Overview
Learn More About Genocide and Mass Atrocity
The Genocide Intervention Network's "Areas of Concern" map highlights ongoing conflicts around the world where mass atrocities are committed against non-combatant civilians on a large scale. Genocide Intervention Network's decision to classify a county as an Area of Concern is a necessary step towards our engagement in the conflict. After classifying conflicts as Areas of Concern, we determine whether our engagement in the conflict will be limited to increasing public knowledge of the situation, participation in legislative and economic advocacy campaigns or the development and implementation of civilian protection programs.
The process used by the Genocide Intervention Network to categorize "Areas of Concern" involves the fulfillment of two distinct criteria:
- Type of Violence. The type of violence we are most concerned with is roughly genocidal violence; i.e. the large-scale intentional targeting of civilians as victims of murder, rape or torture. We also aim to determine whether violence in chronic and likely to continue without intervention. In our research, GI-NET is diligently monitoring mulitple conflicts, other than those highlighted on this map, where atrocities targeting civilians are occurring.
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Magnitude of Violence. When examining the magnitude of violence, we assess the overall scale of the violence as well as the rate at which violence occurs.
Why Education on Genocide is Important.
In 'A Problem from Hell': America and the Age of Genocide, Samantha Power highlights five past genocides:
- Armenia: More than 1,000,000 deaths (1915–1917)
- The Holocaust: 6,000,000 deaths of Jews; 5,000,000 deaths of Poles, Roma, communists and other "undesirables" (1938–1945)
- Cambodia: 2,000,000 deaths (1975–1978)
- Bosnia: 200,000 deaths (1992–1995)
- Rwanda: 800,000 deaths (April 6 through mid-July of 1994)
- Darfur: Hundreds of thousands of deaths (2003 through today)*
* As "A Problem from Hell: American and the Age of Genocide" was written in 2003, it does not include Darfur.
As global citizens, it is imperative to recognize and understand that genocide continues to occur in the twenty-first century. To fully understand what this means, it is important to become educated on the frightening scope of genocide and its implications. One can not just simply learn that millions of Jews were killed during World War II. Rather, we need to know that during the Holocaust, specific minority groups were intentionally targeted to be destroyed due to ethnic hatred.
"By studying these tragic lessons from history... it will raise [their] awareness and help [them] understand what can happen when you judge people by their race, their homeland or their beliefs."
—Illinois State Sen. Jacqueline Collins
More educational resources on genocide