and down and wave their arms. What must have been far worse for some was being split from their family, sold separately, with no prospect of ever seeing them again. In the early days of colonial slavery most were bought from markets in the West Indies, by the late 18th century they came directly from Africa to markets in Richmond in Virginia, Charleston in Carolina, New Orleans in Mississippi, Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania, and Newport, Rhode Island. For one hundred years, 1707 to 1807, the slave merchants of Rhode Island financed nearly one thousand voyages to Africa, conveying over 100,000 negroes to the Americas. Many Rhode Islanders had shares in this extremely profitable trade from Newport to Africa - Africa to the West Indies - and back to Newport - this round trip was a part of the ‘Triangular Trade’. The triangle involved the exchange of goods (including slaves) between the Americas, Europe, and Africa as the map below shows. 1

1

National Archives. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/africa_caribbean/docs/trade_routes.htm Visioted 22 Dec. 09

255

• Figure 59 Map of Triangular Trade

Rhode Island had its own version of this triangular trade. In the early 18th century they traded fish and timber with the West Indies for sugar and molasses, the molasses being converted to rum; and by the mid 18th century rum became one of the islander’s largest exports, which was shipped to the African coast in exchange for slaves who were in demand to work the West Indies sugar plantations. They also traded slaves with the southern states of America, any that were not sold were put to use by the islanders themselves; by the early 19th century about 20% of the seamen on Rhode Island ships were black; and many others were used in the rum industry; many merchants, bankers, and shipbuilders used slave labour. For the vast majority of the slaves the work was backbreaking, they were made to work in the fields 12-15 hours per day, six days a week, much longer at planting and harvest time. When they were not working in the fields they had fences to repair, animals to feed and ‘muck out’. They worked in gangs under a driver; in some states they were given a set daily task, when this was completed their time was their own; but, most slaves were made to work twice as hard as the norm of the free workforce. The slaves had no incentive to work hard and were often severely whipped to keep them in-line, and were shackled to prevent escapes. Some owners did provide positive incentives like allowing them to grow vegetables for their own use, giving them some time off, and year end bonuses. Not all slaves were field workers, in the 1850’s large numbers lived in the cities and worked as craftsmen - carpenters, weavers, blacksmiths, in fact, they carried out a whole range of industrial and domestic tasks. Beginning of Segregation In the early 17th century slaves were imported into the 13 colonies from the West Indies and slavery was ‘far different from what it would later become’. Some Africans were never to be free, but others were allowed to own property and to marry and raise families, others were given plots of land to raise and sell crops so that they could eventually purchase their freedom; they were treated with some humanitarian consideration; until the 1660’s black Africans were socially tolerated, but by the beginning of the 1660’s, Maryland, and Virginia had imposed laws that restricted the freedom of the slaves – including the freed slaves. Barbados was the first colony to develop a comprehensive code of laws regarding slaves in 1661, which was adopted by the other major slave holding colonies by the early 18th century. The laws were made for governing and regulating the actions of the black African slaves in order to protect the owners’ investment, which could be jeopardised by insurrection or escape.

256

The Caribbean slave laws of Barbados, Jamaica, and the Leeward Islands became the stepping stone for the institutionalization of slavery, not only in the Western Hemisphere, but throughout the world. European planters in these islands developed a number of ways to suppress and punish any form of slave misconduct or insurrection. 1

The ‘human property’, could be treated extremely inhumanely according to these laws. For an attempted escape a slave could receive thirty lashes and be branded on his cheek with the letter R, then made to work in chains for a year or more. For a second attempt: ‘be severely whipped and have his nose slit’. They were not allowed to carry arms, or to be absent from the plantation without a certificate of permission. If the slave lifted his hand to his master he was to receive thirty lashes; if he escaped and resisted arrest he could be killed. In 1691, an additional law stated that runaways could be killed - ‘and the owner paid 4000 pounds of tobacco by the government. Anyone murdering a Negro was punished by a fine. Another law issued in the same year stated that all freed Negroes were to be transported out of the country, so that they would not ‘bring a charge on the country’; the owner paid the church to carry out the deportation. Many of the laws enacted were racially motivated and reflected the European attitude to the African negro; ethnic difference, and degradation of the negro were the chief reasons for the harsh treatment laid out in these laws. By 1750, Jamaica, South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Virginia had adopted the law codes of Barbados; these laws and the attitude of the white population with regard to the black Africans was no doubt a precursor leading to apartheid in the United States. The following maps and comments are from: David Eltis and David Richardson, An Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (New Haven, 2009) 2 Overview of the slave trade out of Africa, 1500-1900 Captive Africans followed many routes from their homelands to other parts of the world. The map shows the trans-Atlantic movement of these captives in comparative perspective for the centuries since 1500 only. Estimates of the ocean-borne trade are more robust than are those for the trans-Saharan, Red Sea and Persian Gulf routes, but it is thought that for the period from the end of the Roman Empire to 1900 about the same number of captives crossed the Atlantic as left Africa by all other routes combined.

1

Fleitas R. Civil Laws Enacted by the Planters to Suppress Slave Resistance. http://scholar.library.miami.edu/slaves/planters/individual_essays/robert.html Visited 22 Dec. 09 2 Emory University. http://www.slavevoyages.org/tast/assessment/intro-maps.faces Visited 22 Dec. 09 (the maps have been elongated to increase the size of the text)

257

Volume and direction of the trans-Atlantic slave trade from all African to all American regions This map summarizes and combines the many different paths by which captives left Africa and reached the Americas. While there were strong connections between particular embarkation and disembarkation regions, it was also the case that captives from any of the major regions of Africa could disembark in almost any of the major regions of the Americas. Even captives leaving Southeast Africa, the region most remote from the Americas, could disembark in mainland North America, as well as the Caribbean and South America. The data in this map are based on estimates of the total slave trade rather than documented departures and arrivals.

258

259

Spain / Uruguay

Portugal / Brazil

Great Britain

Netherlan ds

U.S.A.

Denmark / Baltic

France

Totals

1501 1525

6,363

7,000

0

0

0

0

0

13,363

1526 1550

25,375

25,387

0

0

0

0

0

50,763

1551 1575

28,167

31,089

1,685

0

0

66

0

61,007

1576 1600

60,056

90,715

237

1,365

0

0

0

152,373

1601 1625

83,496

267,519

0

1,829

0

0

0

352,843

1626 1650

44,313

201,609

33,695

31,729

824

1,827

1,053

315,050

1651 1675

12,601

244,793

122,367

100,526

0

7,125

653

488,064

1676 1700

5,860

297,272

272,200

85,847

3,327

29,484

25,685

719,674

1701 1725

0

474,447

410,597

73,816

3,277

120,939

5,833

1,088,909

1726 1750

0

536,696

554,042

83,095

34,004

259,095

4,793

1,471,725

1751 1775

4,239

528,693

832,047

132,330

84,580

325,918

17,508

1,925,314

1776 1800

6,415

673,167

748,612

40,773

67,443

433,061

39,199

2,008,670

1801 1825

168,087

1,160,601

283,959

2,669

109,54 5

135,815

16,316

1,876,992

1826 1850

400,728

1,299,969

0

357

1,850

68,074

0

1,770,979

1851 1866

215,824

9,309

0

0

476

0

0

225,609

Total s

1,061,524

5,848,265

3,259,440

554,336

305,32 1,381,40 6 4

111,041

12,521,33 6

• Table 8 Slaves shipped 1501 - 1866

Abolition The following table illustrates the progress of abolition of the trade in slaves.

260

1787

The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade founded by Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson.

1788

The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade organises its first petition campaign. Over 100 petitions complaining about slavery are presented to Parliament.

1789

Olaudah Equiano, a freed slave, publishes his autobiography, The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, The African. The book is a best seller.

1792

The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade organises its second petition campaign. This time 519 petitions are presented to Parliament.

1807

Britain passes the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act which outlaws the British Atlantic slave trade.

Post-1807

The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade is superseded by the African Institution which campaigns for other countries to ban the slave trade.

1808

United States passes legislation banning the slave trade.

1811

Slavery is abolished in Spain and the Spanish colonies. Cuba, however, refuses to accept the ban and continues to deal in slaves.

1813

Slave trading is banned by Sweden.

1814

Slave trading is banned by The Netherlands.

1817

Slave trading is abolished by France although it is not made effective until 1826. Great Britain and Spain sign a treaty prohibiting the slave trade. Portugal abolishes the slave trade north of the equator.

1819

Britain places a naval squadron off the West African coast to enforce the ban on slave trading.

1823

The Anti-Slavery Society formed. Members include Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce and Henry Brougham. The Society campaigns for better conditions for slaves in the West Indies and for the gradual abolition of slavery.

1820s

Other anti-slavery groups are formed, many of which argue for the immediate abolition of slavery.

1828-1830

Parliament is presented with over 5000 petitions calling for the abolition of slavery.

1833

The Abolition of Slavery Act is passed. It brings into effect the gradual abolition of slavery in all British colonies. Plantation owners in the West Indies receive £20 million in compensation. The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society is formed to campaign for the global abolition of slavery.

1839 Rebellion aboard the slave-ship, Amistad, takes place. The rebelling slaves are eventually allowed by an American court to return to Africa. 1848

Slavery is abolished by France.

1851

Slave trading is abolished by Brazil.

261

1858

Slavery is abolished in Portuguese colonies although all slaves are subject to a 20 year apprenticeship.

1861

Slavery is abolished in the Dutch colonies of the Caribbean.

1865

Slavery is abolished in the United States following the Civil War.

1886

Slavery is abolished in Cuba. Slavery is abolished in Brazil.

1888 • Table 9 Abolition of the Slave Trade 342

Despite the laws to prevent slavery, it still goes on.

Slavery is a problem around the world and very difficult to measure. The following examples are listed in geographical order and not in terms of the magnitude of the problem.) 343 1. US: An estimated 20,000 people are trafficked into the US annually - many are forced into prostitution. 2. Dominican Republic: Campaigners say hundreds of thousands of Haitians are rounded up near the border and made to work on Dominican sugar plantations. 3. Brazil: Up to 25,000 people are said to be working as slave labourers - most of them clearing Amazonian forests. 4. Mauritania: Despite its abolition in 1981, chattel slavery is still strong - up to 1m people are allegedly held as "inheritable property". 5. Sudan: Campaigners say northern militias continue to take women and children in slave raids in the south. 6. Europe: Tens of thousands of women and girls are cheated, abducted and forced into prostitution right across Europe. 7. UAE: Every year hundreds of boys are reportedly trafficked from South Asia to the UAE and other Gulf states to race camels. 8. Pakistan: Men, women and children are bonded into forced labour in agriculture and industry, campaigners say. 9. Burma: Forced labour is reportedly used on a growing number 342

Durham University, The Struggle to end Slavery: A Timeline. http://www.dur.ac.uk/4schools/Slavery4/timeline.htm Visited 22 Dec. 09 343 BBC News, World commemorates end of slavery. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3589646.stm Visited 22 Dec. 09

262

infrastructure projects. 10. Thailand: Thousands of girls are sex slaves for tourists. (Sources: ILO, American Anti-Slavery Group, US state department.)

• Figure 60 Modern day slaving countries

Conclusion I write this section of the essay not to postulate a theory, but as the completion of my personal research into the phenomenon of Genocide. Many scholars from disciplines within the humanities, have over the years since the term was first conceived by Lemkin, and later defined by the Genocide Convention, analysed and redefined it. Their attempts to answer the question of why, but most importantly, the question - how can it be prevented in the future have so far not been very successful. History of the Convention. At the end of WW II, Nazi war criminals were put on trial at the Nuremberg Tribunal in 1945/6 and indicted for War Crimes which included deliberate and systematic genocide, i.e. the extermination of Jews, Poles, Gypsies, and others.

They (the defendants) conducted deliberate and systematic genocide - viz., the extermination of racial and national groups - against the civilian populations of certain occupied territories in order to destroy particular races and classes of people, and national, racial or religious groups, particularly Jews, Poles, Gypsies and others. 344

By the time of the Tribunal Lemkin had already coined the term Genocide in 1944, at the same time proposing international regulation of genocide, which at the time, he said was the “practice of extermination of nations and ethnic groups”. Eventually the UN decided to take action. Preliminary discussions took place in December 1946, when the UN General Assembly affirmed that genocide was a crime under international law, and asked member states to enact the necessary legislation for “the prevention and punishment” of that crime. The Economic and Social Council (ESC) were instructed to investigate and prepare a draft convention. In June 1947, the draft convention was submitted and member states were invited to comment; five months later the ESC were instructed to proceed without the comments of all the members; some had not bothered to respond. By March 1948 the ESC established an Ad Hoc Committee on Genocide composed of representatives from the USA, the Soviet Union, Lebanon, China, France, Poland, and Venezuela. Many important features which had been written into two earlier documents - The Secretariat Draft, written in 1947, and the Ad Hoc Committee Draft, written in April 1948 - were not included in the final text:

344

Lemkin

R.

Genocide,

American

Scholar,

Volume

15,

no.

2

(April

1946),

p.

227-230

http://www.preventgenocide.org/lemkin/americanscholar1946.htm Visited 17Jan 10

263

Among these features were: inclusion of political and linguistic groups in the list of protected groups, definitions of cultural genocide, and provisions for suppression of preparations for genocide, provisions on universal jurisdiction and for an international criminal tribunal. 345

Many meetings later the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNCG) by a unanimous vote of the 56 members present, on the 9th December 1948. The UNCG came into effect in 1951, and was ratified by 133 member states. According to Prevent Genocide International - on the 56th anniversary of the approval of the UNCG in 2004, 137 member states are parties to the agreement and 50 are not. Criminal Prosecution of Genocide. As laid out in the UNCG one of the key elements is the punishment of the crime. Article III states that the followings acts shall be punishable: a. Genocide; b. Conspiracy to commit Genocide; c.

Direct and public incitement to commit Genocide;

d. Attempt to commit Genocide; e. Complicity in Genocide. Article IV states that punishment should apply to anyone responsible, be they state rulers, public officials, or private individuals. Article V says that contracting parties should set up the necessary law and provide suitable penalties within their respective constitutions for those found guilty of Genocide, or other acts within Art. III. Article VI states that persons charged with Genocide, or the other acts within Art. III, shall be tried in the territory where the crime was committed, or, tried by an international court set up by the contracting parties. The UNCG was born in the aftermath of the Holocaust, which was followed by the Nuremberg Tribunal, set up specifically to try the Nazi’s accused of exterminating the Jews. When the UNCG came into being in 1951, there were no international criminal courts. It was to take another fifty years, after considerable wrangling, before the International Criminal Court came into being, in July 2001. Rome Statute. The following is taken from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 1998/99:

346

PART 2. JURISDICTION, ADMISSIBILITY AND APPLICABLE LAW Article 5 Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court 345

rd

Prevent Genocide International, http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/drafts/ Visited 3 Jan 2010. United Nations, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, http://untreaty.un.org/cod/icc/statute/romefra.htm Visited 3 Jan 2010 346

264

1. The jurisdiction of the Court shall be limited to the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. The Court has jurisdiction in accordance with this Statute with respect to the following crimes: (a)

The crime of genocide;

(b)

Crimes against humanity;

(c)

War crimes;

(d)

The crime of aggression.

2. The Court shall exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression once a provision is adopted in accordance with articles 121 and 123 defining the crime and setting out the conditions under which the Court shall exercise jurisdiction with respect to this crime. Such a provision shall be consistent with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

Article 6 Genocide For the purpose of this Statute, "genocide" means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such: (a)

Killing members of the group;

(b)

Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d)

Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e)

Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Article 7 Crimes against humanity 1. For the purpose of this Statute, "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack: (a)

Murder;

(b)

Extermination;

(c)

Enslavement;

(d)

Deportation or forcible transfer of population;

(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; (f)

Torture;

265

(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; (h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; (i)

Enforced disappearance of persons;

(j)

The crime of apartheid;

(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health. 2.

For the purpose of paragraph 1:

(a) "Attack directed against any civilian population" means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in paragraph 1 against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack; (b) "Extermination" includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population; (c) "Enslavement" means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children; (d) "Deportation or forcible transfer of population" means forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law; (e) "Torture" means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions; (f) "Forced pregnancy" means the unlawful confinement of a woman forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations of international law. This definition shall not in any way be interpreted as affecting national laws relating to pregnancy; (g) "Persecution" means the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity; (h) "The crime of apartheid" means inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred to in paragraph 1, committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime; (i) "Enforced disappearance of persons" means the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.

266

3. For the purpose of this Statute, it is understood that the term "gender" refers to the two sexes, male and female, within the context of society. The term "gender" does not indicate any meaning different from the above. The wording of the Rome Statute includes the UNCG definition of genocide and in Art. 7 – Crimes against humanity – includes many more acts of violence committed against the civilian population. The ICC has clarified the UNCG definition and has added elements that go far to clear up what the crime means in practice – in the real world. It states that an individual can be called into account for genocide, torture, rape, forcible deportation, murder, etc. The UNCG hold only States responsible for the crimes, and perpetrators can only be tried in the country where that crime was carried out. Also, only member States can initiate cases for trial. Unfortunately when indictment and trial are left to the perpetrating State, internal politics interfere with justice. Under the UNCG, there has not been one case of genocide that has gone to trial; as R. J. Rummel states:

…even though there are many possible cases, such as by Burundi (1972), Cambodian Khmer Rouge (197579), Iraq (1963-), Myanmar (1962-), Nigeria (1967-70), Rwanda (1994), Serbia (1990s), Sudan (1956-), and many others. Moreover, many cases of genocide have been committed by non-parties, or before they ratified the UNCG, such as by Angola, China, Congo (Kinshasa), Indonesia, Pakistan, Paraguay, and Sierra Leone. 347

There have been many cases of genocide during the life of the UNCG, as seen from the Rummel quote above. In order to deal with these the UN set up two ad hoc (for a particular purpose) Tribunals, one dealing with Rwanda – The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) 1994, and the other dealing with what was at the time, Yugoslavia – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) 1993. In the case of Rwanda – former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda, Major Jean-Paul Akayesu, and militia leader Omar Serushago, have been found guilty of genocide and other humanitarian crimes. Kambanda and Akayesu were sentenced to life in prison in 1998, Serushago, because of his admission of guilt and assurances that he would help in other trials, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 1999. Twenty six cases are in progress, 31 348 have been completed, and 2 are awaiting trial. (2010). As for the ICTY, more than 50 have been tried and sentenced to periods of a few years to life imprisonment. Twenty four are still at the trial stage; two accused are still at large. (2010). The ICC has done little better in bringing to justice the multitude of perpetrators of genocide. To date (Jan. 2010), three State Parties to the Rome Statute – Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the Central African Republic – have referred incidents occurring in their territories to the ICC. The UN Security Council has itself referred the court to the case of Darfur in the Sudan. The ICC Prosecutor is investigating all of the above cases. Most of the accused are at the pre-trial stage, one, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (DRC) is being tried, other accused are still at large. To the present day it seems that only three African countries have “self referred” to the ICC and one other has been referred by the UN. Other African countries with a history of genocide have not been referred, nor have countries in Asia, South America, South East Asia, and not forgetting China and Russia. No Prosecution Angola, in two periods between 1975 and 2002, has a history of government destructive campaigns and persecution of civilians. Hutu in Burundi, as shown in an earlier chapter have been subjected to genocide. The revolutionary regime in Ethiopia has been responsible for 347 348

Rummel R. J. Genocide. http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/GENOCIDE.ENCY.HTM Visited 4 January 2010 A full list can be seen here - http://www.ictr.org/default.htm Visited 4 Jan 2010

267

massacre of those opposing the regime. Sudan has been dealt with. General Idi Amin in Uganda systematically exterminated his opponents. The Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot, was responsible for the killing fields in Cambodia. Militant Buddhists and military units depopulated Arakanese Muslim communities in Burma (Myanamar), in 1978. In Iraq, between 1963 and 1991, suppression of Kurdish independence was carried out by campaigns of massacre, poison gas, and forced resettlement. In Indonesia, Muslims massacred communists and Chinese, followed later by massacre of Timorese. The military in Argentina staged a coup in 1976, death squads targeted subversives who were tortured, disappeared, and were murdered between 1976 and 1980. There are many more – Barbara Harff, Professor of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy, lists 39 separate events in her paper Genocide and Politicide Events, 1955-2002. 349 Risk Assessment. Professor Harff was commissioned in 1998 to undertake a study to determine the risk factors for genocide and devise an early warning system that could be used in preventing genocide. Her investigation used data from a previous study by the State Failure Task Force, established in 1994, which had identified 126 instances of internal war and regime collapse between 1955 and 1997. The list was narrowed down to 35, those which were considered to have had instances of genocide/politicide. Pointing out what she considers are four limitations with the UNCG definition - political groups are not included, “mental harm” is problematic, “intent to destroy” is difficult to determine, and non state actors are not included – Professor Harff gives us her “Empirical Definition” that will be used to identify her case studies.

…the promotion, execution, and/or implied consent of sustained policies by governing elites or their agents— or, in the case of civil war, either of the contending authorities—that are intended to destroy, in whole or part, a communal, political, or politicized ethnic group. 350

Genocides and Politicides from 1955 to 2001 Country and Dates Sudan, 10/56–3/72

Nature of Episode Estimated Politicide with communal victims

Number of Victims 400,000–600,000

South Vietnam, 1/65–4/75 Politicide

400,000–500,000

China, 3/59–12/59

Genocide and politicide

65,000

Iraq, 6/63–3/75

Politicide with communal victims

30,000–60,000

Algeria, 7/62–12/62

Politicide

9,000–30,000

Rwanda, 12/63–6/64

Politicide with communal victims

12,000–20,000

Congo-K, 2/64–1/65

Politicide

1,000–10,000

Burundi, 10/65–12/73

Politicide with communal victims

140,000

Indonesia, 11/65–7/66

Genocide and politicide

500,000–1,000,000

349

Harff B. Genocide Politicide, http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/genocide/ Visited 7 January 2010

350

Harff B. No Lessons Learned from the Holocaust? Assessing Risks of Genocide and Political Mass Murder since

1955 http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/GSSW/schram/harff.pdf Visited 15 Jan. 10

268

China, 5/66–3/75

Politicide

400,000–850,000

Guatemala, 7/78–12/96

Politicide and genocide

60,000–200,000

Pakistan, 3/71–12/71

Politicide with communal victims

Uganda, 2/72–4/79

Politicide and genocide

50,000–400,000

Philippines, 9/72–6/76

Politicide with communal victims

60,000

Pakistan, 2/73–7/77

Politicide with communal victims

5,000–10,000

Chile, 9/73–12/76

Politicide

5,000–10,000

Angola, 11/75–2001

Politicide by UNITA and government forces

500,000

Cambodia, 4/75–1/79

Politicide and genocide

1,000,000–3,000,000

1,900,000–3,500,000

Indonesia, 12/75–7/92

Politicide with communal victims

100,000–200,000

Argentina, 3/76–12/80

Politicide

9,000–20,000

Ethiopia, 7/76–12/79

Politicide

10,000

Congo-K, 3/77–12/79

Politicide with communal victims

3,000–4,000

Afghanistan, 4/78–4/92

Politicide

1,800,000

Burma, 1/78–12/78

Genocide

5,000

El. Salvador, 1/80–12/89

Politicide

40,000–60,000

Uganda, 12/80–1/86

Politicide and genocide

200,000–500,000

Syria, 4/81–2/82

Politicide

5,000–30,000

Iran, 6/81–12/92

Politicide and genocide

10,000–20,000

Sudan, 9/83–present

Politicide with communal victims

2,000,000

Iraq, 3/88–6/91

Politicide with communal victims

180,000

Somalia, 5/88–1/91

Politicide with communal victims

15,000–50,000

Burundi, 1988

Genocide

5,000–20,000

Sri Lanka, 9/89–1/90

Politicide

13,000–30,000

Bosnia, 5/92–11/95

Genocide

225,000

Burundi, 10/93–5/94

Genocide

50,000

Rwanda, 4/94–7/94

Genocide

Serbia, 12/98–7/99

Politicide with communal victims

500,000–1,000,000 10,000

269

• Table 10 Genocide/Politicide 1955-2001 Note: This list of episodes was compiled in a long-term research effort (see Harff 1992), has been updated and modified for the State Failure Task Force, and is posted on the University of Maryland’s Center for International Development and Conflict Management Web platform, http://www.bsos.umd.edu/cidcm/inscr/stfail. The list and analysis reported here exclude a few episodes identified in previous studies, for example, in Angola in 1961–62 (because it was then a colony), in Equatorial Guinea in 1969–79 (the country was below the 500,000 population threshold used in the State Failure analyses), in Paraguay against the Ache Indians in 1962–72, and in Nigeria against Ibos living in the North in 1966 (in the latter two cases the government was not complicit in killings carried out by private groups). Estimates of victims are invariably imprecise and often vary widely among scholars, journalists, human rights observers, and spokesmen for the victimized groups. Some of the figures are little more than guesses. If a detailed and reliable study is available, a single figure is used. A single figure is also used when several sources offer similar estimates. When different estimates are reported and there is no basis for choosing among them, a range is shown.

351

Following the analysis of the cases in the above table, six preconditions for genocide/politicide were identified: 1. Political upheaval - the necessary condition for genocide/politicide. 2. Prior genocides - Habituation to mass killing. 3. Political systems - Exclusionary ideologies and Autocratic rule. 4. Ethnic and religious cleavages. 5. Low economic development. 6. International context - Economic and political interdependence. (Trade openness). From the data obtained in the study, statistical analysis pointed up countries at greater or lesser risk. The statistics are beyond the ken of this writer, but his analysis is as follows: Countries at higher risk of Genocide are those with unstable autocratic political regimes run by an ethnic minority, a history of prior genocide, and poor relationship with the international community. Countries at lesser risk have a democratic system of government, no prior history of genocide, and a comprehensive relationship with the rest of the world, and a sound economic system. I cannot find any evidence that the work by professor Harff has prevented any genocide/politicide since its publication in 2003; but there is only one ongoing event - Darfur in Sudan. (January 2010); hopefully - “lessons will have been learned”.

351

Harff B. No Lessons Learned from the Holocaust? Assessing Risks of Genocide and Political Mass Murder since

1955 http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/GSSW/schram/harff.pdf Visited 15 Jan. 10

270

• Table 11 State Failures 1955-2006

CONSOLIDATED STATE FAILURE EVENTS, 1955-2006: Ethnic Wars (ETH), Revolutionary Wars (REV), Genocides and Politicides (GEN), and Adverse Regime Changes (REG) (note 1) 352 As of early 2006, the PITF lists 41 events of genocide/politicide. (Highlighted in red) Country

Type of conflict

Began

Ended

Description

Colombia

Revolutionary War

4/48

12/60

A protracted civil war breaks out between the Conservative and Liberal parties vying for state power. The period known as “la violencia” begins in earnest with riots in Bogota following the assassination of Liberal leader Gaitan in April 1948. The violence begins to decrease with the election of a moderate Liberal-Conservative coalition, the National Front, in 1958 and continues to diminish through 1960.

Indonesia

Complex

12/49

8/05

Islamic rebels in West Java, Aceh, and South Sulawesi challenge the secular state led by President Sukarno in an attempt to set up an Islamic regime, Darul Islam (REV 12/49-10/61). On March 14, 1957, Sukarno declares martial law and ends Indonesia’s liberal parliamentary system (REG 3/57-7/59). Opponents to Sukarno’s regime attempt to set up an alternative government, the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PRRI), in February 1958. The PRRI, or “Permesta,” rebellion is defeated by loyalist forces and an amnesty is declared in August 1961 (REV 2/58-8/61). Following an attempted communist coup, Muslim vigilantes and military forces massacre suspected Communists and ethnic-Chinese suspected of supporting the coup (GEN 10/65-7/66). Indonesian armed forces use indiscriminate force to subdue the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in the former Dutch-administered territory of West Irian (ETH 1/67-12/71). Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) rebels fight to regain autonomy after Indonesian forces invade the former Portuguese colony in November 1975; large numbers of suspected Fretilin supporters are killed in massacres and by induced famines (ETH 11/75-6/91; GEN 12/75-7/92). Indonesia’s “transmigrasi” policy of resettling people from overcrowded Java rekindles OPM rebellion (ETH 3/81-12/84). East Timor (Fretilin) rebels resume autonomy fight in 1997; a popular referendum for the independence of East Timor in 1999 triggers intense violence and the introduction of international peacekeepers in September 1999 (ETH 2/97-9/99). Following the withdrawal of Indonesia armed forces from Aceh in August 1998, a repressed rebellion by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) flares into open violence (ETH 9/98-8/05). General economic decline in Indonesia leads to mass demonstrations and rioting in Jakarta. Suharto resigns but rebellion continues until a parliamentary government is instituted in October 1999 (REV 5/98-10/99).

Cuba

Complex

3/52

12/61

Fulgencio Batista, supported by the military, stages a successful coup that ousts President Carlos Prio Socarras just before scheduled general elections (REG 3/52-6/55). Rural-based insurgents led by Fidel Castro overthrow military-backed Batista regime (REV 12/56-1/59). Single-party socialist state established by 1961 (REG 1/59-12/61).

Iran

Regime change

8/53

3/55

Limited democratic rule ends as coup ousts increasingly autocratic prime minister. Shah bans political competition and gradually assumes absolute power.

China

Complex

12/59

Armed resistance to Chinese occupation of Tibet breaks out in February

352

2/56

Political Instability Task force. 2006 http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/pitf/pitftabl.htm Visited 19 Jan. 10

271

1956 and spreads throughout the region. Rebellion is suppressed by Chinese forces by April 1959 (ETH 2/56-4/59). In 1959, Army and security forces suppress counterrevolutionary elements of society, including Tibetan Buddhists, landowners, and supporters of former Chiang Kaishek regime (GEN 3/59-12/59).

India

Ethnic war

5/56

10/58

In May 1956, militant Naga separatists begin an armed rebellion that is brutally repressed by Indian armed forces

Hungary

Complex

10/56

5/57

Factionalism within the ruling Hungarian Workers’ Party leads to an outbreak of popular insurrection against hardliners in late October 1956 (REV 10/56-11/56). Hardliners, supported by Warsaw Pact forces, crush the insurrection and reinstate hard-line government (REG 11/56-5/57).

Sudan

Complex

10/56

3/72

Anyanya rebellion by non-Muslim population of southern Sudan against Muslim-dominated government ends with 1972 autonomy agreement (ETH 10/56-3/72). Government uses indiscriminate violence against civilian Southerners thought to support secessionist movement (GEN 10/56-3/72). Parliamentary democracy overthrown in 1958 military coup. Constitution abrogated and opposition parties banned as General Abbud consolidates political power (REG 11/58). Democratic government reestablished in 1964 but overthrown by leftwing military officers in 1969. Col. Numeiri establishes one-party state after failed coup by Communist elements within ruling military coalition (REG 5/69-10/71).

Jordan

Regime change

3/57

3/57

King Hussein demands resignation of his prime minister on suspicion of maneuvering to abolish monarchy. Multiparty elections for National Assembly rescinded as King bans all political parties.

Vietnam, South

Complex

1/58

4/75

South Vietnamese communists, supported by North Vietnam, rebel against regime; war becomes internationalized civil war in 1965 (REV 1/58-12/65); fighting continues until South Vietnamese government falls and Vietnam is reunified in 1975. Government military and paramilitary forces engage in killings, reprisals, and bombardments against villagers supporting Viet Cong (GEN 1/65-4/75).

Lebanon

Revolutionary War

5/58

7/58

Muslim opposition groups rebel against Christian-dominated government.

France

Regime change

6/58

6/58

New constitution institutes the (Gaulist) Fifth Republic, a very strong Presidential system that grants extraordinary powers to the president over parliament.

Pakistan

Regime change

10/58

10/58

Decade-long experiment with parliamentary and presidential systems ends when democratic constitution is abrogated, political parties dissolved and government handed over to coalition of military officers and bureaucrats.

Iraq

Complex

3/59

3/75

Rebellious army units allied with members of the Shammar tribe seize Mosul; subsequent violence erupts in Kirkuk involving Kurdish elements in the communist party. Both rebellions are crushed by loyalist forces (REV 3/59-4/59). Barzani's Kurdish Democratic Party revolts against General Qassim's regime and its successors in quest for regional autonomy (ETH 7/61-3/70). Fighting resumes in April 1974 as Kurds reject government autonomy plan that falls short of their demands (ETH 4/74-3/75). In order to suppress repeated rebellions for independent

272

Kurdistan, military engages in large-scale massacres (GEN 6/63-3/75).

Laos

Complex

1/60

6/79

Kong Le seizes power in an attempt to form a neutralist government; government remains locked in bitter struggle between neutralist, rightists, and communists until the ending of the war in neighboring Vietnam provides opportunity for the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP; Pathet Lao) to establish one-party rule (REG 1/60-12/75). Military coup sparks sustained conflict as rebels fight unsuccessfully to overthrow rightist Somsanith regime (REV 8/60-5/62). Hmong (Meo) rebels encouraged to fight Pathet Lao; rebellion is suppressed after Pathet Lao takeover in 1975, no significant guerrilla activity after 1979 (ETH 7/616/79). Neutralists and Conservatives join forces to oppose Communist Pathet Lao forces; resistance by rightist forces continues until 1979 (REV 3/63-3/79).

CongoKinshasa

Complex

6/60

11/65

Independence is followed by intense political and tribal factionalism and the emergence of secessionist movements. Failed attempt at democracy ends in establishment of military dictatorship under General Mobutu (REG 6/60-11/65). Mutiny within ranks of military escalates into full-scale civil war. Rebels expel remnants of Belgian colonial apparatus (REV 7/60-8/65). Katanga and South Kasai secede from newly independent Congo (1960) followed by secession of Orientale and Kivu (1961) and rebellions in Stanleyville and Kwilu (1964) (ETH 7/60-11/65). To consolidate control, rebels massacre counter-revolutionaries, including educated Congolese, missionaries, and other Europeans (GEN 2/641/65).

Nepal

Regime change 12/60

12/60

Constitutional monarch uses emergency powers to dissolve Nepali Congress, dismiss cabinet, and abolish political parties; establishes “National Guidance” system led directly by the king.

Korea, South

Regime change

5/61

5/61

Military coup ends brief experiments with civilian-led parliamentary democracy. Military-dominated democratic government gradually established.

Ethiopia

Complex

7/61

5/93

Eritrean secessionists led by ELF (Eritrean Liberation Front) and EPLF (Eritrean People’s Liberation Front), joined by Afars, Oromos, and others in mid 1970s, fight civil wars for independence from successive imperial and Marxist regimes in Addis Ababa (ETH 7/61-5/91). Ethnic-Somalis in Ogaden rebel twice (ETH 10/63-4/64; ETH 2/77-5/78). In 1974, Emperor Selassie is deposed by left-wing military government and the Derg establishes repressive one-party socialist state (REG 9/74-3/75). Army, internal security units, and civilian defense squads massacre political and military elites, workers, students, bureaucrats, and others thought to oppose the revolutionary regime (GEN 7/76-12/79). In 1975 Tigrean Liberation Front joins regional separatists in war to seize control of the central government (REV 7/75-5/91). Eritrean-Tigrean coalition movement defeats military-backed Derg government in May 1991; transitional government accepts Eritrean independence in May 1993 (REG 5/91-5/93).

Burma (Myanmar)

Complex

—

Karen, Kachin, Shan, Mon, Chin, and other non-Burman peoples fight for greater regional autonomy (ETH from 8/61). In 1962 political factionalism within ruling party and regional ethnic rebellions undermine democratic institutions and trigger military intervention. Military rule institutionalized in one-party socialist state (REG 3/62-7/62, GEN 1/78-12/78). In 1988 students in Rangoon organize increasingly violent protests against military rule and make an unsuccessful attempt to form revolutionary coalition with ethnic rebels (REV 3/88-6/89).

8/61

273

9/61

Brazil

Regime change

Syria

Regime change

9/61

Yemen, North

Revolutionary War

9/62

1/70

Royalist and Republican forces battle for control of government. Rival tribes join on opposite sides.

Peru

Regime change

10/62

10/62

Presidential elections are held in July 1962 pitting multiple candidates, including those from the three main parties; none of the candidates gains the required one-third of the vote. In a move to prevent an agreement between Odria and Haya de la Torre that would have resulted in Odria being named president by Congress, the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff oust President Prado on July 19, 1962, and install a junta led by (Chairman) Gen. Perez Godoy. Moves by Gen. Perez Godoy to gain personal power lead to his ouster by the other members of the junta on March 19, 1963, and a rescheduling of presidential elections for July 1963..

Senegal

Regime change

12/62

3/63

Increasing tensions between President Senghor and his prime minister lead to failed coup attempt by Prime Minister Dia. Senghor arrests Dia, strengthens constitutional powers of presidency, and establishes oneparty rule.

Burundi

Complex

12/73

Unstable political alliance between Tutsis and Hutus produces democratic stalemate. King increases his authority but is unable to resolve ethnic tensions and is overthrown by the Tutsi-dominated military (REG 6/63-11/ 66). Attempted coup by Hutu units in 1965 results in massacres of Tutsis in countryside, prompting Army to eliminate Hutu leaders, and in 1972 Hutus insurgents launch a coordinated attack against government authorities in the south and east (ETH 4/72-7/72). Challenges to Tutsi-dominated government by ethnic-Hutus results in ethnic massacres (GEN 10/65-12/73).

Singapore

Regime change

9/63

8/65

Singapore became a self-governing parliamentary republic in 1959; in 1963 it joined the Malaysian Federation. Singapore’s ethnic-Chinese majority became uncomfortable with the ethnic-Malay dominated government of Malaysia and left the federation in 1965. Lee Kwan Yew, head of the People’s Action party establishes one-party, personalistic rule.

Dominican Republic

Complex

9/63

7/66

President Trujillo, de facto ruler since 1930, is assassinated. Military overthrows newly elected democratic government, establishes junta, and restricts leftwing parties (REG 9/63-7/66). Insurrection by supporters of the deposed president results in external intervention in support of Wessin regime (REV 4/65-5/65).

Benin

Regime change

12/65

Labor and ethnic tensions undermine fragile democracy. In attempt to quell political instability, military intervenes twice before finally abolishing democratic institutions and institutionalizing military rule.

6/63

10/63

10/65

2/66

Inflation and radical reforms proposed by new President Joao Goulart trigger overthrow of a weakly institutionalized democratic government by the armed forces. Bureaucratic-authoritarian regime forcefully represses left-wing opposition.

Syria’s experiments with parliamentary government and union with Egypt (United Arab Republic) end with a September 1961 military coup. Following that initial coup, there are several attempts to reestablish a parliamentary system but the process is thwarted by severe factionalism. The situation is not stabilized until a February 1966 coup puts Hafiz in power and leads to establishment of one-party state under neo-Ba’thist rule.

274

Rwanda

Complex

11/63

11/66

Cross-border incursions by Tutsi rebels prompt local Hutu officials to orchestrate vengeance attacks and massacres by Hutus, leading to flight of 200,000 Tutsi refugees (ETH 11/63-11/66; GEN 12/63-6/64).

CongoBrazzaville

Regime change

12/63

12/63

Fragile democracy weakened by ethnic and labor tensions. Military forces President Youlou to resign. Interim government established prior to popular approval of new constitution that creates one-party Marxist-Leninist state

Cyprus

Complex

12/63

4/68

Constitutional amendment proposed by President Makarios is unacceptable to Turkish-Cypriots and the democratic coalition of Greek and Turkish parties collapses, leading to intense communal fighting, de facto separation by ethnic-Turks in the north, and intervention by UN peacekeepers (ETH 12/63-4/64; REG 12/63-4/68).

Kenya

Complex

1/64

10/69

Kenya’s independence ignites ethnic-Somali separatism in Northern Frontier District (ETH 1/64-10/66). President Kenyatta bans the opposition party (KPU), dissolves the National Assembly, and institutes one-party rule under the Kenya African National Union (KANU) (REG 7/69-10/69).

Zambia

Complex

7/64

12/72

Fighting breaks out in July 1964 when followers of the militant, anarchist Lumpa Church defy UNLP government. Clashes continue until Lumpa leaders, having voluntarily surrendered, are released in September (REV 7/64-9/64). Democratic institutions are weakened when political opposition to President Kaunda is restricted. Kaunda consolidates his political authority with formal establishment of one-party state (REG 8/68-12/72).

Nigeria

Complex

12/64

1/70

Ethnic violence sparked by democratic elections triggers military coup and abandonment of state's federal structure. Counter-coup by mostly Muslim officers from north results in reestablishment of federal system (REG 12/64-1/66). Counter-coup and retaliatory massacres of Ibos in north precipitate secessionist civil war by Biafra, based on Ibos of eastern region (ETH 1/66-1/70). In response to the Biafra separatist rebellion, the Federal government imposes a blockage on May 30, 1967, that prevents food, medical supplies, and other forms of relief assistance from reaching affected populations. Large death toll result mainly from starvation and disease caused by severe deprivation (GEN 6/67-1/70).

Morocco

Regime change

6/65

6/65

King Hassan resumes full legislative and executive powers after brief experiment with limited parliamentary rule.

Chad

Complex

Thailand

Complex

10/65

11/65

10/94

12/83

Recurring civil war among Chad's many communal groups with shifting alliances, but mainly along north-south lines (ETH 10/65-10/94). Failed attempt at national unification in 1978 leads to collapse of governance, intensified conflict, and international intervention (REG 2/79-6/84).

A Maoist insurgency begins in November 1965 in outlying regions and increases through the 1970s (REV 11/65-12/83). Insurgency collapses in 1983 amid mass defections. Prime Minister Thanom executes coup against his own government, thereby ending three-year experiment with limited parliamentary democracy (REG 11/71). Persistent guerrilla insurgency and open warfare between leftist students and rightist

275

paramilitary groups triggers military coup; military establishes hard-line civilian government that restricts political liberties and civil rights (REG 10/76).

China

Complex

Uganda

Complex

Argentina

Regime change

Guatemala

5/66

5/66

3/75

In 1966, Red Guard youth gangs under loose direction of a Party faction target a wide spectrum of society for arrest, harassment, re-education, torture, and execution (GEN 5/66-3/75). Red Army wars with Red Guards in an attempt to control the Cultural Revolution (REV 8/66-7/69).

—

Allegations of corruption and persistent ethnic tensions within federal democracy leads to suspension of constitution, centralization of political authority, and creation of de facto one-party state under control of President Obote (REG 4/66-12/69). A rebellion by followers of the Kabaka of Buganda breaks out in May 1966 over loss of regional autonomy and tribal prerogatives and is quickly suppressed by loyalist forces (ETH 5/66). Gen. Idi Amin seizes power in 1971 and systematically exterminates political opponents and personal enemies. Tribes closely associated with his predecessor also are targeted (GEN 2/71-4/79). After Amin is overthrown by Tanzanian intervention, Obote again takes power. Following ouster of Amin, his tribal supporters begin campaign of banditry and rebellion. Langi and Acholi peoples continue rebellion with support from Sudan; December 1999 agreement between Sudan and Uganda (Nairobi Accords) ends support and rebel activity lessens for a time but reignites when Ugandan troops enter Sudan in April 2002 to attack Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel bases (ETH from 10/80). Obote's other political and tribal rivals are slaughtered on massive scale (GEN 12/801/86). Widespread corruption, repression, and ethnic conflict lead to overthrow of Obote's military-backed civilian regime by General Musaveni's National Resistance Army (REV 1/83-12/85; REG 7/85-1/86).

6/66

6/66

Complex

7/66

12/96

Communist insurgents battle military-dominated government forces in protracted revolutionary conflict ended by negotiated settlement in 1996 (REV 7/66-12/96). Indigenous Mayans who support populist and revolutionary causes join the insurgency (ETH 6/75-3/94). Militarydominated governments use severe repression including indiscriminate use of death squads against leftists and indigenous people (GEN 7/7812/90).

Sierra Leone

Complex

3/67

4/71

Regional factionalism within two-party democratic system triggers successful military coup after Siaka Stevens (a Limba) defeats Albert Margai (a Mende) (REG 3/67). President Stevens declares himself executive president and systematically restricts democratic opposition (REG 4/71).

Greece

Regime change

4/67

4/67

Conflict between King Constantine II and Prime Minister Papandreou over control of military triggers government instability, social unrest, and, ultimately, a right-wing military coup.

India

Ethnic war

5/67

12/71

The Jharkhand separatist movement, otherwise known as the Naxalite rebellion, spreads through eastern Bihar and West Bengal in May 1967; the rebellion involves ethnic-Santal scheduled tribes. The rebellion is largely contained by brutal repression and is finally overwhelmed by events surrounding neighboring Bangladesh’s independence war in 1971.

Czechoslov

Regime

8/68

7/69

Communist reformers lead popular movement for political and economic liberalization known as “Prague Spring.” Hardliners, supported by Soviet

Civilian government ousted by military coup in attempt to stem increasing influence of Peronists in electoral arena. State repression increases as urban violence escalates and falters.

276

akia

change

troops, crush reform movement and reinstall hard-line government

Panama

Regime change

10/68

10/68

Oligarchic democracy replaced by direct military rule after threatened shakeup of National Guard. Party activity suspended as Col. Torrijos consolidates power.

Peru

Regime change

10/68

10/68

President Belaunde's gridlocked democratic government overthrown in populist military coup. Congress dissolved and statist policy of socioeconomic reform pursued.

Equatorial Guinea

Complex

2/69

8/79

Following elections that brought President Macias to power in the newly independent, former Spanish colony, a crisis arose in February 1969 when the new president demanded that Spain abandon its control over the domestic economy. A state of emergency was declared on March 1. A failed coup followed on March 4. President Macias used the crisis to consolidate his power and eliminate opposition leaders, ethnic-Bubi separatists, and potential rivals (REG 2/69-3/69; GEN 3/69-8/79). Macias' reign of terror ended with a successful coup in August 1979 led by his nephew Obiang, who became chief executive.

Malaysia

Regime change

5/69

5/69

Malaysia’s third general election accentuates growing ethnic-Chinese dissatisfaction with ruling Alliance Party. Violent communal rioting in Kuala Lumpur leads to State of Emergency and political disenfranchisement of ethnic-Chinese.

Somalia

Regime change

10/69

10/69

Increasingly autocratic style of elected government triggers clan-based violence. Military intervenes and establishes one-party socialist state.

Philippines

Complex

11/69

—

Lesotho

Regime change

1/70

1/70

Jordan

Revolutionary War

2/70

Cambodia

Complex

3/70

7/71

5/91

Six decades of elite-based democracy come to end as President Marcos, confronted by growing class and ethnic conflict, declares martial law and assumes dictatorial powers (REG 11/69-9/72). Leftist NPA (New People’s Army) fights protracted guerrilla war aimed at overthrowing Manila regimes of Marcos and his elected successors (REV 7/72-12/96). Muslim Moros mount guerrilla war for independence; autonomy agreement largely ends fighting. Militant factions continue to wage lowlevel insurgency (ETH from 10/72). Moro resistance to Christian settlement and support for separatist guerrillas results in military and paramilitary terror tactics in which many Moros die in massacres and napalm bombings (GEN 9/72-6/76).

Westminster-styled democracy brought to abrupt end after opposition wins narrow victory in first post-independence election. Prime Minister Jonathan invalidates vote, imprisons opposition leaders, dissolves parliament and assumes dictatorial powers.

Government crackdown in February 1970 on Palestinian guerrilla groups operating in Jordan triggers intense fighting that ends with Jordanian military victory.

Khmer Rouge insurgents, supported by North Vietnam, battle royalist government forces (REV 3/70-4/75). Once in power they initiate restructuring of society and central authority leading to massive deaths by starvation, deprivation, executions, and massacres of old regime supporters, city dwellers, and tribal peoples, particularly Muslim Chams (REG 4/75-3/76; GEN 4/75-1/79). Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia in December 1978, drive out the Khmer Rouge, and install a new government. Khmer Rouge continues armed resistance, eventually

277

joining forces with other opposition groups (REV 1/79-5/91). Resistance continues until a cease-fire is brokered in May 1991, followed by a peace settlement in October 1991.

Oman

Revolutionary War

6/70

Ecuador

Regime change

6/70

2/72

President Velasco suspends Constitution, dissolves legislature, and assumes dictatorial powers to cope with financial emergency. Military deposes Velasco's authoritarian-democratic regime.

UK

Ethnic war

1/71

10/82

Catholic IRA (Irish Republican Army) uses terror against British forces and militant Protestants in quest for union with Republic of Ireland. Violence begins to subside in late 1970s and early 1980s as all sides search for alternatives to violence, eventually culminating in October 1994 peace agreement.

Pakistan

Complex

12/71

Post-election tensions between East and West Pakistan erupt into massive resistance by Bengali nationalists; intervention by India leads to establishment of independent Bangladesh (ETH 3/71-11/71). Military imposes martial law and uses tanks, airpower, and artillery to indiscriminately attack civilians (GEN 3/71-12/71). Deepening political divide between East and West Pakistan results in the dissolution of the Pakistani union (REG 7/71-12/71).

Turkey

Regime change

4/71

4/71

Amid widespread social unrest, military oversees resignation of leftwing civilian government and initiates period of "guided democracy” under “above party” administrators.

Uruguay

Regime change

11/71

2/73

Two-party democracy is undermined by Tupamaro's campaign of urban guerrilla warfare. Army mutiny leads to dissolution of Congress and creation of civilian-military rule.

Ghana

Regime change

1/72

1/72

Reformist military regime permits multiparty elections. Inflation, corruption, and ethnic tension trigger military coup and suspension of party politics.

Benin

Regime change

10/72

Regional rivalries force military to transfer power to civilian government. Ethnically diverse civilian coalition falls in second successful coup in three years and a Marxist-Leninist state is proclaimed.

Korea, South

Regime change

10/72

10/72

President Park Chung Hee declares a martial law regime.

Zimbabwe

Complex

12/72

12/87

White-dominated government fights black nationalists of ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People’s Union) and ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union), leading to negotiated settlement and black majority government (REV 12/72-12/79). Ndebele people initiate rioting and local rebellions against Shona-dominated ZANU governing coalition (ETH 6/81-12/87). Ethnic tensions and crackdown on political opposition weaken Zimbabwe's fragile democratic institutions. Merger of ZAPU with ruling ZANU effectively establishes one-party system (REG 12/87).

3/71

10/72

3/76

Dhofar tribal insurrection escalates to ideological struggle between rebels and autocratic regime; rebels defeated by 1976.

278

Pakistan

Complex

2/73

7/77

Baluchi rebellion against central authority, backed by opposition National Awami Party (ETH 2/73-7/77) is sup pressed by military using indiscriminate violence against civilians (GEN 2/73-7/77). Surprise parliamentary elections called by democratic government in 1977, lead to escalating political violence. General Zia leads military coup, dissolves legislature, arrests politicians and declares martial law (REG 7/77).

Swaziland

Regime change

4/73

4/73

King Sobhuza dissolves parliament, outlaws all forms of political organization, and assumes all powers of government.

Chile

Complex

12/76

President Allende's democratically elected socialist government is overthrown in military coup. General Pinochet consolidates power, dissolves Congress, and suppresses left and center opposition (REG 9/73). Sup porters of former regime and other leftists are arrested, tortured, disappeared, exiled, and summarily executed (GEN 9/7312/76).

Cyprus

Complex

8/74

Coup by ethnic-Greek nationalists triggers communal fighting and intervention by armed forces from Turkey. Democracy restored in southern half of island while Turkish Cypriots establish de facto government in north (REG 7/74-8/74; ETH 7/74).

Bangladesh

Complex

6/91

Floods, famine, and breakdown of law undermine parliamentary democracy. Brief experiment with strong presidential rule ends as antiMujib officers stage coup (REG 12/74-11/75). Separatist war waged by Shanti Bahini resists encroachments by Bengali settlers in the Chittagong Hills (ETH 8/76-6/91); fighting ends with autonomy agreement, followed by formal peace accord in November 1992.

Angola

Complex

Lebanon

Complex

4/75

7/91

Christian-dominated government collapses in civil war among Druze, Shi'i, Maronite, and Sunni militias; civil warfare is further complicated by Israeli invasion and partial occupation from 1985 (ETH 4/75-7/91). New power-sharing constitution is eventually established and elections are held under Syrian supervision (REG 5/75-9/90).

Morocco

Ethnic war

10/75

11/89

Saharawis seek independence in southwestern part of country (Western Sahara) annexed by Morocco after Spanish colonial rule ends.

Comoros

Regime change

1/76

1/76

Twenty-eight days after the declaration of independence a coalition of six political parties known as the United National Front ousts the Abdallah government. Democratic governance ends with the designation of Ali Soilih as head of state.

(note 5)

9/73

7/74

12/74

1/75

3/02

Post-independence civil war between Mbundu-dominated central government, Bakongo and Cabindan rebels, and UNITA (Union for the Total Independence of Angola), based on Ovimbundu people of south Angola (ETH 1/75-3/02, REV 1/75-3/02). Both UNITA rebels and government forces perpetrate destructive campaigns and atrocities against civilians throughout conflict (GEN 11/75-11/94). Internationally brokered peace plan leads to multi-party elections but UNITA's Savimbi rejects results and establishes rival government in Huambo (REG 5/92-4/97). 1994 Lusaka protocol ends conflict for a short time but intense fighting erupts again in late 1998. Targeting of civilian populations resumes with the break down to civil war (GEN 12/98-3/02). Death of UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi, in February 2002 is followed by a cessation of fighting in March and the signing of a new peace agreement in August 2002.

279

3/76

Argentina

Complex

Mozambiqu e

Revolutionary War

7/76

10/92

Anti-Communist RENAMO (Mozambique National Resistance) rebels, supported by Rhodesia and South Africa, challenge Marxist regime, war ends with 1992 peace agreement.

El Salvador

Complex

2/77

1/92

Amid widespread labor unrest, unprecedented levels of military intimidation and voter fraud characterize presidential elections. President Romero ushers in era of increased political repression (REG 2/77). Leftwing FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front) insurgency ensues (REV 10/79-1/92). In face of widespread insurgency, military, security units, and death squads harass, imprison, and kill leftists among clergy, peasants, urban workers, and intellectuals (GEN 1/80-12/89).

CongoKinshasa

Complex

3/77

12/79

Independence movement of Lunda/Yeke (FNLC--Zaire National Liberation Front) invades Shaba (Katanga) Province, their traditional homeland (ETH 3/77-5/78). Episodic rebellions and agitation are countered by killings of political opponents, dissident tribesmen, and prisoners (GEN 3/77-12/79)

Iran

Complex

10/77

12/92

Islamic and political groups stage massive demonstrations against Shah Reza Pahlavi’s government, efforts at repression and reform fail, and Ayatollah Khomeini establishes new Islamicist government (REV 10/772/79; REG 1/79-1/82). Kurds rebel for regional autonomy, fighting declines after 1984 to sporadic guerrilla activity (ETH 4/79-8/85). Moderates (National Front) and conservatives (IRP Islamic Revival Party) use terror and repression in competition for political control (REV 6/81-1/83). To consolidate Islamic revolution, Khomeini government violently suppresses dissident Muslims (Mujahedin) and rebel Kurds, selectively executes prominent Baha'is (GEN 6/81-12/92).

Guyana

Regime change

4/78

10/80

Political domination of black-based PNC (People’s National Congress) consolidated with abrogation of democratic constitution and use of electoral fraud. President is granted unlimited powers in new one-party state.

Afghanistan

Complex Note 2

4/78

Note 3

In wake of unrest stemming from assassination of prominent opposition leader, Daoud regime is overthrown in left-wing military coup, followed by political purges of ruling circles and Soviet invasion (REG4 4/78-12/79). Widespread insurgency by Mujahedeen (REV 4/78-4/92) factions provokes Soviet and Afghan Government tactics of systematic terror, destruction of villages, and execution of prisoners (GEN 4/78-4/92). Soviet supported Najibullah regime falls after defection of General Dostam and his Uzbek militia. Mujahedeen forces enter Kabul and establish interim Taliban-controlled central government (REG 4/92-9/96). Civil war continues among political factions based on Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara ethnic groups, first, as Taliban attempts to extend its authority and, then, after Northern Alliance militias, backed by strong US and British air support, displace the collapsed Taliban regime in November 2001 (ETH from 5/92, REV from 5/92, REG 11/01-6/02). Mainly ethnic-Pashtun Mujahedeen and Taliban fighters continue to challenge central authorities from strongholds in south and east regions.

Nicaragua

Complex

3/88

Leftist Sandinistas (FSLN--Sandinista National Liberation Front) lead popularly supported revolution that ends 42-year rule of Somoza family (REV 9/78-6/79). Sandinista-dominated junta consolidates one-party rule by eliminating opposition members from government (REG 7/79-3/81).

9/78

12/80

Domestic instability forces military regime to hold elections. Peronist victory ushers in period of political and social anarchy and military intervenes again (REG 3/76). Military declares state of siege and death squads target suspected leftists in campaign of kidnappings, torture, murder, and “disappearances” (GEN 3/76-12/80).

280

Anti-Sandinista forces (Contras) fight protracted civil war (REV 2/813/88). Indigenous Miskitos of Atlantic coast region also rebel against Sandinista government (ETH 8/81-12/84).

Iraq

Complex

9/80

—

Some Iraqi Kurds take advantage of Iran-Iraq war and Iranian support to mount new rebellion for autonomy (ETH 9/80-3/88). In 1988 military and security forces launch Al-Anfal campaign of indiscriminate violence to eliminate or neutralize guerrillas and their supporters (GEN 3/88-6/91). Kurdish rebels take advantage of Iraq's defeat in Gulf war to establish a de facto Kurdish state, protected by US and British-led coalition forces, while Shi'ite rebellion in the south is repressed by Iraqi forces (ETH 3/91-12/98). US-led invasion in March 2003 succeeds in causing the collapse of the Saddam Hussein-led Ba'athist regime in early April 2003 (REG 4/03-4/03), however, insurgent Sunni and Shia forces challenge new transitional regime and foreign occupation (ETH from 8/03).

Turkey

Complex

9/80

—

Parliamentary instability and widespread social unrest triggers military coup. Political activity banned as military lays groundwork for restoration of democracy under military supervision (REG 9/80). Kurds of militant PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) engage in protracted conflict with Turkish authorities in quest for independence, provoking deadly counterinsurgency campaigns (ETH 8/84-2/00). Following the capture of leader Ocalan, PKK renounces violence in February 2000. Emboldened by the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish area in neighboring Iraq (which provides refuge and support), Kurdish militants renounce their unilateral cease-fire in June 2004 and renew attacks in Turkey (ETH from 6/04).

Burkina Faso

Regime change

11/80

Leader of former military regime, President Lamizana, elected as head of civilian government. Subsequent economic crisis and labor unrest triggers military coup and suspension of Constitution.

Nigeria

Complex

12/80

4/85

Militant Islamic cult, the Maitatsine, battle government forces in north (REV 12/80-4/85). Ethnic competition, widespread corruption and electoral malpractice weaken democratic institution of Second Republic. Successful military coup bring Second Republic to an end and establishes military rule (REG 1/84).

Syria

Geno/politicide

4/81

2/82

Military and security forces crush revolt by Muslim Brotherhood centered in cities of Hama and Aleppo.

Ghana

Regime change

12/81

12/81

Jerry John Rawlings leads a successful coup that ousts the ineffective, elected government led by Limann’s People’s National Party on December 31, 1981; Rawlings establishes personalistic rule backed by the Armed Forces Revoultionary Council (AFRC).

Peru

Complex

3/82

4/97

Maoist guerrillas of Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) attack government troops, terrorize rural and urban sup porters of government (REV 3/824/97). Facing internal warfare and recession, President Fujimori, backed by military, dissolves Congress and suspends Constitution (REG 4/92).

India

Complex

4/83

—

Sikh militants declare a “war of independence” for Khalistan (punjab and Haryana) in April 1983. Vilence continues through the early 1990s until it is finally contained through concessions, elections, and repression (ETH 4/83-10/93). Mass protests against Indian rule in Kashmir erupt in violence in January 1990. Separatists of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, with support from neighboring Pakistan, continue to fight Indian authorities (ETH from 1/90). ). The Maoist People's War Group (PWG) rekindles an insurgency among "dalits" (Scheduled Tribes) in the forested regions in the east, mainly in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh,

11/80

281

and Andhra Pradesh. The PWG joined forces with a second group, the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), to form the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army in late 2004 (REV from 2/01).

Sri Lanka

Complex

7/83

—

Sudan

Complex

7/83

—

Southern rebellion resumes under SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) leadership after Muslim government violates autonomy agreement; in 1991 SPLA's breakup leads to new inter-communal violence within south (ETH 7/83-10/02). Non-Muslim supporters of secession are targeted for destruction by indiscriminate military attacks, massacres by government-supported tribal militias, and government-induced privation and population displacement; targeting of civilian population ends in October 2002 as part of peace talks and opening of conflict areas to relief agencies (GEN 9/83-10/02). In 1989 military overthrows democratic government after attempts to reduce the influence of religion in politics. Legislature is dissolved and non-fundamentalist parties banned as Islamic state is established (REG 6/89). Peace process leads to effective cease-fire in south in October 2002 and progressive agreements on power and revenue sharing. Rebellion breaks out in Darfur region in western Sudan in February 2003 followed by army offensive in March; violence quickly escalates as local Arab militias take over anti-insurgency role (ETH from 2/03). Government backs local, Arab janjaweed militias and encourages them to terrorize suspected supporters of separatist rebels; victims groups include Fur, Zaghawa, Masaleit, and other non-Arab peoples of the Darfur region (GEN from 7/03).

Pakistan

Complex

8/83

—

Violent campaign by Sindhis seeking autonomy; violent attacks on Muhajirs in Karachi (ETH 8/83-11/98). General Musharraf leads military coup on 10/12/99, arrests democratically-elected Prime Minister Sharif, suspends constitution, dissolves Parliament, and imposes rule by National Security Council (REG 10/99). Ethnic-Pashtuns in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with Afghanistan provide safe harbor for co-ethnic Taliban fighters and allied al Qaeda fighters. Government offensives against militants in March 2004 are met with local resistance, mainly in South and North Waziristan (ETH from 3/04).

Colombia

Revolutionary War

5/84

—

Diverse left-wing groups, some of them in alliance with drug barons, battle government forces and right-wing paramilitary organizations in rural areas.

South Africa

Complex

8/84

6/96

Violent protests in black townships over poor economic conditions and lack of political rights lead to dismantling of apartheid policies and democratic elections won by ANC (African National Congress) (REV 8/84-7/90). Zulu Inkatha movement wars with ANC supporters for political control in Natal, initially with clandestine support from Afrikaner government’s security forces (ETH 1/87-6/96).

Liberia

Complex

11/85

8/03

Brig. Gen. Quiwonkpa leads the National Patriotic Front (NPF) in a failed coup against Samuel Doe following contested elections; Doe executes coup leader and targets supporters of the NPF in Monrovia (REV 11/85). Repression by military against supporters of Charles Taylor leads to widespread civil war, collapse of Monrovia government, and assassination of President Doe. National Patriotic Forces of Liberia (NPFL) and militias of rival tribally based political groups compete for control of devastated society (REV 12/89-7/93; REG 9/90-8/96). A loose coalition of forces, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), initiate an armed rebellion in Liberia from bases in neighboring Guinea in November 2000 with the expressed aim of toppling Charles

Ethnic-Tamil grievances against pro-Sinhalese governmental policies erupt into secessionist civil war in the northeast (ETH from 7/83). Revolutionary campaign by Marxist Sinhalese JVP prompts government to unleash military and police death squads to eliminate JVP challenge (REV 7/87-12/89; GEN 7/89-1/90). Fighting ends with a ceasefire agreement in February 2002 and peace negotiations but re-ignites in April 2004 with fighting involving the government-backed "Karuna faction" among Tamil militias. Open warfare resumes with a new government offensive in July 2006.

282

Taylor from power (REV 11/00-8/03). Taylor resigns and leaves country on August 11, 2003, under intense international pressure; peace agreement is signed on August 14 and transitional government is established.

Yemen, South

Revolutionary War

1/86

2/86

Rival factions in the Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) battle for control of government.

Fiji

Regime change

12/87

12/87

Parliamentary elections in 1987 bring ethnic-Indian party to power. Elected government is ousted by a military coup led by Lt. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka on May 21, 1987.

Israel

Ethnic war

12/87

—

Palestinians rebel against Israel’s repressive authority in the occupied territories of Gaza and West Bank and in Israel proper (the “intifada”). Violent mass demonstrations and systematic terrorist campaign is largely suspended in October 1998 awaiting the final implementation of the Wye River Accords. Violence begins again in September 2000 as implementation falls short of expectations.

Somalia

Complex

5/88

—

Repression and anti-insurgency operations by Barre forces cause largescale civilian deaths (GEN 5/88-1/91). Siad Barre regime is increasingly challenged by rebellions of Somali National Movement, based on northern Issaq clan, and United Somali Congress, based on southern Hawiye clan (ETH from 5/88; REV 5/88-8/94). Barre regime collapses but chronic violence among clan-based warlords in south prevents establishment of effective central government (REG from 1/91).

China

Complex

7/88

12/98

Episodic violent protests by Uighurs in Xinjiang Province against Han Chinese control escalate by 1996 into terror campaign; government repression ends open opposition (ETH 7/88-12/98). In 1989 students occupy Tiananmen Square demanding democratic reforms; government violently suppresses them and their supporters (REV 4/89-6/89).

Burundi

Complex

5/05

Attempted democratic reforms prompt violence between historically dominant Tutsis and Hutu challengers (ETH 8/88-5/05). As result of rural violence against local Tutsi officials, Tutsi-dominated army conducts unpremeditated massacres of Hutus (GEN 8/88). In 1993, Hutu opposition forces win first multi-party presidential and legislative elections, provoking disaffected Tutsi military forces to revolt and assassinate the Hutu president (REG 10/93-7/96). Subsequent armed clashes and massacres occur in three waves: Tutsi soldiers against Hutu civilians, Hutus against Tutsis, and Tutsi against Hutus (GEN 10/9312/93).

Papua New Guinea

Ethnic war

5/89

5/97

Bougainvillean Revolutionary Army fights PNG forces to end large-scale mining and gain independence for the island of Bougainville. New government takes a more conciliatory stance that leads to a cessation of fighting in May 1997 and a permanent cease-fire agreement in January 1998.

Romania

Revolutionary War

12/89

12/89

Broad anti-Ceausescu coalition (National Salvation Front) overthrows Stalinist regime.

Mali

Ethnic war

6/90

1/95

8/88

Rebellion by nomadic Tuaregs seeking regional autonomy.

283

Rwanda

Complex

10/90

7/01

Tutsi exiles of RPF launch successive attacks from Uganda prompting escalating violence between Hutu and Tutsi fighters (ETH 10/90-12/98). Hutu-dominated military government promises return to democratic rule, and transitional government is established. When President Habyarimana’s aircraft is shot down in April 1994, Hutu government deploys military and armed gangs to systematically slaughter Tutsis and Hutu moderates (GEN 4/94-7/94). Ethnic-Tutsi RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) invades and seizes control of government by July 1994 (REG 4/94-7/94). Hutu militias (Inter-a-hamwe) are driven into neighboring regions, namely the DRC and Uganda, and fighting within Rwanda largely subsides by end of 1998. Hutu fighters launch a major attack in northwestern Rwanda from bases in the DRC in May 2001 but the attack is quickly crushed by the Rwandan Patriotic Army (ETH 5/01-7/01).

Sierra Leone

Complex

3/91

3/02

Revolutionary United Front (RUF) mobilizes rural peoples, mainly Temne, in armed rebellion that devastates much of country. Various peace agreements and strong international pressure eventually lead to an end of fighting and disarmament of the RUF rebels (REV 3/91-7/01). Mutinous soldiers side with RUF guerrillas to overthrow President Kabbah in May 1997. Junta is defeated by ECOWAS troops in February 1998 but the new government was unable to establish central authority due to ongoing civil warfare. With the end of the fighting, state of emergency is lifted in March 2002 and new elections are held (REG 5/97-3/02).

Algeria

Complex

5/91

12/62

5/91

12/04

6/91

12/95

Serbs in eastern Croatia and Krajina fight newly independent Croat government for autonomy, fighting checked in 1992 by UN peacekeeping force.

Algeria

Complex

5

In wake of independence from France, Algerian militants attack Europeans and Muslim civilians who collaborated with French colonial authorities (REV 7/62-9/62, ETH 7/62-9/62, GEN 7/62-12/62).

Efforts by ruling FLN (National Liberation Front) to ensure its electoral success through legislative gerrymandering trigger mass protests. Military increases its political influence in effort to prevent election of Islamicists. When Islamic Salvation Front wins elections, government cancels results (REG 1/92). Islamic militants and military-government initiate intense terror campaigns designed to undermine each other’s support bases (REV 5/91-12/04).

Croatia

Ethnic war

Georgia

Complex

6/91

12/93

Abkhaz and South Ossetian regional governments fight for independence with backing from Russian military and political elements, effective autonomy secured in both regions by 1993 (ETH 6/91-12/93). While ethnic wars are underway, ousted Pres. Gamsakhurdia fights an unsuccessful civil war (REV 12/92-3/93).

Yugoslavia

Complex

6/91

1/92

Slovenes and Croats fight wars of independence against Yugoslav federal troops (ETH 6/91-1/92). Federated Republic disintegrates after Communist government allows multiparty elections and republic administrations vote to secede from union (REG 6/91-7/91).

USSR (Soviet Union)

Regime change

12/91

Popular front movements win control of Baltic republic governments and declare sovereignty. Russian Republic (RSFSR) Congress adopts declaration of sovereignty, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin uses his new position of power to challenge authority of Gorbachev. Failed coup by Communist hard-liners leads to formal dissolution of USSR.

8/91

284

Azerbaijan

Complex

Haiti

Regime change

Kenya

8/91

6/97

Armenian rebellion to secure independence of Nagorno-Karabakh 5 enclave checked by 6/97 ceasefire (ETH 2/88-6/97). Post-Soviet democratic transition undermined by government instability, rebellion, and fraudulent presidential and legislative elections (REG 6/93-11/95).

9/91

9/91

Populist priest Jean Bertrand Aristide, elected president by large majority, is unwilling to govern within political system and alienates elite and foreign community. He is overthrown and replaced by militarysupported puppet government.

Ethnic war

10/91

9/93

Kalenjin and Masai supporters of the government are encouraged in attacks aimed at driving Kikuyu, Luo, and other rival groups from their villages in highlands.

Egypt

Revolutionary War

2/92

3/99

Terror campaign by militant Islamic groups against secular government; largely suppressed by mid-1996. Widespread arrests of activists result in March 1999 renunciation of violence by the Gamaat-I-Islamiya (Egypt’s largest resistance group).

Moldova

Ethnic war

3/92

12/92

President Snegur attempts to forcibly disarm Gagauz and Russian (Trans-Dniestr) ethnic militias. A more conciliatory strategy is adopted in December and violence subsides in political stalemate.

CongoKinshasa

Complex

—

Communal violence erupts in Shaba (Katanga) between Luba-Kasai minority and dominant Lunda; regional governments become more autonomous (ETH from 3/92). In reaction to absolute power wielded by Mobutu's military-backed government, pro-democracy opposition pressures him to appoint new prime minister and government (REG 12/92-7/03). Tutsis residing in eastern Zaire form core of rebel army that, with substantial help from Rwanda, defeats government troops and ousts Mobutu's regime (REV 10/96-7/03). Disaffection with the policies of the nascent Kabila regime leads to the polarization of ethnic-militias, failure of central authority, and the widening of the conflict to include armed forces from regional states. Power-sharing agreement reestablishes central authority in July 2003 and integrates key militias in the central army but sporadic, ethnic armed conflict continues in outlying regions, especially the north and east.

Tajikistan

Revolutionary War

12/98

Post-Soviet government transition halted as civil war plagues ethnically and regionally diverse country. Most of the fighting decreases with 1997 peace accord and largely ends by December 1998

Bosnia and Herzegovin a

Complex

Senegal

Ethnic war

9/92

12/99

Violence increases in Casamance region as Casamancais (MFDC) rebels intensify separatist campaign. Government talks with Movement of Casamance Democratic Forces (MFDC) produce December 1999 ceasefire.

Yemen

Revolutionary

4/94

7/94

Transition toward unified Yemen undermined by factional fighting, finally erupting with southern declaration of secession in May 1994. Rebellion

3/92

4/92

4/92

12/95

(note 4)

The breakup of the Yugoslav Federation leads to ethnonational conflict among Serb, Croat, and Muslim inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina and failure of central authority (ETH 4/92-11/95, REG 4/92-12/95). Muslim residents of Bosnia are subject to “ethnic cleansing” measures including destruction of property, forced resettlement, and execution mainly by Serb and some Croat forces (GEN 5/92-11/95). Dayton peace accord ends fighting after country has been de facto partitioned along ethnic lines; central government is established under international supervision.

285

War

quickly collapses when northern forces capture Aden in July 1994.

The Gambia

Regime change

7/94

Russia

Ethnic war

8/94

Belarus

Regime change

Armenia

Regime change

Comoros

Complex

9/95

4/99

Foreign-led mercenaries and disaffected Comorian troops overthrow elected government of President Djohar. French troops sent to the island one week later arrest mercenaries, reinstall elected prime minister, and arrest Djohar (REG 9/95-3/96). Army Chief of Staff, Col. Assoumani Azzali, leads April 30, 1999 coup that dissolves constitution and government; promised transition to new elections based on Antananarivo agreement do not materialize (REG 4/99).

Niger

Regime change

1/96

1/96

Military coup overthrows democratically elected government and suspends 1992 Constitution. Coup leader Col. Ibrahim Mainassara Barre is elected president in seriously flawed elections.

Nepal

Revolutionary War

2/96

4/06

Militants associated with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) initiate armed insurrection. Following the assassinations of the Nepalese royal family and the ascension of King Gyanendra, Prime Minister Deuba initiates peace talks in July 2001 but the conflict intensifies once again in November 2001 as the talks fail (REV 2/96-4/06). The entire Nepalese Royal family was killed on June 1, 2001, under suspicious circumstances and the former King's brother Gyanendra ascended to the throne. Peace talks with insurgent groups broke down in November 2001 and a state of emergency was declared. Under increasing challenges, the legislature was dissolved and, on Oct 4, 2002, King Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and replaced it with royalists. New elections were postponed indefinitely (REG 10/02), however, the royalist regime is unable to establish order. Civilian government is reinstated on April 24, 2006, and rebel forces immediately declare a cease-fire. A comprehensive peace agreement was signed on November 21, 2006.

Albania

Complex

5/96

5/97

4/95

7/95

7/94

Longstanding multiparty system, dominated by President Dawda, is overthrown in military coup. Military rule reaffirmed with controversial elections of 1996.

7/06

In August 1994, the Provisional Council of Chechnya attempts a coup to oust nationalist leader of Chechnya, President Dudayev. Civil war ensues and Russian troops are called in to restore order. Intense fighting results in military stalemate; truce agreement is reached in August 1996 (ETH 8/94-8/96). Attempts by Chechen fighters to extend control to neighboring Dagestan in August 1999 trigger new war in Chechnya as Russian forces attempt to impose central authority over the autonomous province (ETH 8/99-7/06). The September 2004 terrorist attack on a school in Beslan leads to a decline in support for the extremists and armed conflict largely abates by July 2006.

11/96

President Lukashenko orders troops to storm parliament building and dissolves legislature. Electoral regulations prohibit legislature from convening for eight months. Once quorum is achieved, President Lukashenko restricts its action.

9/96

President Ter Petrossian suspends country’s most influential opposition party. Electoral malpractice and government intimidation tarnish subsequent legislative and presidential elections.

Third post-Communist parliamentary elections are marked by bloody police repression and electoral fraud. President Berisha attempts to consolidate political power but regime is undermined by poor performance (REG 5/96). Collapse of pyramid investment schemes ignites simmering dissatisfaction. Capital and southern half of country engulfed in fighting, looting, and rioting. Tension is defused somewhat when Barisha is forced to resign and new elections are called (REV 3/97-

286

5/97); war in neighboring Kosovo diverts attention from internal politics to external events.

Zambia

Regime change

11/96

11/96

Constitutional amendments disqualify main opposition leader; President Chiluba easily wins subsequent elections.

CongoBrazzaville

Complex

6/97

12/99

Civil war erupts amid pre-election tensions when President Lissouba’s army attacks the residence of former dictator Sassou-Nguesso. Rebels, backed by Angolan troops, take Brazzaville by force; fighting continues through September 1999. Pointe Noire Peace Agreement ends fighting in December 1999 (REV 6/97-12/99). Transition to democracy ends when Sassou-Nguesso rallies supporters, backed by Angolan Troops, and ousts Lissouba (REG 10/97).

Cambodia

Regime change

7/97

Hun Sen ousts coalition partner and ends fractious coalition government installed following UN-supervised elections in 1993. Hun Sen consolidates power in a new coalition.

Yugoslavia

Complex

2/98

6/99

President Milosevic rescinds Kosovo autonomy in 1989, leading to a 1990 declaration of independence by ethnic Albanians, who establish shadow government and form Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1996. KLA mobilizes resistance to Serbian control of Kosovo, precipitating crackdown by Yugoslav Army in February 1998. Sustained NATO bombing campaign forces Yugoslavia to accept ceasefire and NATO administration of Kosovo in June 1999 (ETH 2/98-6/99). Serb militias and Yugoslav armed forces target ethnic Albanians (GEN 2/98-6/99).

Lesotho

Complex

5/98

1/99

Mass protests against results of May 1998 elections are joined by mutiny of soldiers and shutdown of government by civil servants; foreign troops impose order and new elections are proposed (REG 5/98-1/99; REV 8/98-10/98).

GuineaBissau

Complex

6/98

9/03

Haiti

Regime change

1/99

11/00

Following two years of stalemate between the executive and the opposition-led legislature. President Preval dissolves the legislature and rules by decree. The President uses unchecked executive power to ensure electoral victory for his party, Fanmi Lavalas, in 2000 legislative and presidential elections.

Ethiopia

Ethnic war

2/99

6/00

Border war with Eritrea provides opportunities for multiple Oromo ethnic factions, including the Oromo Liberation Front, the United Oromo Peoples Liberation Front (or Tokuchuma), the Al Ittihad, and the Islamic Oromo Liberation Front, to challenge Ethiopian government. Fighting escalates in February 1999 and again in May 1999 as Oromo factions gain support from Eritrea channeled through the Aideed faction in Somalia. Rebellion diminishes with the June 2000 cease-fire between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Solomon Islands

Regime change

6/00

7/03

Since being brought in by US forces to help drive out remnants of the Japanese army from Guadalcanal in 1942, Malaita Islanders remained

7/97

Civil war breaks out when President Vieira dismisses General Mane and rebel soldiers, led by Mane, attempt coup; central authority collapses coup (REV 6/98-5/99; REG 6/98-5/99). On May 7, 1999 President Vieira and his government are ousted by rebel factions led by Gen. Mane; a transitional government is established and Yalla is elected president in January 2000. Instability persists as Gen. Mane is killed following a coup attempt in late 2000 and President Yalla is ousted in September 2003 coup led by Gen. Seabre (REG 9/03-9/03).

287

politically and economically active on the island and in the capital city Honiara. Native Isatabu Islanders (their name for Guadalcanal) mobilized their resentment in the 1990s and demanded special compensation from the central government for hosting the capital. When that was denied, local militias (Isatabu Freedom Fighters) were formed to intimidate and drive Malaitans out of the island. Many Malaitans fled to Honiara and a militant group formed to protect them: the Malaita Eagles Force (MEF). Clashes between the militias in the late 1990s culminated in a MEF seizure of the capital on June 5, 2000, and the forced resignation of Prime Minister Ulufa'alu. Anarchy ensued until Australia agreed to lead a peace-keeping force reestablish security and disarm the militias; the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) deployed on July 24, 2003 (REG 6/00-7/03).

Guinea

Revolutionary War

9/00

3/01

Ivory Coast

Complex

9/02

—

Tensions had remained strong since a December 1999 military coup and a subsequent attempt by coup leader Gen. Guei to thwart new elections in October 2000. An army mutiny against President Gbagbo's government in September 2002 quickly spread and polarized the country. The main rebel faction, the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI), took control of the largely Muslim north and two smaller rebel factions emerged in the west (ETH from 9/02, REV from 9/02, REG from 9/02).

Central African Republic

Regime Change

—

Following his dismissal as commander, troops loyal to Gen. Bozize mount challenge to elected government of President Patasse. Gen. Bozize succeeds in seizing power in March 2003 while Patasse is out of the country (REG 3/03). Supporters of ousted President Patasse in the north face retribution from the Bozize regime which draws its support from southerners. Open rebellion breaks out in the northwest in June 2005 and, then, in October 2006 in the northeast (ETH from 6/05).

Iran

Regime change

1/04

5/04

Under increasing internal and external pressures related to US military operations in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq, the theocratic Council of Guardians prohibits reformist candidates from standing for election. Legislative elections consolidate seizure of control of government by religious conservatives (REG 1/04-5/04).

Thailand

Ethnic War

1/04

—

Although sporadic attacks had occurred since 2001, the long-simmering conflict between Thai authorities and Muslim separatists in provinces along the southern border with Malaysia escalated to serious violence in January 2004 (ETH from 1/04).

Yemen

Revolutionary War

6/04

Chad

Ethnic War

Fiji

Regime change

3/03

10/05

12/06

—

Rebel groups attack Guinean forces in the Parrot's Beak region from bordering areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Rebellion is crushed in March 2001 (REV 9/00-3/01).

Followers of dissident cleric Husain Badr al-Din al-Huthi create a stronghold in Saada; government forces attack In June 2004. Leader al-Huthi is killed in September 2004, however, serious fighting flares again in early 2005 (REV from 6/04).

—

Dominance of the central government by President Déby's clan and ethnicZaghawa supporters led to a mutiny by elements of the army in October 2005, a coup attempt in March 2006, and an attack on the capital in April 2006 (ETH from 10/05). Failing to unseat the government, FUC rebel forces took refuge in border regions with Sudan and Central African Republic. A peace agreement with the rebels was reached in December 2006 and fighting largely ended in January 2007. The FUC leader, Capt. Nour Abdelkerim, was appointed Minister of Homeland Defense in March 2007.

12/06

The ethnic Fijian-dominated Qarase government is ousted by a military coup led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama on December 5, 2006. Bainimarama, an ethnic Fijian, claimed to oppose the racially biased policies of the Qarase government and its decision to offer clemency to those individuals behind the 2000 coup and subsequent attacks against the country's Indo-Fijian population. The 2000 coup attempt had been

288

put down by forces loyal to Bainimarama.

Notes: 1. The PITF Problem Set list of "Historical Conflicts, Crises, and Transitions" is an updated and enhanced version of earlier versions that first appeared in Esty, Gurr, Goldstone, Surko, and Unger, Working Papers: State Failure Task Force Report (McLean, VA: Science Applications International Corporation, November 1995), and subsequently in the second (July 1998) and third (September 2000) State Failure Task Force reports. A comprehensive review of cases was undertaken in 2000-2001 and substantial revisions to cases were made, particularly in regard to beginning and end dates. Updates and enhancements were undertaken by researchers under the direction of Monty G. Marshall and the refined version first appeared in Jack A. Goldstone, Ted Robert Gurr, Barbara Harff, Marc A. Levy, Monty G. Marshall, Robert H. Bates, David L. Epstein, Colin H. Kahl, Thomas M. Parris, John C. Ulfelder, Mark Woodward, and Michael Lustik, Political Instability Task Force Report: Phase IV Findings (McLean, VA: Science Applications International Corporation, November 2003) and subsequent reports. Area experts have reviewed the list on several occasions; several cases were added, deleted, or modified on their recommendation. Specific information on individual cases and coding rules can be found on the Political Instability Task Force (PITF) Web site: http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/pitf. 2. Complex events are made up of two or more temporally linked wars and crises. If events overlap or if five years or less separate the end of one event and the onset of the next distinct event, they are combined into complex events (subsequent flare-ups of events are considered continuations). The specific types of events and their dates, if different from the dates of the complex event, are shown in parentheses after the description. 3. A dash in place of an ending date indicates a failure that is ongoing as of December 31, 2006. 4. Some problem cases may have begun prior to the officially recognized date of independence in some former colonial and secessionist states. In general, changes in state structures (i.e., the basic units of analysis) present special difficulties in analyzing issues of continuity and change in political behaviour and complex societal conflict processes. Problem cases that coincide with the independence of states are not used in modelling the factors associated with the start of new problems. 5. The dissolution of the Pakistani union (state code PKS) in December 1971 produces a discontinuity in the nature of the Pakistan state. As such, the subsequent complex failure in (formerly West) Pakistan (state code PAK) that begins in February 1973 is considered to be unrelated to the previous complex state failure, despite the fact that it occurs within five years of the ending of the earlier failure, and is coded as a separate consolidated event.

289

COUNTRIES AT RISK OF GENOCIDE AND POLITICIDE IN 2008 Prepared by Barbara Harff with Ted Robert Gurr May 2008 353 (1) HIGHEST RISK COUNTRIES: FOUR OR MORE RISK FACTORS PRESENT Targets

of

state

Genocides/politicides

led

discrimination Countries

Ethnically

Exclusionary

Current

2006

polarized

ideology

regime

trade

type

openness

elites

and

predisposing

Possible

factors:

target groups

Cleavages Sudan:

separatism

unequal

Darfuri

Yes: 1956-72

resource

allocation

1983-2001

Yes;

Yes:

Partial

Arabs

Arab/Islamist

autocracy

dominate

nationalism

Low

Darfuri Southeners

Islamist/secular 2003Myanmar/Burma Ethnic

Arakenese

and tribal separatism

Chin,

religious cleavages pro-

Kachin,

(junta)

separatists,

democracy

Karen

nationalism

democratic

vs.

Yes: 1978

Nuba Yes

Shan,

Yes:

Full

Burman

autocracy

Medium

autocracy Pakistan;

Karen

and

other

opposition Regional,

Ahmadis

Yes: 1971

No

ethnic, tribal autonomy, Islamist/secular

Hindus

Regime no –

Full

Islamists yes

autocracy

Low

Rebellious tribes,

1973-77

Ahmadis, Shi’i

Bhutan; Ethnic (Drukpas

Lhotshampa

No

vs immigrant Nepalese) (Nepalese) China:

Ethnic

Turkomen

Yes: 1950-51

Yes

Yes;

Full

Drukpas

Bhutanese

autocracy

dominate

nationalism

No

Yes: Marxist

separatism,

Full

Medium

Lhotshampas

High

Turkomen

autocracy

Muslim/Christian/secular

Tibetams

Uighar

1959, 1956-75

and

Tibetan

cleavages

nationalists, Christians

Falun Gong, Christians

Iran: Ethnic autonomy,

Kurds

Yes; 1981-92

No

Islamist/secular

Yes: Islamic

Full

theocracy

autocracy

High

Secularists, Baha’ists,

Turkomen

Kurds

and

other Baha’is Syria: sectarian

Kurds

autonomists Yes: 1981-82

Yes:

Yes:

Full

Alawites

Baathist

autocracy

dominate

High

Regime opponents, Kurds

This paper also has tables with countries at medium and low risk.

353

http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/genocide/CurrentRisk2008.pdf Visited 19 Jan. 10

290

General Note: This table is derived from analyses reported in Barbara Harff, “No Lessons Learned from the Holocaust? Assessing Risks of Genocide and Political Mass Murder since 1955,” American Political Science Review 97, No. 1 (February 2003): 57-73. This study used data from all countries with internal wars and regime failures from 1955 to 2001. The presence of six risk factors, in various combinations, contributed to the occurrence of genocides or politicides during these cases. Subsequent analyses by the US government’s Political Instability Task Force highlighted the significance of one other factor, the presence of state-led political or economic discrimination against specific minorities. When this variable was included, the magnitude of past conflict (“upheaval”) was no longer significant. New data for 2007 are used here to identify all countries that have two or more of the six risk factors in the revised model. The data are from the Political Instability Task Force and were updated by Monty G. Marshall of George Mason University for this analysis. The data on risk factors for all countries, along with the above article and a 2007 risk analysis, are posted at http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/genocide/ Two changes have been made from previous risk assessments. First, we identified all countries with two or more of six risk factors, some of them not previously screened. This approach flags countries not usually regarded at risk, for example Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea, and Syria. Second, countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Russia, and Turkey have been dropped from the 2007 list because they do not now have two or more current risk factors. Variables Used in this Analysis: State-led discrimination: State policies and practices deliberately restrict the economic and/or political rights of specific minority groups. Derived from current analyses by the Minorities at Risk project at the University of Maryland, website http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/, three groups are added to those flagged by the MAR project: Copts in Egypt, Kurds in Syria, and Arab Israelis in Israel. Genocides and politicides since 1950: Two cases of mass atrocities are added here to those listed in genocide data set: in Zimbabwe, state-sponsored killings of tens of thousands of Ndbele in the mid-1980s because of their political opposition to the regime; and the systematic killings of Hutus, mostly refugees, in the eastern Congo under the cover of the Kabila-led revolutionary movement in 1996-97. Ethnically polarized elite: The coded data distinguish between countries in which a majority ethnic group dominates the political system, and those in which a minority dominates. This table flags countries in which minority or majority domination of the elite is intensely contested. Exclusionary ideology: The political elite, or a revolutionary challenger, holds a belief system that identifies some overriding purpose or principle that justifies efforts to restrict, persecute, or eliminate specific political, class, ethnic, or religious groups. Current regime type: Full autocracies have a 2007 score of -6 or lower on the Polity scale, which ranges from -10 for full autocracies (such as North Korea and Saudi Arabia) to full democracies (such as Sweden and Canada). Such regimes have been most likely to perpetrate genocides and politicides; partial autocracies (scores of -5 to 0) are somewhat less at risk. Partial democracies have scores of +1 to +6, full democracies have scores of +7 to +10. Transitional regimes (Polity code of -66) in Iraq and Afghanistan also are categorized in this table as at risk of genocide because they are inherently unstable and susceptible to violent factional conflict and civil war. See the Polity IV website at http://www.systemicpeace.org Trade openness 2006 (imports + exports as % of GNP, latest data available) signifies the extent of international engagement in a country. Risks have been highest in countries with the lowest openness scores, 45 or less. Medium scores are 46-70, high or very high are 70+.

291

Similar analyses carried out by Harff et al, has been repeated by the Centre for Systematic Peace (CSP), under the direction of Dr. Monty G. Marshall. The organisation has produced maps showing State Fragility and tables of major episodes of political violence from 1946 to 2008.

• Figure 61 State Fragility

1

The CSP produces a table of the worlds164 major countries with populations over 500,000, listing type of government, conflict, number of deaths, and ongoing problems.

1

Marshall, and Cole. State Fragility Index and Matrix 2010. http://www.systemicpeace.org/SFImatrix2010c.pdfd visited 13th Oct 2011

292