771 research outputs found
A study of the duty to prevent genocide in the context of international law
No full textThis thesis will attempt to uncover what the law surrounding the prevention of genocide amounts to. The provisions of Genocide Convention and duties under customary law will be examined in detail. It will be argued that the law to prevent genocide only requires a territorial basis of jurisdiction, but this does envelop some practical means of domestic prevention, as well as criminal law and civil law elements. Although beneficial, universal jurisdiction does not exist for the crime of genocide. States do however have the opportunity to take action to prevent genocide in other countries, but that is only if the offending State allows for it or non military action is invoked. Early warning systems and State monitoring may be the best means to prevent genocide. Forcible action may also be taken, but only with Security Council authorisation. The United Nations is in a favourable position to help prevent genocide and it has the option, but again no duty, to do so. Resolutions, peace keeping forces and diplomatic measures are effective means which can be employed by the Untied Nations to prevent genocide. These measures for prevention will then be examined in relation to the current situation in Darfur as well as determining whether there is sufficient evidence to assert that genocide is occurring there
The UK's Response to the Rwandan Genocide of 1994
No full textFormer Prime Minister Tony Blair described the UK’s response to the Rwandan genocide as “We knew. We failed to act. We were responsible”; this thesis sets out to explore these three claims. The thesis, which draws on newspaper archives, oral history interviews and government documents obtained by the author under the Freedom of Information Act, as well as British and US official documents already made public, begins by exploring Britain’s knowledge and understanding of events in Rwanda in the build-up to, and during the first few weeks of, the genocide. It then moves on to review how the government responded and, by drawing on various theories of bystander intervention, to build up a multi-factor assessment of what influenced that response. The thesis finishes by addressing the question whether the British government, or indeed any other British foreign policy actor, bears responsibility for the crisis. It therefore looks at the Rwandan crisis from the perspective of various influences on foreign policy: the media, public opinion, Parliament and NGOs, as well as exploring the response of John Major’s government. The thesis concludes that media coverage of the genocide led to a significant misunderstanding of the crisis; this misunderstanding influenced the public response and shaped discussion within Parliament and government. In terms of official response, whilst it has to be acknowledged that the government initially failed to correctly identify the events in Rwanda as genocide and consequently delayed their response until the majority of killings had ended, the thesis shows that rather than failing to act the British government was in fact a leading aid donor to Rwanda and a leading provider of troops to the UN peacekeeping mission serving in Rwanda. This aid did come too late to prevent or halt the genocide, but did save many thousands of lives in the immediate aftermath
Do we understand life after genocide? Centre and periphery in the knowledge construction in/on Rwanda
No full textA reflection on the existing “constructs of knowledge” on Rwanda reveals that these are rife with contradictory assertions and images. We therefore map “the frontier of knowledge construction”, the centre(s) of society where not only policy is made, but where knowledge is actively construed, managed and controlled. We identify a discrepancy between “image” and “reality” in/on post-genocide Rwanda. We do so to be able to address the fundamental question: “do we really understand life after genocide?” We argue that crucial variables remain un- or under-explored due to an at times active interference in the scientific construction of knowledge; an overall cultivation of the aesthetics of progress and a culturally specific communication code. We analyze the “mise-en-scène” (stage-setting) of Rwanda and argue for greater attention to the “mise-en-sens” (meaning-giving and overall direction). We stress the need to carry out a adopt a bottom-up perspective in order to capture the voices of ordinary people.
Conflict, Institutions, and Economic Behavior : Legacies of the Cambodian Genocide
No full textThis paper examines how the Cambodian genocide under the Pol Pot regime (1975-1979) altered people’s post-conflict behaviors through institutional changes. Combining spatial genocide data and the 1998 Census microdata, we compare the impacts of the genocide on subsequent investments in children’s education between couples who had their first child during and after the Pol Pot era. Because under the Pol Pot regime private ownership was completely denied and spouses and children were owned by the state as collective property, these couples had quite distinct institutional experiences: The former were controlled as family organizations and the latter were not. We find that the genocide adversely influenced children’s education among the former couples, but not the latter ones. We discuss plausible mechanisms underlying these patterns, shedding new light on why institutions which emerged during the conflict persistently shaped people’s post-conflict behaviors
Rape as a tool of war: a critical study
No full textIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This study analyses current conceptualisations of rape as a "tool of war" in various academic disciplines and approaches including Anthropological Studies, Feminist Studies and Historical Studies. The analysis also includes Political Studies and its various sub-disciplines, case studies of African conflicts and more specifically studies of the Rwandan conflict, together with the civil war of 1990 and the genocide of 1994. The analysis will highlight the strengths and weaknesses in our current understanding of rape as a "tool of war", in order to develop a clarified framework for future analysis
Hidden in full sight: kinship, science and the law in the aftermath of the Srebrenica genocide
No full textTerms such as “relationship testing,” “familial searching” and “kinship analysis” figure prominently in professional practices of disaster victim identification (DVI). However, despite the dependence of those identification technologies on DNA samples from people who might be related to the dead and despite also the prominence of the notion of “relatedness” as a device for identifying the dead, the concepts of “relatedness” and “kinship” remain elusive both in practice and in analyses of the social and ethical aspects of DVI by DNA; they are hidden in full sight. In this article, we wish to bring kinship more to the fore. We achieve this through a case study of a setting where bio-legal framings dominate, that is, in the trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of Radovan Karadžić for the Srebrenica genocide in 1995. DNA samples from the families of those massacred in Srebrenica were vital for the identification of individual victims but are now also utilized as “evidence” by both the prosecution and the defense. By viewing practices of science (“evidence” and “identification”) and legal practices (“justice,” “prosecution” and “defence”) through the lens of kinship studies, we will present some alternative and complementary framings for the social accomplishment of ‘relatedness’
"If you keep your problems in your stomach the dogs cannot steal them" : trauma, forgiveness, and con-viviality in Rwanda : an ethnographic study following the healing and rebuilding our communities (HROC) project in Gisenyi, Rwanda
No full textIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-79).By bringing together survivors of the genocide with released prisoners to discuss trauma, healing, and trust, Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) in Rwanda may help people to broaden their networks of support and rebuild everyday life. ... After 1994, Rwandans, particularly in Gisenyi, found that many neighbours were strangers and members of "the other side". Few Rwandans are able to meet their daily needs without accessing relationships of reciprocity, so how are such relation- ships established after genocide? In this thesis I argue that restoring relationships of reciprocity is critical to the restoration of the everyday in Rwanda. The genocide in 1994 was unarguably a traumatic experience for the population in Rwanda, and it damaged common modes of social interaction. But for those I spoke to, forgiveness was important to the process of healing..
The long-term legacy of the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia
No full textThe author studies the long-term impact of genocide during the period of the Khmer Rouge (1975-79) in Cambodia and contributes to the literature on the economic analysis of conflict. Using mortality data for siblings from the Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey in 2000, he shows that excess mortality was extremely high and heavily concentrated during 1974-80. Adult males had been the most likely to die, indicating that violent death played a major role. Individuals with an urban or educated background were more likely to die. Infant mortality was also at veryhigh levels during the period, and disability rates from landmines or other weapons were high for males who, given their birth cohort, were exposed to this risk. The very high and selective mortality had a major impact on the population structure of Cambodia. Fertility and marriage rates were very low under the Khmer Rouge but rebounded immediately after the regime's collapse. Because of the shortage of eligible males, the age and education differences between partners tended to decline. The period had a lasting impact on the educational attainment of the population. The education system collapsed during the period, so individuals-especially males-who were of schooling age during this interval had a lower educational attainment than the preceding and subsequent birth cohorts.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Public Health Promotion,Demographics,Early Child and Children's Health,Early Childhood Development,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Demographics,Adolescent Health,Early Childhood Development,Early Child and Children's Health
From “a Theology of Genocide” to a “Theology of Reconciliation”? On the Role of Christian Churches in the Nexus of Religion and Genocide in Rwanda
No full textThis paper explores the role of a specific religious actor, namely Christian churches, in the nexus of religion and genocide in Rwanda. Four factors are identified that point to the churches’ complicity in creating and sustaining the conditions in which the 1994 genocide could occur, leaving up to one million people dead. These factors include the close relationship between church and state, the churches’ endorsement of ethnic policies, power struggles within the churches, and a problematic theology emphasizing obedience instead of responsibility. Nevertheless, the portrayal of all Christian churches as collaborators of the genocide appears too simplistic and one-sided. Various church-led initiatives for peace and reconciliation prior to the genocide indicate a more complex picture of church involvement. Turning away from a “Theology of Genocide” that endorsed ethnic violence, numerous Christian churches in Rwanda now propagate a “Theology of Reconciliation.” A modest empirical case study of the Presbyterian Church (EPR) reveals how their “Theology of Reconciliation” embraces the four dimensions of theology, institutions, relationships, and remembrance. Based on their own confession of guilt in the Detmold Confession of 1996, the EPR’s engagement for reconciliation demonstrates religion’s constructive contribution in Rwanda’s on-going quest for sustainable peace and development
The Economics of Genocide and War
No full textPreparing for Genocide: Community Work in Rwanda How do political elites prepare the civilian population for participation in violent conflict? We empirically investigate this question using village-level data from the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Every Saturday before 1994, Rwandan villagers had to meet to work on community infrastructure, a practice called Umuganda. This practice was highly politicized and, before the genocide, regularly used by the local political elites for spreading propaganda. To establish causality, we exploit cross-sectional variation in meeting intensity induced by exogenous weather fluctuations. We find that a one standard-deviation increase in the number of rainy Saturdays resulted in a 20 percent lower civilian participation rate in genocide violence. Mobilizing the Masses for Genocide Do political elites use armed groups to foster civilian participation in violence or are civilian killers driven by unstoppable ancient hatred? If armed groups matter, are they allocated strategically to maximize civilian participation? How do they mobilize civilians? I empirically investigate these three questions using village-level data from the Rwandan Genocide. To establish causality, I exploit cross-sectional variation in armed groups' transport costs induced by exogenous weather fluctuations: the shortest distance of each village to the main road interacted with rainfall along the dirt tracks between the main road and the village. Guided by a simple model, I come up with the following answers to the three central questions: (1) one additional armed-group member resulted in 7.3 more civilian perpetrators, (2) armed-group leaders responded rationally to exogenous transport costs and dispatched their men strategically to maximize civilian participation and (3) for the majority of villages, armed-group members acted as role models and civilians followed orders, but in villages with high levels of cross-ethnic marriage, civilians had to be forced to join in. Finally, a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that a military intervention targeting the various armed groups could have stopped the Rwandan Genocide. The Legacy of Political Mass Killings: Evidence from the Rwandan Genocide We study how political mass killings affect later economic performance, using data from the Rwandan Genocide. Our results show that households in villages that experienced higher levels of violence have higher living standards six years after the genocide. They enjoy higher levels of consumption, own more assets and agricultural output per capita is higher. These results are consistent with the Malthusian hypothesis that mass killings can raise living standards by reducing the population size and redistributing assets from the deceased to the survivors. However, we also find that the violence affected the age distribution in villages, raised fertility rates among female survivors and reduced cognitive skills of children. Ethnic Income Inequality and Conflict in Africa This paper shows that income inequality between ethnic groups increases the likelihood of ethnic conflict in Africa. To establish causality, we exploit variation in rainfall over each ethnic group’s homeland. One standard-deviation increase in ethnic inequality increases the likelihood of ethnic conflict by about 66 percent. Our results have important policy implications to the extent that global climate change might affect different regions differently and thus increase inequality and conflict
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