Contemporary

Genocide

Timeline

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Our Walls Bear Witness...

Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer

sought to describe Nazi policies of systematic

murder, including the destruction of European

Jews.

He formed the word genocide by combining

geno-, from the Greek word for race or tribe,

with -cide, from the Latin word for killing.

1944

Raphael Lemkin prepares for a talk on UN radio, probably between 1947 and 1951.

— US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of United Nations

The International Military Tribunal

held at Nuremberg, Germany,

charged top Nazi officials with “crimes

against humanity.” The word genocide

was included in the indictment, but as a

descriptive, not as a legal term.

1945

The International Military Tribunal trial of war criminals at Nuremberg. #61337 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park (Public Domain)

After World War II:

Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia were

unified to form the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprised

of a number of ethnic groups, including:

● Serbs (Orthodox Christians)

● Croats (Catholics)

● Bosniaks (Muslims)

● Ethnic Albanians (Muslims)

There had long been a history of tensions in the Balkans between

these groups.

Nov. 29, 1945

THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE

The UN approved the Convention on the Prevention & Punishment of the

Crime of Genocide. This established genocide as an international crime, which

signatory nations “undertake to prevent and punish.”

It defines genocide as: Any of the following acts committed with

intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial

or religious group, as such: (“intent to destroy” is unique to genocide)

December 9, 1948

● Killing members of the group

● Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group

● Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated

to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part

● Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group

● Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Professor Raphael Lemkin, left, and Ricardo Alfaro of Panama (chairman of the

Assembly's Legal Committee) in conversation before the plenary meeting of the

General Assembly at which the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of

Genocide was approved. — UN Archives and Records Management Section

December 9, 1948:The final text for the Crime of Genocide was adopted unanimously by the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide

October 14, 1950:The number of countries that signed the UN Genocide Convention surpassed the 20 necessary for the convention to come into effect.

January 12, 1951:It officially entered into force after more than 20 countries from around the world ratified it.

1948 - 1951

Several delegates from signatory nations:Front, from left: Korea; Haiti; Iran; France; Costa Rica; Rear, from left: Assistant Secretary General for Legal Affairs; Secretary General; representative from Costa Rica; and Raphael Lemkin, the Convention's chief proponent.

Raphael Lemkin, who coined the word "genocide",

tirelessly lobbied the United Nations for genocide to be added

to international law. His efforts to enlist the support

of national delegations and influential leaders eventually

paid off.

On December 9, 1948, the United Nations approved the

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

Lemkin did not rest with the UN document, but committed

the rest of his life to urging nations to pass legislation

supporting the Convention.

He died in 1959, impoverished and exhausted by his efforts.

Aug. 28, 1959

Yugoslavia’s president, Josip Tito, governed with

an iron hand and because of this suppressed potential

ethnic conflicts.

When he died on May 4, 1980, some Yugoslav

republics and ethnic groups expressed the desire for

independence from the Union and each other.

Yugoslav republics began declaring their independence

in 1990, opening up old historical wounds.

May 4, 1980

Yugoslav partisan leaders Josip Broz Tito. Yugoslavia, between 1941 and 1944. --Jewish Historical Museum, Belgrade

There was growing nationalism among some of the republics’

leaders. One of the most well known in the west was the Serbian

leader Slobodan Milosevic.

He capitalized on these nationalist feelings to engineer changes

that strengthened Serbia's position in the Yugoslav constitution.

He transformed the military so that it became 90 percent

Serbian.

He extended his control over the country's financial, mass

media, and security structures to support Serbian nationalists in

Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia.

He and Serbian separatists in Croatia and Bosnia used their

influence to increase ethnic tensions by convincing Serbian

civilians across the former Yugoslavia that their Croatian,

Bosniak, and Albanian neighbors would threaten their rights.Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic stands trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal, The Hague, 2001. —Courtesy of ICTY

Bosnia - 1980s

US President Ronald Reagan signed the UN

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of

Genocide.

The Convention faced strong opponents who feared it

would infringe on US national sovereignty.

One of the Convention's strongest advocates, Senator

William Proxmire from Wisconsin, delivered over

3,000 speeches advocating the Convention in

Congress from 1968–1987.

Nov. 5, 1988

William Proxmire (1915–2005) served in the U.S. Senate for the state of Wisconsin from 1957 to 1989. —Wisconsin Historical Society

The government of Bosnia declared its independence from Yugoslavia. The creation of

an independent Bosnian nation that would have a Bosniak majority was opposed by Bosnian

Serbs, who launched a military campaign to secure coveted territory and “cleanse” Bosnia of

its Muslim civilian population. The Serbs targeted Bosniak and Croatian civilians in areas

under their control, in what has become known as "ethnic cleansing."

April 5, 1992

Srebrenica Massacre Begins

More than 20,000 Bosniak civilians fled to the Dutch

peacekeepers’ base in Potocari as General Ratko Mladic,

commander of the Bosnian Serb forces, walked through the

deserted streets of Srebrenica and declared it a “gift” to the

Serbian people. Fearing what would happen to them if they

stayed behind, upwards of 10,000 Bosnian Muslim men and

boys set out on foot through the forest shortly after midnight,

hoping to make it to the town of Tuzla some 30 miles away.

In Potocari, the Dutch peacekeepers tried to act as a barrier

between the thousands of civilians seeking their protection and

General Mladic’s soldiers, but they did not have enough supplies

nor were they authorized to use force to protect the civilians.

Srebrenica - July 11, 1992

Hours before the massacre, Mladic handed out candy to Muslim children rounded up at the town’s square and assured them that all would be fine — even patting one child on the head. -Associated Press Television News/File 1995

General Mladic told the civilians gathered outside the Dutch base

that buses would take them to Muslim-held territory and that

women, children, and the elderly would leave first. Serbian soldiers

also told the Dutch peacekeepers the military-aged men and boys

needed to be “questioned” in order to weed out Bosnian Muslim

soldiers from civilians, following reports, they said, that Muslim

soldiers had used Srebrenica as a base for attacks against

surrounding Serb villages.

Over the next two days, more than 20,000 women and children were

put on buses and sent to Muslim-held territory, eventually arriving

in Tuzla, where a displaced persons camp had been established.

Srebrenica - July 12, 1992

Muslims expelled from Srebrenica, at the Tuzla displaced persons camp. —Courtesy of UNHCR

Bosnian Serbs rounded up the remaining men and boys and

sent them to nearby Bratunac. Those who had set out on foot

through the forest were also met by Serbs at various

checkpoints along the way, where hundreds were shot and

killed and men farther back in the column were taken in large

numbers.

By the end of the day on July 13, there were almost no males

left in Srebrenica. Evidence suggests Bosnian Serbs held

between 4,000-5,000 males in Bratunac in various locations

around the town—in a warehouse, in an old school, in lines of

trucks and buses, on a football field. The rest were either still on

their way to Tuzla through the forest, or had already been killed

during their journey or after surrendering in Potocari.

Srebrenica- July 13, 1992

Bosnian Serbs began their systematic execution of

the men held in Bratunac, burying the dead in mass graves

near the killing sites. Over the next few months they

would attempt to cover up their crimes by reburying

the remains in 33 different secondary sites.

For the survivors in Bosnia, one of the most difficult aspects

of the aftermath has been the uncertainty of not knowing

what happened to loved ones.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former

Yugoslavia (ICTY) estimates Bosnian Serbs killed between

7,000 and 8,000 men and boys during the week after the fall

of Srebrenica, making it the largest massacre in Europe

since the Holocaust.

Srebrenica- July 14, 1992

On the anniversary of Srebrenica's fall, a woman grieves at the spot where women were separated from men. Potocari near Srebrenica, Republika Srpska. July 11 2002. Tarik Samarah

Eyewitness Testimony:

Hasan Nuhanović

In 1992, Hasan Nuhanović and his

family fled the violence in their

hometown of Vlasenica but got only as

far as Srebrenica.

Srebrenica - July 1992

http://bit.ly/ushmmvideo1

Eyewitness Testimony:

Christiane Amanpour

Throughout the 1992-95 war in Bosnia,

Christiane Amanpour reported on the

suffering of Bosnian civilians.

Srebrenica - July 1992

http://bit.ly/ushmmvideo2

Time publishes an iconic photo of a concentration

camp for Muslims on its magazine cover.

Echoes of the Holocaust are intentionally captured by

the photographer and the magazine to raise awareness

in the US about the atrocities in Europe and to prompt

questions about the role of governmental intervention

for humanitarian reasons.

August 17, 1992

Even when it became clear that the

attacks in Srebrenica were being

planned, the international community

did not offer the UN peacekeepers

stationed there additional support or

assistance.

Providing humanitarian aid, instead of

confronting atrocities against civilians,

was the central focus of the international

response to the conflict in Bosnia.

1992 - 1996

Sarajevo - Courtesy of BBC

The conflict included an intensive

bombing campaign of Bosnia’s capital in

“the Siege of Sarajevo”— in which

snipers in hills around the city shot at

civilians as they tried to get food and

water—as well as roundups and mass

executions, confinement in concentration

camps, torture, and systematic rape.

February 29, 1996 was the official end

of the siege as declared by the Bosnian

government.

April 5, 1992 - Feb. 29, 1996

On her way home in afternoon on Thursday, April 8, 1993 in Sarajevo, a

Bosnian woman rushes down an empty sidewalk past war-destroyed shops

in one of the worst sections of the so-called "Sniper Alley." --The Atlantic

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened

Dedication ceremonies for the Museum included speeches by:

● US President Bill Clinton

● Chaim Herzog, president of Israel

● Harvey Meyerhoff, chairman of the US Holocaust Memorial

Council

● Elie Wiesel, who had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

in 1986

On April 26, the Museum officially opened to the public—with its

first visitor being His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet.

April 22, 1993

JUSTICE

While the conflict in Bosnia continued—and a full

year before the genocide at Srebrenica—the UN

Security Council created the International

Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

(ICTY) to prosecute the perpetrators of the

atrocities.

It was the first such tribunal since Nuremberg

and the first mandated to prosecute the crime

of genocide, among other offenses.

May 25, 1993

Building housing the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former

Yugoslavia, The Hague. --Courtesy of the ICTY

The conflict in Rwanda, which will later be

declared genocide, started when a plane carrying

Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was

shot down.

Under the cover of war, Hutu extremists launched their

plans to destroy the entire Tutsi civilian population. Hutu

extremists distributed propaganda suggesting that all

Tutsi civilians were a part of the military threat posed by

the Rwandan Patriotic Front. They secretly drew up lists

of Tutsi and moderate Hutu leaders to assassinate, armed

and trained youth militias, and began small-scale

massacres. As genocide continued in Rwanda, the United

Nations cut the peacekeeping force to just 270 soldiers.

April 6, 1994

In 1994, Jean-Philippe Ceppi was an independent journalist based inKenya. When he heard that the Rwandan president's airplane crashed onApril 6, he immediately made his way to Rwanda. - USHMM

EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY: JEAN-PHILIPPE CEPPI

http://bit.ly/ushmmvideo3

In 100 days, from April to July 1994,

between 500,000 and one million

Rwandans, predominantly Tutsis, were

massacred when a Hutu extremist–led

government launched a plan to wipe out the

country’s entire Tutsi minority and any others

who opposed its policies.

April - July, 1994

During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, ID cards were

death warrants for many Tutsis.

—US Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Jerry Fowler

Norah Bagarinka - RwandaNorah Bagarinka, a Tutsi, was targeted during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. She survived, as many Tutsi did, by running and hiding for more than 100 days.

At one point during her ordeal, she was stopped at a roadblock where militiamen—including a man she recognized as her former gardener—separated the civilians.

Her gardener announced that he would kill her, then forced Bagarinka and several other women behind some trees. Once out of view of the roadblock, he explained that this was the only way he could spare their lives. "Run!" he told them.

Bagarinka managed to stay hidden until the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Tutsi-led rebel group, defeated the perpetrators of the genocide.

In 2005, she moved to the United States, where she counsels victims of domestic abuse.

Rwanda: April - July, 1994

http://bit.ly/ushmmvideo4

EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY: NORAH BAGARINKA

—USHMM

Carl Wilkens - RwandaIn 1994, Carl Wilkens directed the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International in Rwanda. His family evacuated when the genocide began, but Wilkens chose to stay to deliver aid to children in need despite the ongoing violence.

He came into contact with Damas Gisimba, who directed an orphanage and was secretly providing safe haven for 400 people threatened by the genocide.

When militias prepared to attack the orphanage, Wilkens managed to get assurances from Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda that the militias would be called off and the people at the orphanage would be evacuated to a safer location.

After the genocide, Wilkens and his family continued their aid projects in Rwanda. They later returned to the United States, where Wilkens became an Adventist pastor. He continues to speak about his experiences in 1994 and the need to respond to genocide today.

Rwanda: April - July, 1994

EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY: CARL WILKENS —USHMM

http://bit.ly/ushmmvideo5

● The Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic

Front (RPF) captures Kigali and

announces that the war is over

● The Hutu government fled to Zaire

● The French ended their mission and

were replaced by Ethiopian UN troops

● The RFP set up an interim government

of national unity in Kigali

● Meanwhile, the killing of Tutsis

continued in refugee camps.

July 18, 1994

Some 90,000 Rwandan Tutsi refugees wait to get food from the Red Cross, in May 1994, at a refugee camp in Tanzania - BBC

The United Nations established the

International Criminal Tribunal

for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania.

Nov. 8, 1994

Offices of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. — Public Domain

SREBRENICA

Bosnian Serb forces killed as

many as 8,000 Bosniak men and

boys from the town of Srebrenica.

It was the largest massacre in

Europe since the Holocaust

and later determined a crime of

genocide.

July, 1995

One of many boards filled with photographs of missing people. Association of Srebrenica's Mothers in Tuzla. September 2002. Tarik Samarah www.ushmm.org

Only after Bosnian Serb forces overran the UN safe haven

at Zepa and dropped a bomb in a crowded Sarajevo

market did the international community respond

forcefully.

In August 1995, NATO launched three weeks of

bombing on Bosnian Serb positions in conjunction

with a Bosnian government and Croatian ground

offensive that helped push the Serbs back to negotiations.

August 1995

A US F14 tomcat fighter takes off on a patrol over Bosnia from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Smoke rises from an ammunition depot in Bosnian Serb stronghold of Pale, some 10 miles east of Sarajevo, on August 30, 1995 after NATO air strikes.

Negotiations took place at the Wright-Patterson Air

Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

The agreement, known as the Dayton Accords,

established two state "entities," the Serb Republic and

the Bosnian Federation, joined by a weak central

government.

Srebrenica, where approximately 8,000 Bosnian

Muslim men and boys were massacred just a few

months earlier, is in the Serb Republic.

Nov. 21, 1995

The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina ended

with a peace agreement signed in Paris,

France 3-weeks after it was negotiated at the

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton,

Ohio, known as the Dayton Accords.

By the end of the fighting:

● More than 100,000 civilians had been killed

● More than 20,000 were missing; believed dead

● Two million had become refugees

December 14, 1995

Signatories of the Dayton Agreement in Paris, December 14,1995Front row from left: Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia), Franjo Tudjman (Croatia), and Alija Izetbegovic (B-H)

In the back row stand, from left, Felipe Gonzalez (Spain), Bill Clinton (USA),Jacques Chirac (France), Helmut Kohl (Germany), John Major (UK) and Viktor Chernomyrdin (Russia)

The Rome Statute establishes the International

Criminal Court (ICC), the first permanent

judicial body set up to try genocide and war crimes

in The Hague.

The Rome Statute is so named because it was

adopted in Rome, Italy, on July 17, 1998 by the

United Nations Diplomatic Conference of

Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an

International Criminal Court.

July 17, 1998

The United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on theEstablishment of an International Criminal Court opened a five weeksession on June 15, 1998, in Rome, Italy. —UN Photo/Evan Schneider

The ICTR delivered the first-ever

conviction for genocide when it

judged Jean-Paul Akayesu guilty of

inciting and leading acts of violence

against Tutsi civilians (in Rwanda) in

the town where he served as mayor.

Oct. 2, 1998

United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals website

RWANDAN MEDIA TRIAL BEGINS

The issue of free speech rights was at the heart of the Rwanda “Media

Trial,” responsible for prosecuting members of media involved in the 1994

genocide. In 1997, the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

indicted 3 Rwandans for “incitement to genocide”: Hassan Ngeze, who

founded, published, and edited Kangura(Wake Others Up!), a Hutu-owned

tabloid that in the months preceding the genocide published vitriolic articles

dehumanizing the Tutsi as cockroaches, though never called directly for

killing them; and Ferdinand Nahimana and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza,

founders of Radio Télévision Libre des Milles Collines, a radio station that

indirectly and directly called for murder, even at times to the point of

providing the names and locations of those to be killed.

In December 2003, the ICTR handed down its verdict, convicting Ngeze and

Nahimana of direct and public incitement to genocide, and Barayagwiza of

instigating the perpetration of acts of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Oct. 23, 2000EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY: STEPHEN RAPP

Stephen Rapp, a victim of a violent crime as a young man, became a

prosecutor, first for the US Attorney's Office, and from 2001 to2006 at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).Rapp led a landmark case against three Rwandan journalists.- USHMM

http://bit.ly/ushmmvideo6

Dragan Obrenović was chief of staff and deputy commander

of the 1st Zvornik Infantry Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army

from Dec. 1992 through Nov. 1996.

After Srebrenica fell to Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995,

Obrenović helped implement the plan to kill Bosniak

civilians and prisoners of war.

Indicted for his role in the massacres, in 2003 Obrenović

pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity before the

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

(ICTY).

He is serving a 17-year sentence in a Norwegian prison. He

was to be eligible for release in April, 2018, but was released

by orders from the ICTY for good behavior in 2012.Dragan Obrenović, Perpetrator, Bosnia-Herzegovina

2003

http://bit.ly/ushmmvideo7

Today, in the village of Potocari, the Srebrenica -

Potocari Memorial and Cemetery for the

Victims of the 1995 Genocide serves as a symbolic

place marker in the town where so many saw their loved

ones for the last time. Since its opening as a cemetery in

March 2003, and the opening of its memorial room in

July 2007, more than 6,000 remains have been reburied

there after being exhumed from mass graves.

Every year, on July 11, thousands gather there to

remember the innocent lives that were lost in Srebrenica

and to challenge the world, through their insistent

presence, to work to prevent genocide in the future.

March, 2003

A woman prays near the Memorial plaque with names of those killed in the Srebrenica massacre before watching the Hague Tribunal, in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina March 24, 2016. -Reuters

JUSTICE? The most high profile prosecutions in Bosnia include:

Slobodan Milosevic:The former Serbian military leader was transferred to the ICTY in 2001.

He died during his trial in 2006.

Radovan Karadzic: The former Supreme Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army was extradited to The Hague 13 years

after his indictment on genocide charges for allegedly organizing the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica.

He was arrested on a public bus in 2008, more than 10 years after effectively vanishing.

He had taken a new identity, posing as a faith healer and using the alias Dr. Dragan Dabic.

His trial lasted 5 years. On March 24, 2016, he was found guilty of 10 out of the 11 charges against

him, including genocide at Srebrenica. He was sentenced to 40-years in prison.

Ratko Mladic:Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia”, he was accused of ordering the Srebrenica genocide.

He had been on the run for 16 years when he was arrested in May, 2011.

International Criminal Court’s First

Investigation

Luis Moreno Ocampo, Prosecutor for the

International Criminal Court (ICC),

announces that the Court's first-ever investigation

will probe crimes committed throughout the

Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The investigation was triggered by a request from

the Congolese transitional government. Several

rebel commanders were arrested, including

Thomas Lubanga, a rebel commander operating

in eastern Congo, and later, former vice-president

and presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba.

June 23, 2004

Luis Moreno Ocampo

Sept. 9, 2004

The burning of Um Ziefa in Darfur, Sudan, on December 12, 2004. —USHMM gift of Brian Steidle

Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks at UN Headquarters. —UN Photo

US Declares Genocide in Darfur

For the first time in US government history, an ongoing

crisis is referred to as “genocide” when Secretary of State

Colin Powell argued that events in Darfur could be

labeled as such. In his testimony before the Senate

Foreign Relations Committee, Powell said, “We

concluded—I concluded—that genocide has been

committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan

and the Janjaweed bear responsibility—and that

genocide may still be occurring.”

First Person Arrested Under ICC

Warrant

Thomas Lubanga, a rebel commander operating

in eastern Congo, became the first person to be

arrested under an ICC arrest warrant. He was

charged with war crimes for recruiting child

soldiers during the Second Congo War.

Two rebels who fought against Lubanga's militia,

Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui,

were also arrested on charges of war crimes and

crimes against humanity.

March 17, 2006

Thomas Lubanga, on trial - International Criminal Court website

DRC Holds First Elections in 40 Years

In 2006, DRC held its first multi-party general elections

in over 40 years, and over 25 million citizens

participated. The elections signified the end of a three-

year transition period during which time the country

moved from intense war to a system of power sharing

between the former government, former armed forces,

opposition parties, and civil society. However, national

and provincial structures remain incapable of ensuring

basic security for communities, providing transparent

management of resources and wealth, and addressing

entrenched problems of corruption, poverty, lack of

development, and heightened ethnic and regional

tensions.

July 30, 2006

Election officers count votes late into the night after the secondround of presidential and provincial elections in Bunia, Ituri,Democratic Republic of the Congo. —UN Photo

ICC Issues First Arrest Warrant for

Head of State

The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced

its decision to issue an arrest warrant charging

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with five counts

of crimes against humanity and two counts of war

crimes for his leadership role in orchestrating the

conflict in Darfur. This decision marks the first time

the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for a sitting head

of state. While the charges against Mr. Bashir include

murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and

rape, among others, notably absent from the warrant

is the charge of genocide.

March 4, 2009

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir

Memorializing those killed in Sarajevo

During the siege of Sarajevo 1992-95 the city was repeatedly

bombarded by enemy forces. It’s estimated that an average of

over 300 shells hit the city every day with a devastating

crescendo of 3,777 shells hitting the city on July 22, 1993. By

then all buildings in the city had suffered some type of

damage and over 35,000 had been completely destroyed.

Many of the explosive craters left behind by the shelling were

filled with red resin to mark the casualties suffered at the

spot. The explosion patterns remind some of a flower leading

to the memorials being named “Sarajevo Roses.” However

many also resemble giant bullet wounds lest anyone forget

their violent origins.

There were originally nearly 100 roses painted in the city, but

as the city rebuilds many have been covered up or destroyed.

The ministry is currently working on the restoration of the 12

remaining roses & should be done by the end of 2015. They

will be nominated to UNESCO's World Heritage List as well.

April, 2009

“We are gathered here today in order to mark out the Sarajevo Rose – at the place where a crime was committed – as a way of keeping alive the memory of what happened. The most important thing is that it is young people from all across the region who are doing this together.” – Mario Mančić, Youth Initiative for Human Rights – Croatia

April is Genocide Awareness Month

around the globe.

South Sudan Declares

Independence

The Republic of South Sudan declared its

independence from Sudan. In 2005, the

north and south signed the Comprehensive

Peace Agreement, ending the Second

Sudanese Civil War. After an interim period,

the south was guaranteed the right to vote in

a referendum on independence. This vote

was carried out on January 9, 2011, resulting

in a resounding endorsement for separation.

July 9, 2011

Schoolchildren wait in anticipation for the arrival of the US Ambassador to theUnited Nations and members of the UN Security Council, who have traveled toSouth Sudan to underscore their support for the January referendum on the region’sindependence. October 9, 2010 —Lucian Perkins, US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Bosnia's Serb Republic leader banned any

teaching about the siege of Sarajevo and

genocide in Srebrenica, denying for the first time

that Bosnian Serb forces besieged and attacked

people in the capital for years during the 1990s war.

Bosnian Serb leaders have always denied that the

1995 massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks

in Srebrenica was genocide although two

international war crimes courts have stated the

atrocity constituted genocide.

June 6, 2017

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik at a ceremony in Stanari near Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, September 20, 2016. REUTERS

The Netherlands was held partly responsible by the

Appeals Court of the ICC on for the deaths of about

300 men in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The court

ruled that Dutch peacekeepers acted partly illegally

when they allowed Bosnian Serbs to seize Muslim

men who were seeking shelter in a UN safe haven.

This ruling is from a series of ongoing trials. In 2014

a Dutch court found the Dutch Army should have

protected 300 Muslim men who were hiding inside

the UN enclave.

Damages due from the Dutch government to the

3,000 strong “Mothers of Srebrenica” group and

families of the victims are still being calculated.

June 27, 2017

Genocide and mass atrocities are rare yet devastating

crimes. They are also preventable. Studies of past

atrocities show that we can detect early warning signs

and that if policy makers act on those warnings and

develop preventive strategies, we can save lives.

The Early Warning Project uses a wide range of data

to identify countries at risk of new mass atrocities.

The statistical component of our model focuses solely

on cases of state-led violence, meaning a government

acting against its own people. The country rankings

are not designed to pinpoint threats from one

country against another.

The goal of this project is to advance prevention

which has been a global challenge since 1945.

Early Warning Project

sen

Using the Early Warning Project website:

● Select a country

● Investigate its’ risk assessment

● Create your own slide to place on the

Timeline

Early Warning Project