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Congo
Between 1880 and 1920, as many as 5-21 million Congolese were systematically killed, raped and tortured under the barbaric rule of King Leopold II of Belgium. At this time, genocide was not publicly recognised as a crime. -
Armenia
More info!From 1915-1918, the Turkish Ottoman Empire slaughtered, deported, and raped Armenian Christians. These atrocities committed under sultan Abdul Hamid II, resulted in a death toll of about 1.5 million people. The Turkish government claimed it was a revolution and not a genocide and still continues to deny its existance. -
Ukranian Famine (Holodomor)
Video Clip!Joseph Stalin, determined to demolish Ukrainian nationalism, increased grain production quotas to unrealistic numbers (44%), which resulted in a death toll of 2.5-10 million Ukrainian lives. Stalin, with the Soviet law in his favor, made sure food was not given to civilians until quotas were met. Malnutrition and starvation took the lives of millions, both young and old. -
Rape of Nanking
More info!An estimated 200 000-300 000 people were massacred when the Japenese Imperial Army marched into China's former capital city - Nanjing. More than 200 000 women were raped as well as tortured and a third of the city was torched. Japenese soldiers had absolutely no mercy. -
Holocaust
Video Clip!Led by Adolf Hitler, the Holocaust was the systematic state-sponsored persecution of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany. The persecution and genocide were carried out in stages, complete with concentration camps where inmates were used as slave labor until they died of exhaustion or disease. Hitler's vision of the perfect "Aryan" race meant the extermination of various minority groups. The total death toll is estimatated to be 11-17 million. -
Genocide Term Coined
More info!The term "genocide" was developed in 1943 by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent. He combined the Greek word “genos” meaning group, kind, or racial tribe, with the Latin suffix “-cide” which means to kill, and created “genocide” – a word describing a crime, under international law, as so inhumane that it belongs on an entirely different scale in comparison to all other crimes against humanity. -
China
40-70 million Chinese civillians lost their lives to famine and murder under the rule of political theorist and communist leader, Mao Ze-Dong. Mao's genocide is considered to be one of the worst genocides of all time in regards to the overwhelming death toll. -
Cambodia
Video Clip!Led by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge was a communist party, who, within days of overthrowing the government, embarked on an organised mission to ethnically cleanse Cambodia and to relocate people to communal farms. Accountable for the deaths of over 1.5 million people, the Khmer Rouge targetted, starved, tortured and executed Chinese nationals, Muslims, Vietnamese and Buddhist Monks. -
Uganda
Video Clip!The genocide in Uganda has taken the lives of an estimated 300 000 people. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel guerrilla group led by Joseph Kony, began to wage a terror campaign against the Ugandan government and terrorize the people of the Alcholi tribe. Innocent civillians have suffered gross violation of human rights, and have faced government sponsored violence, forced exiles, mutilation, and forced child soldiers. -
Iraq
Video Clip!Led by the regime of dictator Saddam Hussein, "Operation Al-Anfal" was a campaign against the Kurdish people of Iraq. Through this campaign, Hussein ordered the mass extermination of the Kurdish people because of their want for independence as well as their support for Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. The campaign resulted in the deaths of over 50 000 Kurds by means of deportations, chemical warfare, and aerial bombing of villages. -
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Video Clip!The Bosnian genocide occurred during the Bosnian war (1992¬95), which erupted after Bosnia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. Bosnian Muslims were systematically rounded up by Bosnian Serbs (under president Slobodan Milosevic) in scenes eerily similar to those that had occurred under the Nazis during World War II. Mass shootings, forced repopulation of entire towns, rape, & confinement in concentration camps for men & boys were some of the atrocities committed by Serbian Forces. -
Rwanda
More info!After the assassination of former Hutu President, Juvenal Habyarimana, in April, over 800 000 Tutsi civillians had been barbarically slaughtered by Hutu extremists in just a mere 100 days. Tensions between the two ethnic groups existed for years because of the favouritism the Belgian colonization had for Tutsis. Tutsi rebels eventually defeated the Hutus, ultimately stopping the genocide. -
Darfur, Sudan
More info!In the ongoing genocide, innocent civillians in Darfur are being systematically displaced, slaughtered, raped, and burnt at the hands of the Janjaweed, a government-supported militia composed of Arab tribesmen, rebels, and soldiers. The genocide in Darfur has claimed 400,000 lives and displaced over 2-5 million people. More than 100 people continue to die each day. The UN has had no resolution to help put an end to the genocide.
