Major Genocides of the 20th and 21st Centuries Fact SheetArmenian Genocide

Dates: April 24, 1915 1923

Location: The Ottoman Empire

Victims: Ethnic Armenians

Number killed: 1.5 million

Number of refugees or IDPs: 810,000

Cause: Rise of Ethnic Nationalism following the overthrow of the Ottoman Sultan

Nations/Organizations that tried to stop the genocide: None

Perpetrators: The Committee of Union and Progress aka Young Turks

Brought to justice?: No

Cambodian Genocide

Dates: April 17, 1975January 7, 1979

Location: Cambodia, South East Asia

Victims: Intellectuals, educated people, professionals, monks, religious enthusiasts, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Cambodians with Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai ancestry

Number killed: 2 million

Number of refugees or IDPs: Several hundred thousand

Cause: Khmer Rouge desire for a socially, politically, economically, and intellectually equal society

Nations/Organizations that tried to stop the genocide: Vietnam

Perpetrators: The Khmer Rouge

Brought to justice?: 3 people were tried in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

The Holocaust

Dates: January 30, 1933* November 20, 1945

*Hitlers rise to power, beginning of anti-Semitism

Location: Europe

Victims: Jews, Gypsies, Poles, communists, homosexuals, Soviet POWs, and the mentally and physically disabled.

Number killed: 11 million (6 million Jews)

Number of refugees or IDPs: unknown

Cause: Anti-Semitism and Aryanism

Nations/Organizations that tried to stop the genocide: Allied Powers (USA, UK, Soviet Union)

Perpetrators: The Nazi Party

Brought to justice? 24 individuals and 6 Nazi organizations were tried at the Nuremberg Trials

Darfur Conflict

Dates: April 2003 present*

*A Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2006 and Sudanese president declared the war over in 2010, however, attacks continue today.

Location: Darfur region of Sudan, Africa

Victims: Non-Arabs, Black Sudanese, Christians and Pagans

Number killed: 400,000

Number of refugees or IDPs: 6.9 million

Cause: Sudanese government wants Sudan to be a true Arab country, desertification, famine, lack of resources

Nations/Organizations that tried to stop the genocide: UN Peacekeepers, dozens of humanitarian relief organizations

Perpetrators: Sudanese government, Janjaweed militia

Brought to justice?: No. The International Criminal Court has issued an outstanding warrant for Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir.

Bosnian Genocide

Dates: April 1992 December 1995

Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Europe

Victims: Primarily Bosnian Muslims (65% Muslims, 22% Serbs, 8% Croats, and 5% Others)

Number killed: Over 100,000 (between 130,000 and 150,000)

Number of refugees or IDPs: Tens of thousands

Cause: Breakup of Yugoslavia and desire for securing parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina as Serbian and Croatian territories

Nations/Organizations that tried to stop the genocide: NATO, UN, EU, USA

Perpetrators: Bosnian Serbs supported by Serbian government of Slobodan Milosevic and Yugoslav Army and Bosnian Croat forces (HVO) supported by the Croatian

Brought to justice?: 133 people have been charged at the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia

Rwandan Genocide

Dates: April 6 July 1994 (100 days)

Location: Rwanda, Africa

Victims: Ethnic Tutsis

Number killed: 800,000

Number of refugees or IDPs: 2 million

Cause: Longstanding ethnic tension. Fighting had already started when the Hutu Rwandan president was killed. No one knows who shot down his plane, but his death sparked Hutu outrage and the genocide of Tutsis in retaliation.

Nations/Organizations that tried to stop the genocide: No. UN Peacekeepers were on the ground but could not help any Rwandan under attack.

Perpetrators: Ethnic Hutu extremists

Brought to justice?: 93 people have been charged in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda