Death of Khmer Rouge Prison Survivor Vann Nath

By – Kjell Anderson

 

Vann Nath, one of the few survivors of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison in Cambodia died earlier today.  Nath was well known as an unofficial spokesperson for the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime.  He also used his skill as an artist to depict the horrors suffered by prisoners at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.  This skill as an artist was essential to his survival as he was spared execution in order to paint portraits of Pol Pot.  I had the good fortune of of interviewing Vann in 2009 and, like many others, I was greatly impressed by his grace, eloquence, and calm presence.   The Documentation Centre for Cambodia has written a letter of condolence for Vann:

Possible Crimes Against Humanity in Syria

The Fact Finding Mission of the UN Human Rights Council has concluded that crimes against humanity may have been committed by Syria against its political opponents.  To view the full report (in pdf format) please visit this site.

Alternative Nuba Mountains Resolution – Sam Totten

The members of the International Association of Genocide Scholars will also consider the following alternative Nuba Mountains resolution drafted by Sam Totten:

TOTTEN’S PROPOSAL, INCORPORATING KEY ASPECTS OF IAGS’ ORIGINAL PROPOSAL AND A LETTER TO CONGRESS SIGNED BY ERIC REEVES, JOHN HUBBEL WEISS, GREGORY STANTON AND SAMUEL TOTTEN

July 21, 2011

(1) Over the past seven weeks the situation in the Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan in the Republic of Sudan has been and continues to be characterized by indiscriminant attacks on civilian areas and targeted killings of individuals based on their ethnicity and political affiliation.  There is clear and ample evidence that the attacks by  the Government of Sudan (GoS) via  aircraft (Antonov bombers and MIGS) and ground troops have resulted in significant loss of life of civilians (females, children, babies and the elderly) and the displacement of some 80,000 people from their villages and homes. While most of the violence has been perpetrated by Government of Sudan forces, insurgents in the SPLA are also accountable for the renewed violence.

Proposed IAGS Resolution on the Nuba Mountains Situation in Sudan

PROPOSED IAGS RESOLUTION ON THE SITUATION IN SOUTH KORDOFAN

 

(1) For a number of weeks the situation in the Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan in the Republic of Sudan has been and continues to be characterized by indiscriminant attacks on civilian areas and targeted killings of individuals based on their ethnicity and political affiliation.  There are reports of atrocities being committed by Government of Sudan forces and insurgents in the context of renewed hostilities.  Most of the violence has been perpetrated by Government of Sudan forces.

Because of Who They Are: Genocide in the Nuba Mountains

By – Slater Armstrong

I have some thoughts and questions on genocide as it relates to the Nuba Mountains of Sudan that hopefully will prompt further consideration.

According to the Genocide Convention:
…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.
— Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article II

and according to the discussion of the Nuba Mountains on the IAGS Listserv:

…. the Rome Statute also includes a contextual element that demands that a genocidal act must be part of a “pattern of similar attacks.”

this regime’s historic behavior clearly demonstrates a “pattern of similar attacks” NOT ONLY in the much discussed and commonly defined Darfur Genocide, but more than equally so in the much neglected and overlooked Nuba Genocide which took place during the “civil war” between the North and the South from the 1980′s through 2002. Is it not this very “pattern of similar attacks” that brought Sam Totten to the Nuba Mountains this past winter, seeking to verify the first genocide of this regime against the Nuba people.

What is lacking or missing here according to the legal definition of genocide from the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide? If Darfur is under genocide, then most certainly are the Nuba.

Nuba Mountains Crisis Working Group

The International Association of Genocide Scholars is forming a working group to discuss the ongoing crisis in the Nuba Mountains region of Sudan.

The working group will meet at 2 pm on 19 July in Room 4 on the 3rd Floor of the Centre Culturel Borges in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  All IAGS members are welcome to attend.  It is hoped that the meeting will result in a resolution being passed by the IAGS on the Nuba Mountains situation.

9th Biennial Conference of the International Association of Genocide Scholars

The International Association of Genocide Scholars is holding its biennial meeting from July 19- 22, 2011 at the Center for Genocide Studies, Universidad Nacional de Tres Febrero, Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The theme of this year’s conference is: “Genocide. Truth, Memory, Justice, and Recovery” and it promises to be very productive conference with speakers coming from all over the world to attend.  The conference will also showcase the work of South American scholars.  Moreover, there will be opportunities to learn about the “Dirty War” period in Argentina with visits to former concentration camps and ongoing criminal trials.  For more information on the conference (including the program) please visit the conference blog at http://iags2011english.blogspot.com/

Teaching Comparative Genocide Studies to Palestinian Prisoners in Israel

By – Yehonatan Alsheh

Up until last week, Israel allowed Palestinian prisoners that are held in Israeli prisons for what is called: “security reasons” to study in the Open University of Israel, as can all other “normal” prisoners in Israel.*  One of the more popular courses taken by such prisoners was the undergraduate course “comparative genocide studies” which I teach (http://telem.openu.ac.il/courses/2011b/c10664/). So far around 100 Palestinians prisoners took the course (in average twenty per semester). This being essentially a blessing as most of them are very good students, surprisingly fluent in Hebrew and not-all-that surprisingly far more insightful with regard to politics and history, in comparison to their Israeli counterparts. Needless to say that such students are very different from the average undergraduate, though all too often not entirely older in years.

My impressions were that the Palestinian prisoners are particularly interested in the Armenian genocide and the annihilation of the Native Americans, while Israeli students (most but not all of Jewish decent) show more interest in the Tibetan and Stalinist cases. On the other hand, both Israeli and Palestinian students are equally dismissive of the UN genocide convention, as of the UN as a whole, understanding it essentially a vehicle for the contingent interests of cynic Great Powers. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinian students regard the practice of humanitarian intervention to be a solution. Both seem to be equally anxious regarding the results of external interventions and forced political solutions, though obviously for the opposite reasons.

The “G” Word

By – Kjell Follingstad Anderson

Genocide is a powerful word.  Evidence for the power of the “g word” is provided both by the reluctance of governments to use the term “genocide” and by the overuse of the term by those who are seeking to condemn certain acts.  It is often posited that genocide is a term that must be used carefully, lest its misuse permanently erode the power and significance of the word.  In his book “Why did they Kill?” Alexander Laban Hinton rightly notes that genocide has become a “floating signifier of evil.”  Genocide, quite simply, is evil distilled to its most dreadful essence.  Even the misappropriation of “genocide” is indicative of its profound normative weight.

In fact the normative weight of genocide is nearly unsurpassed.  The moral condemnation that accompanies genocide also propels the process of denial: very few individuals will eagerly confess to being a génocidaire, a killer of the worst sort, and no country will embrace their past (or even present) commission of the crime of genocide.  I have witnessed this reluctance to self-identify as a génocidaire myself in the conversations that I have had with perpetrators in Rwanda, Cambodia, and elsewhere.  Bad people commit genocide and nobody wants to be a bad person (in their own eyes or in the eyes of others).

Emerging Scholars Initiative

By – Rafiki Ubaldo

The 20^th century has been called the “Century of Genocide”. Commemorations are held across the world every year to remember the victims of genocide and mass violence that took place in the past century. Young generations will have to live with painful memories of 20^th genocidal century. The good news is that more and more educators across the globe are interested in the question of teaching about genocide in order to prevent it.

Let us hope this growing interest will produce solid early warning tools and systems of genocide prevention in the future.  Let us also hope that those who aspire to become scholars, human rights and political activists, journalists, policymakers, civil society leaders and others will come together to establish effective dialogue for genocide prevention.