What is genocide? The word genocide did not exist until 1944. According to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, approved by the United Nations on December 9, 1948, genocide is defined as, "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 it 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."
I don't think I would take action in a genocide, because it is easy that I would in a hypothetical case, because that's what I would want to do, however there are genocides that are currently going on and I haven't been taking any action. Taking action in a genocide would mean that I would have to risk my life!
I cannot psychologically or physically end a genocide because I would have too much to lose, and of course I want to help others, but I also want to live because right now I am 15-years old, and taking direct action would consequently lead to sacrificing my life to something that would be completely unefficient.
Why some people don't take action and just watch the genocide go by?
A survivor from the Holocaust, Bertolt Brecht, said the following about genocide, "The first time it was reported that our friends were being butchered there was a cry of horror. Then a hundred were butchered. But when a thousand were butchered and there was no end to the butchery, a blanket of silence spread. When evil-doing comes like falling rain, nobody calls out "stop!" When crimes begin to pile up they become invisible. When sufferings become unendurable the cries are no longer heard. The cries, too, fall like rain in summer."
Do you understand what he's saying? What would you have done?
Do you understand what he's saying? What would you have done?
I don't think anything can be done on an individual scale to prevent or end genocide, however organizations can do something and so can nations as a whole. Nevertheless, it will not be beneficial for some nations to take any action so they won't do anything. For example, no nation decided to take action during the Rwanda Genocide. One organization that tries to make a change, and end genocide is United To End Genocide.
Nevertheless, there are 8 stages of genocide, and the ones at the beginning stages can try to be prevented in a much easier manner than those in the later stages where the mass murder occurs.
- Stage 1- Classification
- Stage 2- Symbolization
- Stage 3- Dehumanization
- Stage 4- Organization
- Stage 5- Polarization
- Stage 6- Preparation
- Stage 7- Extermination
- Stage 8- Denial
You can find more information about what each of these stages mean on the Genocide Watch website. The website not only describes what genocide is but they give you a list of the current countries that are at risk in this precise moment of genocide, and in which category they fall.
Currently the Genocide Watch issued a Genocide Emergency on two states of Myanmar (aka. Burma) and a Genocide Warning on the Central African Republic.
Finally, if you are interested, you can watch this documentary made by PBS- Genocide: Worse Than War.
- We Can Make A Change!
