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Full-Text Articles in Holocaust and Genocide Studies

If Only Justice Could Heal Or Make Whole: Hard Lessons From Rwanda’S Legal Responses To Genocide And Mass Atrocity, Gerald Gahima Dec 2024

If Only Justice Could Heal Or Make Whole: Hard Lessons From Rwanda’S Legal Responses To Genocide And Mass Atrocity, Gerald Gahima

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

My reflections on the limits of legal responses in Rwanda stem from both academic and lived experience. I served as Rwanda’s Deputy Minister of Justice (1996–1999), Prosecutor General (1999–2003), and Deputy Chief Justice (2003–2004) during the period after the genocide. In those roles, I had access to a large volume of information drawn from policy- making roles, case files of members of my staff, as well as my own fieldwork relating to the suffering of victims of the genocide. While I obviously believe that justice for those crimes is not in vain, my work with survivors left me with an …


Global Human Rights Sanctions: How Can They Contribute To Addressing Mass Atrocities?, Yifan Jia Dec 2024

Global Human Rights Sanctions: How Can They Contribute To Addressing Mass Atrocities?, Yifan Jia

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Global Human Rights Sanctions (GHRS) have been used in over 30 countries as a mechanism for imposing unilateral human rights sanctions on individual perpetrators. Despite the hundreds of specific sanctions that have been imposed globally, there remains a lack of understanding about how these measures function on gross human rights violations. This article seeks to explore how GHRS, as an emerging human rights mechanism, contributes to addressing mass atrocities. I categorize the functions of GHRS into two phases: post-atrocity and pre-atrocity. In the post-atrocity phase, I identify three primary objectives asserted by sanctioning states: punishing perpetrators, promoting behavioral change, and …


Arts & Literature: Beyond Mourning: Art As Healing A Decade After The Yazidi Genocide, Sarwa Azeez Dec 2024

Arts & Literature: Beyond Mourning: Art As Healing A Decade After The Yazidi Genocide, Sarwa Azeez

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


More Than Memory: Can Memory Spaces Really Prevent Mass Atrocities?, Kerry E. Whigham Oct 2024

More Than Memory: Can Memory Spaces Really Prevent Mass Atrocities?, Kerry E. Whigham

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

As transitional justice has grown as a field and as an international mandate in post-atrocity contexts over the past several decades, the memorialization of past atrocities through the construction of physical spaces of memory has increasingly been recognized as an essential aspect of this complex process. Often, these spaces of memory are touted not only as honoring past victims, but also as important tools for preventing future violence. To date, there has yet to emerge a clear way to measure exactly how sites of memory contribute to atrocity prevention. Can a site of memory really help prevent further acts of …


Full Issue 18.1 Oct 2024

Full Issue 18.1

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


The Use Of Geospatial Imagery In Myanmar For Mass Atrocity Prevention, Elisenda Calvet-Martínez Oct 2024

The Use Of Geospatial Imagery In Myanmar For Mass Atrocity Prevention, Elisenda Calvet-Martínez

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This paper aims to explore to what extent the usage of geospatial imagery can serve as a tool for atrocity prevention in a context of armed conflict and post-conflict. While most attention has been paid to the use of geospatial imagery to document mass atrocities for advocacy and accountability purposes, less attention has attracted the potential of this technology as a preventive tool. In the case of Myanmar, a special interest is on how to advance in the use of geospatial imagery to guarantee the safe return of the Rohingya refugees and how to prevent acts of genocide after the …


Failing To End Genocide: Structural Factors, Triggers, And Ineffective Responses, Tutku Ayhan Oct 2024

Failing To End Genocide: Structural Factors, Triggers, And Ineffective Responses, Tutku Ayhan

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Why do ongoing genocides persist despite global condemnation? This paper examines the challenge of ending ongoing genocides and argues that the persistence of genocides can be largely attributed to the interaction of structural factors and triggers with inadequate responses at the national, regional, and international levels. The analysis focuses on the genocidal experiences of the Yezidi and Rohingya communities, which were triggered by the 2014 attacks in Sinjar, Iraq, and the 2017 actions in Rakhine State, Myanmar. By viewing genocide as a process rather than an isolated act of violence and recognizing cultural genocide as genocide, this study aims to …


Conceptualizing Great Power Perpetrators, Federica D'Alessandra Oct 2024

Conceptualizing Great Power Perpetrators, Federica D'Alessandra

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

For over a decade, shifting geopolitics, a changed global security environment, and countless failures of diplomacy have raised important questions on how to collectively grapple with a widely-perceived “crisis of multilateralism,” and reignited debate on the fitness of the UN Security Council to deliver on its mandate under these circumstances. Among other issues, ongoing polarization when not outright “gridlock” among the Permanent Members (P5) has fueled the Council’s apparent inability to respond to threats to civilian life and to countless mass atrocities around the world. Even worse, as this article argues, some P5 today possess both the willingness and unprecedented …


Bridging The Atrocity Prevention Gap Between The International And The Local: Lessons Learned From Meso-Level Leadership In Ukraine And Syria, Kristina Hook, Jamie D. Wise Oct 2024

Bridging The Atrocity Prevention Gap Between The International And The Local: Lessons Learned From Meso-Level Leadership In Ukraine And Syria, Kristina Hook, Jamie D. Wise

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This paper explores meso-level approaches to atrocity prevention that incorporate a wider array of local expertise at all stages, from early warning to transitional justice. Specifically, we treat meso-level approaches as encompassing local leadership and advocacy across bottom-up processes, grassroots efforts, victim-led activism, and civil society mobilization. We draw from two contemporary cases of mass atrocities, Ukraine and Syria, which exemplify such efforts, using primary interview data with meso-level actors. First, we examine atrocity risk early warning in Ukraine, where prescient local expertise at the meso-level failed to influence international responses, asking what went wrong and what more could be …


Dangerous Speech As An Atrocity Early Warning Indicator: Measuring Changing Conflict Dynamics, Catherine Buerger, Susan Benesch Oct 2024

Dangerous Speech As An Atrocity Early Warning Indicator: Measuring Changing Conflict Dynamics, Catherine Buerger, Susan Benesch

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Dangerous speech, any expression that can increase the likelihood that someone will commit or condone violence against members of another group, can be a powerful early warning signal of impending mass violence. However, one cannot make a list of words that are dangerous, since the effect of the message depends not only on its content, but also on how it is communicated: by whom, to whom, and under what circumstances. What may be benign in one context may be extremely inflammatory in another. Thus, effective monitoring requires deep knowledge of the local setting and structural factors. The spread of dangerous …


Promoting Resilience To Genocide: An Evidence-Based Approach, Deborah Mayersen Oct 2024

Promoting Resilience To Genocide: An Evidence-Based Approach, Deborah Mayersen

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Preventing genocide is more achievable than ever before. In the past two decades, there has been an upsurge in research and resources dedicated to genocide and mass atrocity prevention. There is now substantial knowledge of risk factors for genocide, of current countries at risk of genocide and mass atrocities, and, most importantly, a small but passionate field of practitioners dedicated to prevention. Crucial to their effectiveness, however, is the adoption of evidence-based strategies. One important methodological approach to identifying proven strategies is through comparative analysis of historical case studies of resilience to genocide. From these case studies, in which a …


Revivifying The Responsibility To Protect: Strengthening The Normative Consensus For Atrocity Prevention, Matthew Levinger Oct 2024

Revivifying The Responsibility To Protect: Strengthening The Normative Consensus For Atrocity Prevention, Matthew Levinger

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This paper examines weaknesses in the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle, drawing on the scholarly literature on norm diffusion and norm cooptation. Despite having been unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2005, the R2P doctrine almost immediately attracted criticism that it reinforced a neocolonial stance by nations of the Global North toward those of the Global South. This critique grew in force during the chaotic aftermath of the 2011 intervention in Libya, which had been authorized as an R2P mission. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and the intensifying competition between the United States and China …


Table Of Contents Oct 2024

Table Of Contents

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


Editors' Introduction Oct 2024

Editors' Introduction

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


Foreword By The Special Adviser Of The Un Secretary General On The Prevention Of Genocide, Alice W. Nderitu Oct 2024

Foreword By The Special Adviser Of The Un Secretary General On The Prevention Of Genocide, Alice W. Nderitu

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


Evidence-Based Approaches To Preventing Genocide And Mass Atrocities: Introduction To The Special Issue, Jamie D. Wise, Kristina Hook Oct 2024

Evidence-Based Approaches To Preventing Genocide And Mass Atrocities: Introduction To The Special Issue, Jamie D. Wise, Kristina Hook

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


Lessons Learned: Overcoming Obstacles To Inference And Synthesis In Atrocity Prevention Research, Tallan Donine, Daniel Solomon, Lawrence Woocher Oct 2024

Lessons Learned: Overcoming Obstacles To Inference And Synthesis In Atrocity Prevention Research, Tallan Donine, Daniel Solomon, Lawrence Woocher

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

In this paper, we argue that atrocity prevention (AP) researchers face obstacles to inference and knowledge synthesis in the study of AP strategies and tools. We argue that researchers can begin to address obstacles to inference by using rigorous social-science methods and can address obstacles to knowledge synthesis through greater coordination and transparency about concepts, methods, and data. Our argument proceeds in four parts. First, drawing on a systematic review of three decades of research about AP tools, we survey key analytic obstacles to drawing conclusions about the effects of AP policy. Second, we survey four separate methods that researchers …


Leveraging A Multi-Method Approach To Improve Mass Atrocity Forecasting, Hollie Nyseth Nzitatira, Trey Billing, Eric W. Schoon Oct 2024

Leveraging A Multi-Method Approach To Improve Mass Atrocity Forecasting, Hollie Nyseth Nzitatira, Trey Billing, Eric W. Schoon

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Forecasting mass atrocities is a central concern for academics, policymakers, and practitioners, but determining where and when mass atrocities will occur is far from straightforward. Over the last few decades, researchers around the world have developed several forecasting models. Some of these models—like the Political Instability Task Force model or the Australia Forecasting Project model—have emphasized quantitative assessments of the risk of mass atrocity. Others—like the UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes—have focused on how case-specific factors coalesce to impact the onset of mass atrocity. In this article, we suggest that a multi-methods framework that capitalizes on the strengths …


Contextualized Transitional Justice Policy Development In Uganda: Differentiating Between Normativity Types In Evidence-Based Problem Analysis, Saghar Shahidi Birjandian Oct 2024

Contextualized Transitional Justice Policy Development In Uganda: Differentiating Between Normativity Types In Evidence-Based Problem Analysis, Saghar Shahidi Birjandian

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article discusses the fundamental impact of normativity on producing evidence-based guidance for context-sensitive transitional justice policy. It draws on lessons learned from Uganda’s complex transitional justice context and extensive fieldwork to demonstrate the necessity and the means to differentiate between belief-based normativity and evidence-based normativity in conducting problem analysis as a crucial site that determines the integrity of evidence-based guidance. It also establishes that evidence-based normativity guiding problem analysis must include empirical evidence of societal dynamics and views of affected communities or there is a significantly higher risk of belief-based normativity decontextualizing strategy development. Findings establish significant substantive differences …


Editor's Introduction Jul 2024

Editor's Introduction

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


Atrocity Prevention In The Digital Era: Adapting Norms, Laws, And Code To Changes In The Ways Atrocities Are Committed, David J. Simon, Samhitha Josyula, Joshua Lam, Julian D. Melendi Jul 2024

Atrocity Prevention In The Digital Era: Adapting Norms, Laws, And Code To Changes In The Ways Atrocities Are Committed, David J. Simon, Samhitha Josyula, Joshua Lam, Julian D. Melendi

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Emerging digital technologies have changed some of the ways that genocides are planned and executed. This paper examines those differences, calling attention to how changes in the execution of genocide should prompt a shift in the approaches to atrocity prevention. It develops a conceptual framework addressing how atrocity prevention efforts might adapt to new technology within three realms of potential prevention efforts: the ethical (norms), the legal (laws), and the digital (code).


Security Or Vulnerability? The Optics Of Data In The Humanitarian Sphere, Nicole M. Bennett, Hamid Ekbia Jul 2024

Security Or Vulnerability? The Optics Of Data In The Humanitarian Sphere, Nicole M. Bennett, Hamid Ekbia

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Governments, humanitarian agencies, and non-government organizations increasingly resort to data-driven techniques to meet the challenges they face in dealing with growing mobile populations such as refugees. Such techniques originate in bureaucratic administrations of the 19th century and, even earlier, in slave trade and plantation accounting methods. They were then perfected in logistics and global supply chain management of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, especially with the advent of information technology. We examine the application of these techniques in humanitarian cases, seeking to contextualize them within the framework of logistic security. To understand the drivers of this trend, we introduce the …


Genocide Memorialization Through Law In Bosnia And Herzegovina: Reconciling The Irreconcilable?, Carna Pistan Jun 2024

Genocide Memorialization Through Law In Bosnia And Herzegovina: Reconciling The Irreconcilable?, Carna Pistan

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article focuses on the law banning genocide denial and other war crimes and the glorification of convicted war criminals imposed in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the former High Representative Valentin Inzko in mid-2021 to facilitate the country’s reconciliation process. It first positions the genocide denial ban into the vast category of memory laws by examining its content and scope, as well as the reactions and consequences it has provoked up to now. The article maintains that an internationally imposed memory law cannot create reconciliation in a deeply divided society. It shows, on the contrary, that the imposed legislation has …


Too Little, Too Late: The Icc And The Politics Of Prosecutorial Procrastination In Georgia, Marco Bocchese May 2024

Too Little, Too Late: The Icc And The Politics Of Prosecutorial Procrastination In Georgia, Marco Bocchese

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

In August 2008, just days after belligerent parties had reached a ceasefire agreement, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) announced the opening of a preliminary examination into the situation of Georgia. Yet, it was only in March 2022 that International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants in relation to three individuals from Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia. That said, how can such prolonged inaction be accounted for? How much blame does the OTP carry for it? And how did ICC-state relations develop over time? This paper conducts a within-case analysis of the situation of …


A Personal Autobiographical Essay On The Origins And Beginning Years Of Genocide Studies, And Some Reflections On The Field Today, Israel W. Charny Mar 2024

A Personal Autobiographical Essay On The Origins And Beginning Years Of Genocide Studies, And Some Reflections On The Field Today, Israel W. Charny

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


Editors' Introduction Mar 2024

Editors' Introduction

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


Horizontal Economic Inequality And Mass Atrocity Risk: A Large-Sample Empirical Inquiry, Charles H. Anderton, Roxane A. Anderton Feb 2024

Horizontal Economic Inequality And Mass Atrocity Risk: A Large-Sample Empirical Inquiry, Charles H. Anderton, Roxane A. Anderton

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Our research question is: Does inter-group horizontal economic inequality elevate state-perpetrated mass atrocity risk? Theoretical perspectives in genocide studies show how economic and other forms of discrimination against ethnic or religious groups can elevate the risk of government violence against them. Among the approximately five dozen large-sample empirical studies of mass atrocity risk, only a few consider the effects of economic discrimination. Moreover, no large-sample empirical studies, to the best of our knowledge, test hypotheses related to how inter-group horizontal economic inequalities (as distinct from vertical economic inequalities based on GINI coefficients or quantile income or wealth measures) affect mass …


“Genocide Of The Soviet People”: Putin’S Russia Waging Lawfare By Means Of History, 2018–2023, Anton Weiss-Wendt Feb 2024

“Genocide Of The Soviet People”: Putin’S Russia Waging Lawfare By Means Of History, 2018–2023, Anton Weiss-Wendt

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article exposes the political underpinnings of the term “genocide of the Soviet people,” introduced and actively promoted in Russia since 2019. By reclassifying mass crimes committed by the Nazis and their accomplices against the civilian population—specifically Slavic—as genocide, Russian courts effectively engage in adjudication of the history of the Second World War. In the process, genocide trials, ongoing in twenty-five Russian provinces and five occupied Ukrainian territories, present no new evidence or issue new indictments, thus fulfilling none of the objectives of a standard criminal investigation. The wording of the verdicts, and a comprehensive political project put in place …


Book Review: Nastanak Republike Srpske: Od Regionalizacije Do Strateških Ciljeva (1991–1992), Omer Merzić Dec 2023

Book Review: Nastanak Republike Srpske: Od Regionalizacije Do Strateških Ciljeva (1991–1992), Omer Merzić

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


The Social Determinants Of Health And Genocide: Towards A Public Health Integrated Framework Of Genocide And Mass Violence, Sian Persad, Cheng Xu Nov 2023

The Social Determinants Of Health And Genocide: Towards A Public Health Integrated Framework Of Genocide And Mass Violence, Sian Persad, Cheng Xu

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This paper makes a normative argument about transformations of public health as a necessary condition required in any transitional justice process. We seek to bridge the gap between the fields of genocide and public health to understand the recursive relationship between genocide and the social determinants of health. We show that structures and institutions established during genocide create enduring impacts on the public health outcomes of victim and survivor groups even after the ousting of the original perpetrators. Our comparative analysis of the Rwandan Genocide and the colonial genocide of Indigenous communities in Canada surveys the available public health literature …