2007 Building an Anti-Genocide Regime Dr. Gregory H. Stanton First published in 2011, updated in 2026 When the Genocide Convention was passed by the United Nations in 1948, the world said, "Never again." But the history of the twentieth century instead proved that "never again" became "again and again." The promise the United Nations made was broken, as again and again, genocides and other forms of mass murder killed at least 170 million people, more than all the international wars of the twentieth century combined (Rummel, 1994).[2] Genocide, the devil on horseback, still rides unchecked, armed not with a scythe but with a Kalashnikov. Why? Why are there still genocides? Why are there genocidal massacres being perpetrated in 2006 against the Fur, Massalit, and Zaghawa in Darfur; and the the Banyamulenge, Hutus, Hema, and Lendu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Why does ethnic and religious hatred still divide Côte d'Ivoire and Iraq and threaten to erupt again in genocidal violence? There are two primary reasons why genocide is still committed in the world: 1. The world has not developed the international institutions needed to predict and prevent it; and 2. The world's leaders do not have the political will to stop it. In order to prevent genocide, we must first understand it. We must study and compare genocides and develop working theories about the genocidal process. There are many centers for the study of genocide that are doing that vital work in universities and research institutes in Europe, North America, Australia and Israel. But studying genocide is not enough. Our next task should be to create the international institutions and political will to prevent it. Three institutions, in particular, are needed: (1) politically effective centers for genocide prevention; (2) rapid response forces for non-violent prevention and armed military response; and (3) effective international courts for punishment. To create political will, an international movement to end genocide must be built, requiring a massive educational, media and political campaign. Creation of a Genocide Prevention Office at the UN The U.N. Security Council and key governments need strong, independent early warning systems to predict where and when ethnic conflict and genocide are going to occur, and to present options for prevention and intervention to policy makers. When the International Campaign to End Genocide (ICEG) (now the Alliance Against Genocide), a coalition of human rights organizations, attempted to contact officials at the UN about the genocidal massacres in East Timor in 1999, we discovered that no one had responsibility for receiving information or coordinating action about genocide. Therefore, in 2002, the Genocide Watch and the ICEG recommended that the UN create a Special Adviser to the Secretary General for the Prevention of Genocide with a small permanent staff at the highest level that would receive information about risks of genocide and coordinate UN responses. Despite negative reactions by some member states to previous proposals for a UN preventive capacity, the idea was discussed and refined. It gathered support from high ranking UN officials like Danilo Turk and Edward Mortimer, who recommended it to Secretary General Kofi Annan. The result was a proposal made at the Stockholm Forum on the Prevention of Genocide in 2004 by Gregory Stanton of Genocide Watch (Stanton, 2004a), which recommended appointment of a Special Adviser to the Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide and creation of an independent Genocide Prevention Center. The Secretary General announced his support for the proposal at the Stockholm Forum, and in July 2004, he created the new post and named Juan Mendez as his first Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. Establishment of a Genocide Prevention Center Realizing that the United Nations has limited resources, the ICEG also recommended creation of an independent Genocide Prevention Center to support the work of the Special Adviser. The Center would be located in New York and staffed with full-time early warning, political and operational planning specialists who have direct access to an international network of government officials, country experts, human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the Special Adviser's office. It would be funded by governments, foundations, corporations, and private donors. It would work closely with the UN Special Adviser's Office, but would not be subject to funding by the UN itself. (Stanton, 2004a) The Brahimi Report of the Panel on U.N. Peace Operations (U.N. Doc. A/55/305 S/2000/809: 2000) suggested such an office (the Information and Strategic Analysis Secretariat) at the U.N., but its recommendations were blocked by states (mostly from the G-77 developing nations plus India and China) that considered such a function to be "intelligence-gathering." That is precisely why a Genocide Prevention Center must be independent of the U.N., but on the U.N.'s periphery, and considered by the Special Adviser to be a trusted source of reliable information. If the Center is not independent, it will be unable to issue opinions that displease member states, particularly states at risk or that are committing genocide. Yet it must have the confidence of the Special Adviser and develop a close informal relationship with him. Several human rights groups, notably Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group (an ICEG member), currently have such relationships with the Secretary General. The Genocide Prevention Center would become a clearing house and validator for reports from human rights groups and open sources around the world. It would operationalize those reports into options and plans for preventive action, and the Special Adviser and the Secretary General would use them to formulate recommendations to the U.N. Security Council. One problem such a Center would face immediately is the closed nature of both government and U.N. information systems. Reports from UN field officials and government intelligence agencies are classified "confidential" or secret. Access to the country desk officers and top officials of the U.N. system would thus probably be indirect, through the Special Adviser. Access to government intelligence reports remains unlikely. However, the open secret of the new information age is that policy-makers would get better information if they ran a daily algorithm of world news media for early warning signs, and regularly read leading newspapers, magazines, and human rights groups' reports, than if they counted on their embassies' classified cables. Several such open source, unclassified reporting services (IRIN, Reliefweb) provide daily collections of articles to the U.N. and others interested in reading them. However, none currently focus on potential genocide. Even before a Genocide Prevention Center is established, coalitions of NGOs and genocide studies programs should establish independent early warning networks that can provide daily reports and regular policy options papers to the U.N.'s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, to the Security Council and to individual governments. Even after a Genocide Prevention Center is established, NGOs should continue to provide reports independently to the Special Adviser, UN agencies, and member governments. The Center is not intended to be a unique source. Regular briefings should be given to the Security Council by the Special Adviser. The first attempt by the Special Adviser to give such a briefing on Darfur was blocked by objections from the U.S., China, Russia and Algeria (Reuters, 10 Oct. 2005.) But the Secretary General, himself, could exercise his prerogative under Article 99 of the UN Charter to mandate direct reports by the Special Adviser to the Security Council and the General Assembly. Early Warning Models Early warning models matter. They must be comprehensible to policy makers, and provide specific guidance. The U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency have each had contracts with social scientists who use multi-variate, statistical models to predict the likelihood of genocide and other forms of violence. The models assign country scores to a large number of abstract risk factors ("level of democracy, trade openness, history of armed conflict, ethnic diversity") and then assess the risk of genocide from their sum (Harff, 2003; Krain, 1997). These statistical models are useful to the extent that they demonstrate the benefit of promotion of democracy and other general policies. But statistical models do not describe the intentional process by which political leaders push a society toward genocide. They therefore are not sufficient to formulate specific counter-measures at each stage of the genocidal process. To provide immediate early warning signs, Harff (1998) has identified accelerators and triggers that may lead to genocide. They include refugee and internally displaced persons flows, compulsory visible identification of targeted groups, arming of ethnic militias, hate speech, killing of opposition leaders, and other political factors. But they are not continuous, event driven models that can predict when a genocide will happen. They fail to predict how close a genocide may be and do not suggest specific tactics to prevent it. Genocide Watch uses a process model of genocide, that breaks down the genocidal process into predictable stages that all genocides follow. It is not a linear model because the stages often occur simultaneously or out of order. It exposes the logic of the genocidal process so that policy-makers can recognize early warning signs and plan specific counter-measures at each stage to stop the process. The Ten Stages of Genocide 1. Classification : Underlying most social scientists' theories of genocide is an image of "ethno-centric man." Because all people grow up and live in particular cultures, speaking particular languages, they identify some people as "us" and others as "them." This fundamental first stage in the process does not necessarily lead to genocide. Genocide only becomes possible with another common human tendency -- considering only "our group" as human, and "de-humanizing" certain others. Thus, we not only develop cultural centers, we also create cultural boundaries that shut other groups out -- and the latter may become the boundaries where solidarity ends and hatred begins. "Us versus them" can be converted by political elites desiring to gain or retain power into ideologies of purity, exclusion, and destruction. Regimes bent on genocide take great pains to classify their populations. The main preventive measure at this early stage is to develop universalistic institutions that transcend ethnic or racial divisions, that actively promote tolerance and understanding, and that promote classifications that transcend the divisions. 2. Symbolization : Names or other symbols are assigned to the classifications. People are named "Jews" or "Gypsies", or distinguished by colors or dress. When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups: e.g. yellow stars for Jews. To combat symbolization, hate symbols can be legally forbidden (swastikas) as can hate speech. If widely supported, denial of symbolization can be powerful, as it was in Bulgaria, when many Jews refused to wear the yellow star and were not turned in by their Christian neighbors, depriving the yellow star of its significance as a Nazi symbol for Jews. 3. Discrimination : Laws are passed or cultural practices exclude targeted groups from their civil rights. Group members may be excluded or fired from jobs. They may be prohibited from marrying members of the dominant group. They may be forced to live in ghettos or prohibited from entering areas controlled by the dominant group, except with passes to perform domestic labor. They may be prohibited from voting or holding public office. They may be excluded from leadership positions in government, the civil service or companies. They may be stripped of their national citizenship. They may be denied access to courts and rights of citizens. They may be denied the right to speak their own language in public, to meet in groups, and to bear arms for self-defense. The best defense against discrimination is passage and enforcement of laws prohibiting it. Religious and minority leaders may organize demonstrations against laws and practices that discriminate against targeted groups. Public media may be used to make racism and discrimination culturally unacceptable. 4. Dehumanization : One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder.At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to vilify the victim group. In combating dehumanization, incitement to commit genocide should not be confused with protected speech. Genocidal societies lack constitutional protection for countervailing speech, and should be treated differently than democracies. Hate radio stations should be shut down, and hate propaganda banned. Incitement to commit genocide should be outlawed and prosecuted. Hate groups should be infiltrated, arrested, and broken up. 5. Organization : Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, though sometimes informally (Hindu mobs led by local RSS militants) or by terrorist groups. Special army units or militias are often trained and armed. Plans are made for genocidal killings. To combat this stage, membership in such militias should be outlawed. Their leaders should be arrested and denied visas for foreign travel. The U.N. should impose arms embargoes on governments and citizens of countries involved in genocidal massacres, and international commissions should investigate crimes against humanity. 6. Polarization : Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda. Laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction. Extremist terrorism targets moderates, intimidating and silencing the center. Prevention may mean security protection for moderate leaders or assistance to human rights groups. Assets of extremists may be seized, and visas for international travel denied to them. Coups d'état by extremists should be opposed by international sanctions. 7. Preparation : Leaders of the perpetrator group plan the genocide. Military forces are armed and incited to kill the targeted group. Ethnic militias are recruited, armed, and organized. Officials often claim killings are being committed by these militias, not by the army, in an effort to deny official culpability. The population is propagandized to believe that the targeted group is a threat that must be eliminated. In what genocide scholars call "mirroring," the targeted group is accused of planning a genocide against perpetrator group. Genocide is then justified as self-defense. When national and international leaders learn of plans to commit genocide, they should warn potential genocidists that they will be arrested and put on trial for their crimes. Nations should impose global Magnitsky sanctions on leaders who violate international laws for human rights. Their visas to travel should be revoked. Their finances held abroad should be seized. Opposition leaders and parties should be financed and protected. 8. Persecution : Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols. They are often segregated into ghettos, forced into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region and starved. At this stage, a Genocide Emergency should be declared. If the political will of the the U.N. Security Council or NATO can be mobilized, armed international intervention should be prepared, or heavy assistance given to the victim group to prepare for its self-defense. Otherwise, at least humanitarian assistance should be organized by the U.N. and private relief groups for the inevitable tide of refugees. 9. Extermination : Extermination quickly becomes the mass killing legally called "genocide." It is "extermination" to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is sponsored by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the killing. Sometimes the genocide results in revenge killings by groups against each other, creating the downward whirlpool-like cycle of bilateral genocide, as in Burundi. At this stage, only rapid and overwhelming armed intervention can stop genocide. Real safe areas or A multilateral force authorized by the U.N., led by NATO or a regional military power, should intervene. Militarily powerful nations should provide the airlift, equipment, and financial means necessary for the intervention. 10. Denial : is the stage that always starts when a genocide begins and continues long after a genocide ends. It is among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile. There they remain with impunity unless they are captured and a tribunal is established to try them. The best responses to denial are public hearings by national truth commissions, and punishment by international tribunals or national courts. There the evidence can be heard, and the perpetrators punished. (Stanton, 2005.) Rapid Response Forces Early warning is not enough. What if the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution to implement a peace agreement, and sent in peace-keepers, but then genocide began? That is what happened in Rwanda. There were plenty of early warnings. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) commander, General Roméo Dallaire learned of the plans for the genocide three months before it began, had conclusive evidence of massive shipments of half a million machetes to arm the killers, and knew of the training camps for the Interahamwe killers. Yet, when he cabled the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations requesting authorization to confiscate the machete caches, Undersecretary for UNAMIR's mandate. When the genocide actually began in April 1994, Dallaire desperately asked for a mandate and reinforcements to protect the thousands of Tutsis who had taken refuge in churches and stadiums. Led by the U.S. and U.K., the Security Council instead voted to pull out all 2500 UNAMIR troops. General Dallaire has since said that even those troops could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, had they remained (Stanton, 2004c). Among the problems with U.N. peacekeeping forces is that they are composed of national troop contingents voluntarily contributed by risk-averse national governments, and may even take their orders from those governments rather than their U.N. commanders. Such forces take months to organize and are seldom composed of the world's best-trained and equipped soldiers.[3] One regional military alliance lacks these drawbacks -- NATO. It has a coordinated command structure, extremely well-trained troops, and major resources. It proved to be quite effective once it was mobilized in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. But it has only begun to contribute to peace-keeping operations outside of Europe. The Standing High Readiness Brigade organized by Denmark, Austria, Canada, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden in 1996 (since expanded to include Finland, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain) was organized to provide a rapid response force of 5,000 heavy infantry and support personnel to the U.N. Security Council on thirty days' notice. It assisted Chapter VI (peacekeeping with the consent of the host country) monitoring missions in Ethiopia/Eritrea, Liberia, and Sudan. The European Union (EU) is organizing thirteen 1,500 person battle groups ready to respond within ten days to decisions by the EU. However, the EU is likely to be hamstrung by the requirement for unanimity in its foreign policy decision making. The United Nations needs a standing, volunteer, professional rapid response force that does not depend on member governments' contributions of brigades from their own armies. A standing U.N. force would need the support of some of the major military powers. It must be large enough to effectively intervene in situations like Rwanda. It should be composed of volunteers from around the world, the best of the best, who train together specifically for U.N. peace-keeping. Its capabilities and training would need to include many non-military functions, including policing, administration of justice, and conflict transformation. Although the U.S. and other Permanent 5 members of the Security Council do not currently support creation of such a standing U.N. force, it is an idea whose time will come. Non-violent Intervention We must build institutions to intervene non-violently before genocide begins. Every church, synagogue, mosque, and temple should teach peace-making, and inter-religious leaders' councils should be formed wherever there is religious division. In ethnically divided societies, radio and television and educational systems should be used to advocate tolerance and to humanize the other groups in the society, to show that they are like "us." The 2005 report of the U.N. High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change (U.N. Doc. A/59/565 (2005)) recommended creation of a U.N. Peacebuilding Commission to be tasked with prevention of conflict and state failure. The problem with the recommendation is that most genocide does not arise out of state failure or conflict. It is the result of unchecked state power. The Carnegie Commission Report on Preventing Deadly Conflict (1997) is the best known example of the common assumption that conflict prevention will also prevent genocide. Conflict prevention is often a laudable goal, and sometimes it will contribute to genocide prevention. But it often will not. Jews had no conflict with Germans, nor did Armenians with Turks. In Rwanda, Kuperman (2001) argues that the Arusha Accords actually increased the likelihood of genocide when the Hutu Power elite realized they would lose their grip on power if the Accords were implemented. Faced with the negotiated reduction in their power, they instead decided to kill every Tutsi in Rwanda. Diplomats believe in conflict prevention, so it is the default position of most foreign ministries. But in cases of genocide, forceful intervention to overthrow a dictator or stop mass killing may be much more effective than a peace agreement. Negotiations with genocidists may result in appeasement that encourages their will to power, as it did with Hitler, Stalin, and Habyarimana -- and, currently, with al-Bashir in Sudan. The International Criminal Court The world needs and finally has an International Criminal Court (ICC). Impunity for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity must end. The ICC must be backed by the will of nations to arrest those it indicts. The ICC may not deter every genocidist, but it will warn every future tyrant who believes he or she can get away with mass murder. Despite the opposition of the U.S. government, which is still advocating impunity for U.S. officials (a position that would have immunized every tyrant of the last century), the ICC is now a reality and will be able to try perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Through referral by the U.N. Security Council, the ICC Prosecutor has undertaken investigations and prosecutions of crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Building a Mass Movement Against Genocide These institutional changes will not be enough to end genocide in the twenty-first century. Eventually we must return to the problem of political will. It was not for want of U.N. peace-keepers in Rwanda that 800,000 people were murdered. They perished because of the complete lack of political will by the world's leaders to save them. Indeed, it was their political will to actually withdraw the U.N. peace-keepers and leave them to their murderers. Neither the U.S. nor any other member of the U.N. Security Council had the political will to risk one of their citizens to rescue 800,000 Tutsis from genocide. There is something profoundly wrong about that. The wrong stems from the problem of ethno-centrism. The US, UK, France, Russia, China and the UN drew a circle, that shut Rwandans out of our common humanity. In October 2000, the second debate of the candidates for President of the United States demonstrated that neither candidate had learned the lessons of Rwanda. Then Governor George W. Bush said the U.S. was right not to send in U.S. troops because Rwanda is not in the sphere of America's national interests. Then U.S. Vice President Al Gore tried to excuse the Clinton administration's policy failure by saying the U.S. had no allies to go in with, as it did in Bosnia; ignoring the fact that 2500 U.N. peace-keepers were already on the ground in Rwanda. Evidently, he dismissed the use of the U.N. as a multi-lateral peace-keeper. We must create a world-wide movement to end genocide, like the movement to abolish slavery in the nineteenth century. National leaders must learn that if they do not stop genocides, they will be voted out of office.The Alliance Against Genocide was organized at the Hague Appeal for Peace in May 1999 to mobilize the international political will to halt genocide once and for all.The Alliance envisions a world-wide network of organizations working together and separately toward that common goal. The first job in preventing and stopping genocide is getting the facts in clear, indisputable form to policy makers. Some of that job is done by the news media. But conveying the information is not enough. It must be interpreted so that policy makers understand that genocidal massacres are systematic; that the portents of genocide are as compelling as warnings of a hurricane. Then options for action must be suggested to those who make policy, and they must be lobbied to take action. Policy makers act when they feel public pressure to act. If the international campaign is to be effective, it must build an international mass movement that will exert the political and cultural pressure on world leaders necessary to create political will. Only fifty years ago, segregation was still the law in the southern United States and less than twenty years ago apartheid still ruled South Africa. But in both the U.S. and South Africa, mass movements created the political will to change the laws and gradually the cultures of racism are changing as well. Non-violent resistance finally broke up the Soviet communist empire, once thought to be frozen forever in tyranny. Mass movements must mobilize the religious leaders, the celebrities and stars, the churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples. We must make indifference to genocide culturally unacceptable and politically impossible. We must educate and advocate, demonstrate and legislate. Just as the nineteenth century was the century of the movement to abolish slavery, let us make the twenty- first the century when we abolish genocide. Genocide, like slavery, is caused by human will. Human will -- including our will -- can end it. References Carnegie Commission Report on Preventing Deadly Conflict (2001), Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Harff, Barbara (2003). Assessing Risks of Genocide and American Political Science Review (February) 97(1): 57-73. Harff, Barbara (1998).In Preventive Measures: Building Risk Assessment and Crisis Early Warning Systems, ed. L. Davies and T.R. Gurr. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Krain, Matthew (1997). -Sponsored Mass Murder: The Onset and Severity of Genocides and Crimes Against Humanity. Journal of Conflict Resolution 41: 331-360. Alan J. Kuperman (2001). The Limits of Humanitarian Intervention. Genocide in Rwanda, The Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C. Rummel, Rudy (1994). Death by Government. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Stanton, Gregory (1998) Stanton, Gregory (1998) The Ten Stages of Genocide. Yale Genocide Studies Series, GS01, February, 1998. updated at https://www.genocidewatch.com/tenstages Stanton, Gregory (2004a) The UN Needs a Genocide Prevention Center, Stockholm International Forum on Genocide Prevention, Proceedings, January 2004. Stanton, Gregory (2004c) Could The Rwandan Genocide Have Been Prevented? Journal of Genocide Research, Vol. 6, No. 2, June 2004, 211- 228. updated at https://www.genocidewatch.com/_files/ugd/df1038_f7be8c52217e42a98836121318b7d146.pdf Stanton, Gregory (2005). in Apsel, ed., Darfur: Genocide Before Our Eyes, Institute for the Study of Genocide, 43 - 47. U.N. Doc. A/55/305 S/2000/809 (2000). The Brahimi Report of the Panel onU.N. Peace Opereations. New York: United Nations. U.N. Doc. A/59/565 (2005). A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility: Report of the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change. New York: United Nations. Endnotes [1] Forthcoming in Totten, ed. Genocide: An Annotated Bibliographic Review. Routledge, 2006. [2] Rummel has recently revised his estimate of the death toll from twentieth century genocide, politicide and other mass murder to 262 million. (personal communication) [3] It is worth noting that The Military Staff Committee envisioned by Article 47 of the U.N. Charter has never been formed. It was meant to be a permanent military command that would assist the Security Council in planning application of armed force under Chapter VII (peacemaking without host country consent.)

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22ae7835-d4f8-4bcf-ac08-fb321a6fd30a Tajikistan World Atlas Country Overview Targeted Groups Perpetrators Alert Status Genocide Stage(s) Pamirs Journalists and activists Government opposition Kyrgyz Regime of Emomali Rahmon Tajik military Warning Stage 6: Polarization, Stage 8: Persecution Details Violent clashes along the contested border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan were reported in April 2021. Tajik and Kyrgyz mobs attacked one another and destroyed each other's property. Tajik military reportedly used mortars and attack helicopters on Kyrgyz civilians. Tensions between Tajikistan and neighboring Kyrgyzstan erupted again along the contested border in September 2022, resulting in the deaths of over 100 civilians and the internal displacement of 140,000 others. In May 2022 in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, which comprises nearly half the country’s land area, Tajik military forces killed at least 25 protesters from the Pamir minority, a group which has faced years of oppression and state violence from the regime of Emomali Rahmon. Read Report Resources Relatives Of Victims Of Tajik Police Crackdown Still Waiting For Answers Tajikistan: Escalating Tensions And Crackdown On Human Rights Defenders And Journalists – Analysis Tempers flaring as Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan come to deadly blows Page last updated: 10/31/2022

Nigeria Country Overview Library Of Congress Targeted Groups Perpetrators Alert Status Genocide Stage(s) Christians Moderate Muslims LGBTQIA+ People Boko Haram ISWAP Fulani Jihadists Emergency Stage 9: Extermination, Stage 10: Denial Details Nigeria has three separate genocidal events taking place. Boko Haram has been kidnapping and attacking civilians, mainly in the Northeast, to pursue their mission of eliminating Western education and creating a fundamentalist Islamic state. Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) is a splinter group of Boko Haram with a similar ideology but is distinct from Boko Haram; conflicts between the two groups recently killed Abubakar Shekau, the former leader of Boko Haram. Additionally, Fulani Jihadist herders have been killing Christian farmers in the middle belt. The death penalty is also in place, though not currently enforced, for homosexuality in Northern Nigeria, while LGBTQIA+ people face persecution throughout the country. Read Report Page last updated: 11/21/2025 Resources Ending Nigeria’s Herder-Farmer Crisis: The Livestock Reform Plan An Exit from Boko Haram? Assessing Nigeria’s Operation Safe Corridor

Republic of Congo alert status : Genocide alert Genocide stage: 6- polarization Affected groups: bakongo ethic opposition Current situation: the mbochi and government forces are harassing the minorities listed above Download Developments Reshaping Europe Through Parliament West Africa Monthly Report: July 2026 Nigeria and the Sahel: A growing security divide TTPS on alert after 11 bomb threats in 40 minutes Ecuador intelligence chief & 5 Americans killed in crash Death and torture of a man spark protests in Syria Israel strikes Idlib airbase; US, Türkiye condemn escalation Explosion in Kabul school injures at least 42 children Brazil Demarcates Land for Isolated Amazon Indigenous Group How Pakistan Crushed Protests in Kashmir

Racism & Hate Crimes *For older content until April 2016, please refer to our archival websites Country report: Russia August 2026 By Alexander Smith A firefighter works at a site in a residential area damaged during a Russian missile strike amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Kyiv, Ukraine. September 21, 2023. Image: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko. Russia has a long history of documented persecution of ethnic minorities and societal dissidents. Imperial Russia organized anti-Jewish pogroms. According to the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium, the Soviet Union committed a genocide against Ukrainians dur Country Report: Germany August 2026 By: Alexander Smith Supporters of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) wave flags as they take part in an AfD campaign rally in Hohenschoenhausen, Berlin, Germany, February 22, 2025. Image: Reuters/Christian Mang. Germany’s history of genocide began during its colonial rule of German South West Africa (GSWA), which Germany acquired at the Berlin Conference. Settlers forcibly took indigenous lands, massacred those that resisted German rule, established labor camps, and rape Rise in Neo-Nazism in Contemporary Russia By Vladimir Kovtun, Alexander Smith, Kristie Moore, and Flora Tu Ultra-nationalists carry flags and banners as they take part in the so-called 'Russian March' in Moscow / Source: Al Jazeera Neo-Nazism has been present in Russian society for decades, emerging in the wake of significant political upheaval and societal change. It has intensified with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While the Russian government has, at times, prosecuted extremist organizations, it has also toler Serbian Minister Backs ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of Kosovo EU says Serbian minister's statement justifying ethnic cleansing in Kosovo in 1998-9 is 'inflammatory' – and that such rhetoric 'has no place in Europe'. Serbian forces take up positions opposite the village of Racak in Kosovo, the site of a massacre, January 1999. Photo: EPA/LOUISA GOULIAMAKI. The European Union on Tuesday condemned the “inflammatory” statement of a Serbian government minister supporting the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians during the 1998-99 war. Snezan 60,000 far-right extremists in Germany, government says By: George Wright June 30, 2026 Right-wing extremists remain the greatest threat to German democracy and their number increased significantly to 58,700 last year, the country's domestic intelligence service says. That number is an increase of more than 8,000 on the previous year, the agency says in its annual report, adding that extreme left-wing violence is also on the rise and is an alarm-call for Germany's rule of law. German democracy was under "practically permanent atta Country Report: Latvia June 2026 A Soviet military monument is dismantled in Riga in August 2022. (Ints Kalinis, Reuters) Latvia Country Report June 2026 By Vladimir Kovtun Latvia has a long history of foreign rule, most notably under the Russian Empire (1721-1918) and the Soviet Union (1940-1991). This longstanding sociopolitical connection with Russia has created serious animosity between Russians and Latvians, primarily because of Russia’s Russification policy and Soviet era repression of dissidents. Lat Mass Deportations Are Crimes Against Humanity President Donald Trump…credit: Fulton County Sheriff’s Department Mass deportations violate U.S. and international law. They’re also crimes against humanity. By Dr. Gregory H Stanton Founding President Genocide Watch President Trump’s order to arrest and deport millions of undocumented immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of refugees, violates US obligations under the 1967 Protocol on the Status of Refugees. The US Senate ratified that treaty unanimously in 1968. 147 Romania: Fashionable antisemitism Antisemitism in Romania today is visible in far-right demonstrations, extremist political movements, and hostile rhetoric in parts of the media. May 21, 2026 Diana Iovanovici-Sosoaca, European Parliament member and far-right Romanian politician, holds religious icons as she speaks to the media, before a vote to choose the next European Commission president, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, July 2024. (photo credit: JOHANNA GERON/REUTERS) Bucharest – On April Ceasefire violations in Gaza Special Report: Ceasefire Violations in Gaza April 2026 By Aiden Carlton, Leonardo Monopoli and Karolina Bonde Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images In October 2025, Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, in a renewed attempt to end nearly two years of the war in Gaza. The "Comprehensive End of Gaza War" built on a collapsed January 2025 ceasefire and set out binding obligations for both sides. The conditions included an end to ho Discrimination against Central Asian migrants in Russia By Kristie Moore Central Asian migrants working in Russia's construction sector. Image: Lantyukhov Sergey/globallookpress.com/picture alliance. Photo Russia is home to a significant population of migrants from Central Asia: according to a 2024 Human Rights Watch report, approximately 1,792,000 Uzbek, 1,231,000 Tajik, and 262,000 Kyrgyz migrants reside there. These migrants come primarily in search of work, usually in unskilled labor fields, such as construction, transportatio Human Rights Campaign targets Congress on LGBTQ+ rights An LGBTQ+ rights supporter holds a flag in the hallway outside an Iowa House Judiciary subcommittee hearing, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File) By MATT BROWN Updated 1:55 AM HST, April 21, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, is vaulting into the midterms with a $15 million investment targeting Republicans in battleground districts after a series of Hindutva & Zionism: Ideologies of Exclusion Hindutva & Zionism: Exclusionary Religion, Racism, and Nationalism A Formula for Forced Displacement and Genocide By Areeka Khan, Genocide Watch March 2026 PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: SAM FINE/PHOTOS VIA GETTY IMAGES This report examines the historical origins and social impact of Hindutva in India and Zionism in Israel and Palestine. It explores how these ideologies shape national identity, citizenship, and belonging, and how they produce, sustain, and justify exclusion, forced disp Belgian minister slams 'anti-Semitic' synagogue explosion Belgian authorities opened a probe after an explosion took place in front of a synagogue in the city of Liège early on Monday morning. The mayor described the blast, which caused damage to the synagogue and surrounding buildings, as "targeted" and "anti-Semitic". March 9th 2026 Police stand near barricades as they secure an area after a blast took place near a synagogue in Liege, Belgium on March 9, 2026. © Valentin Bianchi, AP Belgium's prime minister vowed to combat antise Hague Prosecution of Kosovo Ex-Guerrilla Leaders In closing statements at the trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three others, prosecutors demanded 45 years in prison for each of them, based on the 'gravity' of the war-crimes charges against them. Hashim Thaci (R) and Rexhep Selimi (L) at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, February 9, 2026. Photo: Kosovo Specialist Chambers Livestream/Screenshot. On the first day of closing statements in the war-crimes trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci a Estonian 'fascist' calls for Russian invasion Prosecutor's Office crest. Source: Ken Mürk/ERR A Kohtla-Järve politician who is a self-described fascist and who has called for a Russian invasion of Estonia may face a fine or even detention for hate speech over social media, Delfi reported . Aleksandr Sahno, 32, who ran in last autumn's local elections in the Ida-Viru County town of Kohtla-Järve, where picked up eight votes, came to the attention of the authorities after he shared materials on social media supporting Russi Fifteen Below Zero A protester facing down Customs and Border Protection officers during a demonstration over the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents, Minneapolis, January 24, 2026 Arthur Maiorella/Anadolu/Getty Images Fifteen Below Zero The New York Review of Books January 30, 2026 Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein Up against the delirious scale of Operation Metro Surge, ordinary people juggle daily life with looking out for each other however they can. Driving to St. Paul from the airport you 1 2 3 4 5

Genocide Prevention *For older content until April 2016, please refer to our archival websites Build bridges, not walls between Thailand and Cambodia By Pravit Rojanaphruk, Khaosod English This week marks one year since the beginning of the tragic and needless undeclared war between Thailand and Cambodia. Many have been killed—civilians and soldiers on both sides—and their loved ones will continue to miss them dearly. How do we even begin to count the losses? Do we count only the innocent civilians killed in our country? What about the soldiers? And what about those who were displaced, including those who remain vulnerable Trump administration sued over ICC sanctions By Eric Tucker July 15 2026 A Palestinian child walks along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed in Israeli military strikes during the Israel-Hamas war in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP, photo by Abdel Kareem Hana) WASHINGTON (AP) — Two human rights groups say Trump administration sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court over its investigations of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza have illegally impeded their ability to advocate for THE CALL, TEDX TALK BY Dr. GREGORY STANTON, 2017 Dr. Gregory H Stanton The Call By Gregory Stanton TEDx Talk April 22, 2017 George Washington University Washington, DC The first time I saw Genocide was in Cambodia in 1980. Church World Service and CARE asked me and my wife, Mary Ellen, to go to Cambodia to set up a relief program. I had not sought the job. At first I didn't want to go. We wanted to start a family and thought that service in Cambodia would postpone our dream. Little did we know. But I made a fateful p Genocide Watch Manual on Genocide and Genocide Prevention Genocide Watch wrote a Training Manual on Genocide and Genocide Prevention for the Pan African Lawyers' Union that was used to train over 100 African lawyers in a Workshop held in Arusha,Tanzania in March 2025. The Training Manual was written by the Genocide Watch Legal Team, including Dr. Gregory Stanton, Sanaea Suntok, Brenda Salazar, Emily Mullin, Finia Hilmes, Areeka Khan, Subash Jai Devarage, and Omar Kausar. Members of the Genocide Watch Legal Team have since continue Genocide Watch Ten Stages of Genocide World Map EXPLANATION OF THE TEN STAGES OF GENOCIDE MAP This map shows the stages of genocide in 2025 in nations monitored by Genocide Watch. On the Genocide Watch website, this map can be found at: https://www.genocidewatch.com/tenstages The shading of each country reflects its current Genocide Alert level as of May 2025. Genocide Watch defines three alert levels: Genocide Watch – (yellow) classification, symbolization, discrimination Genocide Warning – (orange) dehumanization, The Challenge of Ethiopian Constitutionalism By Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, Founding President, Genocide Watch, Chair, The Alliance Against Genocide This speech was presented on May 15, 2026 by Dr. Gregory Stanton to a Conference on the Human Rights Crisis in Ethiopia in the Kennedy Conference Room, The Russell Office Building, US Senate, Washington, DC The Challenge of Ethiopian Constitutionalism Keynote Speech by Dr. Gregory H. Stanton Conference on the Human Rights Crisis in Ethiopia Kennedy Conference Room, US Senate, Catastrophe Is Emerging in the World’s Most Vulnerable Places Peter Goodman traveled to Somalia, visiting camps for displaced people, schools, health centers and a hospital for the treatment of malnourished children. Photographs by Finbarr O’Reilly. The Human Rights Crisis in Ethiopia, May 15, 2026 Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims rest at a campsite in Lalibela in the Amhara region, two months after the Ethiopian military regained control of the town from Fano militia, January 7, 2024. ©2024 Michele Spatari / AFP via Getty Images Why the Human Rights Crisis in Ethiopia Matters Public Conference, Kennedy Caucus Room, Russell US Senate Office Building, Capitol Hill. May 15, 2026, 9:00 AM Eastern Time. Washington, D.C. – This conference in English is open to anyone interested i Ethiopia's constitutional reformers can learn from USA Source: Ethiopia News Agency. American Federal Model Can Inspire Ethiopian Reforms Ethiopia Insight 15 April, 2026 By Nagessa Dube Ethiopia’s federal system is constitutionally established but structurally incomplete. For most of its modern history, the country operated under centralized rule, first as a unitary monarchy until the 1974 revolution, then as a Marxist-Leninist state under the Derg from 1974 to 1991. Federalism was formally introduced only with the 1995 Cons The Precautionary Principle by Dr. Richter & Dr. Stanton Credit: Vajiram https://d0dbb2cb-698c-4513-aa47-eba3a335e06f.filesusr.com/ugd/d0bbf9_77855b0efffb413da8257c7afac6ff15.pdf M23 attacks violate Rwanda/DRC ceasefire agreement March 2026 By the Great Lakes & Central Africa Task Force Secretary Marco Rubio hosts a Democratic Republic of the Congo-Rwanda Peace Agreement signing ceremony between Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., June 27, 2025. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett) Despite efforts to negotiate a permanent peace agreement to end the Kwibuka 32: Catholic University, Washington DC April 25 Commemorating the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Catholic University, Washington DC Saturday, April 25, 2:00 PM Is Morality Dead on Arrival? Is morality dead on arrival? Independent Catholic News April 9, 2026 By Rebecca Tinsley Until recently, nations gave lip service to international laws that classified certain actions during conflict - attacking hospitals and essential civilian infrastructure like power generation and desalination plants - as illegal. Such attacks might only be lawful if the military advantage gained outweighed the loss of civilian life. The problem arose - vexing politicians, military leaders Genocide in Nigeria 2025: U.S. options to prevent it Funeral for victims of a Boko Haram jihadist massacre credit: Al Jazeera Genocide in Nigeria 2025 By Greg Stanton, Founding President, Genocide Watch First published in 2024, updated to 2025 The Islamist genocide in Nigeria is now fifteen years old. Since 2012, Genocide Watch has issued Genocide Warnings for Nigeria because of Boko Haram, a terrorist group bent on genocide. It has been the deadliest genocidal group in the world, with at least 27,000 murders. Boko Haram h The Call 2025 by Dr. Gregory Stanton The Call 2025 By Gregory H. Stanton Founding President Genocide Watch Updated 2025 I probably have human rights in my family unconscious, if there is such a thing. I am a descendant of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a founder of the woman’s liberation movement, and of Henry Brewster Stanton, Vice President of the world anti-slavery movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s portrait hung over my great grandfather’s mantel in Johnstown, New York. I grew up in the home of Howard Stanton The Calling of International Law by Gregory Stanton Dr. Stanton in front of the International Criminal Court, the Hague, October 28, 2025 The Calling of International Law Dr. Gregory H. Stanton Founding President, Genocide Watch During my first year at Yale Law School, Church World Service called me to become Field Director of its relief program in Cambodia. My roommate from Oberlin College was then the organization’s program director in New York and he knew that I had been a Peace Corps Volunteer and had just spent a year i 1 2 3 4 5

Russia Country Overview Universal Map Targeted Groups Perpetrators Alert Status Genocide Stage(s) Ethnic Ukrainians Political Dissidents Civil Society Groups Central Asians Jews LGBTQIA+ Community Russian Government & Military Wagner Group Government and Security Services of the Chechen Republic Emergency Stage 6: Polarization, Stage 9: Extermination, Stage 10: Denial Details Russia has a long history of persecuting ethnic minorities and societal dissidents. On Feb. 24, 2022, following its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is now committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. Russia denies responsibility for the genocide in Ukraine. Russia uses the invasion of Ukraine to justify its suppression of Russian media and civil society groups. Russia continues to attack LGBTQ+ rights. Since 2017, Chechnya has initiated multiple campaigns aimed at detaining and torturing gay men. Read Report Page last updated: 08/11/2026 Resources Wagner Group: How Russian Mercenaries help Putin in Ukraine Russia committed war crimes in Syria, finds UN report The Russia Empire was built on Genocide. Don't let Ukraine be next

a0be210f-47e2-4598-ba52-8d30c1d2f0c8 Caribbean Islands Country Overview Targeted Groups Perpetrators Alert Status Genocide Stage(s) Warning Details Read Report Resources Page last updated: 07/22/2026

Genocide Watch History Powerpoints What is a Genocide Watch History Powerpoint? These powerpoints have been created especially for teachers and students to use for understanding the processes that have led to historic genocides. Our Genocide Watch History Powerpoints chronologically map events of historical or emerging genocides and genocidal conflicts. Genocide Watch History Powerpoints are intended to be educational resources for anyone seeking a better understanding of past and current genocides and how they developed. How Do I Use it? Click "View Powerpoint" to access a Powerpoint then open the downloaded Powerpoint. Advance the Powerpoint by clicking on the next slide in the Powerpoint. For Teachers: Powerpoint presentations are available for download. Use Powerpoint controls to create Slideshows, narrate and record slideshows, and distribute them to students. Explore Genocide Watch History Powerpoints Dots represent Genocide Watch History Powerpoints about historic genocides and genocidal conflicts. Click on dots for summaries and authors. Herero and Namaqua Genocide Authors: Laura Drysdale and Kat Baron View Powerpoint 1937 Haitian Massacre Authors: Sarah Kane View Powerpoint Sri Lankan Civil War and Genocide Authors: Genocide Watch View Powerpoint Wounded Knee Timestream Authors: Eli Szydlo, Nathaniel Hill, & Sarah Kane View Powerpoint Tibetan Genocide Authors: Shari Gordnier & Nikhil Samuel View Powerpoint The Spanish Civil War Authors: Noelle Jones & Sarah West View Powerpoint The Holodomor Authors: Faith Marie Stahl View Powerpoint Ethiopia's Genocides Authors: Nat Hill & Deanna Wilken View Powerpoint ISIS Authors: Anna Killen, Holly Scala, Sarah Kane View Powerpoint Nanjing Genocide Authors: Jessa Mellea, Faith Marie Stahl, Gargi Upmanyu; (Art by Li Hu) View Powerpoint Rwanda Genocide Authors: Anna Killen, Holly Scala View Powerpoint East Timor Genocide Authors: Sarah Kane View Powerpoint Load More