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EXAMPLES OF GENOCIDE FROM THE LAST 100 YEARS
The Daily Herald-Tribune (Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada)
October 27, 2004 Wednesday Final Edition
The stain on humanity that has come to be known as genocide has a long
history. Here are a few events from the last 100 years that have been
labelled genocides:
Ottoman Empire (1915)
More than one million Christian Armenians were forced from their homes
into the Syrian desert by the Muslim government of the then-Ottoman
empire, along the way to face slaughter and starvation. Decades later,
Third Reich dictator Adolf Hitler is said to have been inspired by the
events. He was quoted as saying: "Who, after all, speaks today of the
annihilation of the Armenians?"
Russian Revolution (1917-21)
Amid political upheaval that saw the fall of the czarist regime and the
rise of communism, organized mobs waged pogroms against Jewish
communities at the cost of more than 60,000 lives.
Stalinist Soviet Union (1931-33)
Under the banner of communism, landholdings and crops of prosperous
Ukrainian farmers were seized. Up to 10 million in Ukraine were driven
out to starve to death.
Nazi Germany (1939-45)
Hitler's "Final Solution" in the quest for a pure Aryan nation
accounted for the deaths of some six million Jews and tens of thousands
of other "undesirables." Many were gassed and then incinerated in death
camp furnaces.
Cambodia (1975-79)
The Khmer Rouge communist party was responsible for the deaths of more
than 1.5 million Cambodians through execution, slave labour and
starvation. The country recently agreed to a UN-supported plan to bring
surviving leaders to trial.
Bosnia (1992-95)
The breakup of Yugoslavia, as individual republics -- Croatia,
Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina -- sought independence,
brought the wrath of the Serbian government, leading to widespread
exterminations. Some 18,000 victims have been discovered in mass
graves. Ex-Serb president Slobodan Milosevic is currently before an
international war-crimes tribunal on charges including genocide. Other
military aides have been indicted.
Rwanda (1994)
Some 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu
extremists in political strife. More Tutsis were massacred this summer
in a UN refugee camp in neighbouring Burundi.
Sudan (current)
An estimated 300,000 people will die by year's end as residents of
western Darfur region are forced from their lands. Many have been
slaughtered; many more face starvation and disease. The Arab-led
central government has been blamed for supporting the genocide.
GRAPHIC: photo by Ben Curtis, AP; A camp near Seleah village in Sudan's
West Darfur province.
The Daily Herald-Tribune (Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada)
October 27, 2004 Wednesday Final Edition
The stain on humanity that has come to be known as genocide has a long
history. Here are a few events from the last 100 years that have been
labelled genocides:
Ottoman Empire (1915)
More than one million Christian Armenians were forced from their homes
into the Syrian desert by the Muslim government of the then-Ottoman
empire, along the way to face slaughter and starvation. Decades later,
Third Reich dictator Adolf Hitler is said to have been inspired by the
events. He was quoted as saying: "Who, after all, speaks today of the
annihilation of the Armenians?"
Russian Revolution (1917-21)
Amid political upheaval that saw the fall of the czarist regime and the
rise of communism, organized mobs waged pogroms against Jewish
communities at the cost of more than 60,000 lives.
Stalinist Soviet Union (1931-33)
Under the banner of communism, landholdings and crops of prosperous
Ukrainian farmers were seized. Up to 10 million in Ukraine were driven
out to starve to death.
Nazi Germany (1939-45)
Hitler's "Final Solution" in the quest for a pure Aryan nation
accounted for the deaths of some six million Jews and tens of thousands
of other "undesirables." Many were gassed and then incinerated in death
camp furnaces.
Cambodia (1975-79)
The Khmer Rouge communist party was responsible for the deaths of more
than 1.5 million Cambodians through execution, slave labour and
starvation. The country recently agreed to a UN-supported plan to bring
surviving leaders to trial.
Bosnia (1992-95)
The breakup of Yugoslavia, as individual republics -- Croatia,
Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina -- sought independence,
brought the wrath of the Serbian government, leading to widespread
exterminations. Some 18,000 victims have been discovered in mass
graves. Ex-Serb president Slobodan Milosevic is currently before an
international war-crimes tribunal on charges including genocide. Other
military aides have been indicted.
Rwanda (1994)
Some 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu
extremists in political strife. More Tutsis were massacred this summer
in a UN refugee camp in neighbouring Burundi.
Sudan (current)
An estimated 300,000 people will die by year's end as residents of
western Darfur region are forced from their lands. Many have been
slaughtered; many more face starvation and disease. The Arab-led
central government has been blamed for supporting the genocide.
GRAPHIC: photo by Ben Curtis, AP; A camp near Seleah village in Sudan's
West Darfur province.