Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide

09/13/2021

Women and Hazara in Afghanistan at Risk of Mass Atrocities

As the Taliban takeover threatens civilians across Afghanistan, women, girls, and the Hazara religious and ethnic minority are at particular risk of mass atrocities. Our latest blog post looks at warning signs and specific threats.​
https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/women-and-hazara-face-heightened-risk-of-mass-atrocities

While the Taliban takeover threatens civilians across Afghanistan, the country’s women and girls and Hazara populations are at particular risk of mass atrocities.

09/08/2021

زور كۆلەمدىكى باستۇرۇشلار ئۈچۈن ئادالەت ئىزدەش: ئېزىلگۈچى گۇرۇپپىلار قوللانمىسى

زىيانكەشلىككە ئۇچرىغۇچى گۇرۇپپىلار قانداق قىلغاندا، ئىرقى قىرغىنچىلىق ۋە ئنسانىيەتكە قارشى جىنايەت ئۈچۈن ئادالەتنى ئىلگىرى سۈرەلەيدۇ؟
خولوكاست قىرغىنچىلىق مۇزىيىنىڭ فەنەرەز خەلقئارا ئادالەت مەركىزى تەرىپىدىن ئوتتۇرىغا چىقىرىلغان تەربىيە خاراكتىرلىك يېڭى كىتاپ پائالىيتىدە، بىز بۇ سۇئالنى روھىنگا، جەنۇبى سۇدان، ئۇيغۇر ۋە يەزىدى ھايات قالغۇچىلاردىن سورىدۇق. ئۇلار زىيانكەشلىككە ئۇچرىغۇچى گۇرۇپپىلارنىڭ ئادالەت تەلەپ قىلىش يولىدا ئۆتەلەيدىغان رولى ۋە بىزنىڭ يېڭى كىتاۋىمىزنىڭ بىر ئەمەلى قوللانما سۈپىتىدە ئۆتەيدىغان رولىنى مۇزاكىرە قىلدى.

سۆزلىگۈچىلەر:
سوتچى توم بىرگنسال (خولوكاست قىرغىنچىلىقى ھايات قالغۇچىسى)،سابىق سوتچى،خەلقئارا ئادالەت سوتى سابىق سوتچىسى،مۇزىينىڭ 2015-يىللىق ئەلى ۋىسەل مۇكاپاتى (Elie Wiesel Award )قوبۇل قىلغۇچىسى. نائومى كىكولەر: سيمون سكوجىت قىرغىنچىلىق توختىتىش مەركىزى دىرىكتورى باش ئەلچى كىلىنت ۋىليامسون ( ئامېرىكا ئۇرۇش جىنايەتلىرىگە مەسئۇل سابىق باش ئەلچىسى، ماككايىن ئىنۇستىتۇتى ئالى دىرىكتورى )

مۇھاكىمە قىلغۇچىلار:
روشەن ئابباس:ئۇيغۇر پائالىيەتچى، ئۇيغۇرلار ئۈچۈن ھەرىكەت تەشكىلاتى دىرىكتورى پەرى ئىبراھىم:يەزىدى پائالىيەتچى، يەزىدىلەرنى ئازات قىلىش فوندى دىرىكتورى جامى كولوك:جەنۇبى سۇدان پائالىيەتچىسى،تەتقىقاتچى،دىموكراتىيە ۋە مەسئۇليىەتچان ھۆكۈمەت فوندى.
سارا ماككىنتاش (رىياسەتچى)،تەتقىقاتچى، فەنەرەز خەلقئارا ئادالەت قۇرۇلۇشى سيمون سكوجىت قىرغىنچىلىق توختىتىش مەركىزى.
ۋەي ۋەي نۇ:روھىنگا پائالىيەتچى،ئاياللار تىچلىق مەركىزى دىرىكتورى،سابىق سيمون سكوجىت قىرغىنچىلىق توختىتىش مەركىزى ئەزاسى .

09/03/2021

Seeking Justice for the Yezidi Genocide: Seven Years Later

In the summer of 2014, the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) carried out a violent campaign against the #Yezidi people of Ninewa province in northern Iraq. Hundreds of residents of the Yezidi village of Kocho fled to nearby Mount Sinjar, where, stranded without food, water, or medical supplies, many died. IS targeted those who remained through mass murder, r**e, torture, kidnapping, enslavement, and forcible conversion to Islam. Widespread persecution of Yezidis and other Iraqi religious and ethnic minorities by IS has forced more than 800,000 people from their homes, ravaged shrines, temples, and churches, and torn the social fabric of a once-diverse region. Seven years after the self-proclaimed Islamic State's genocidal attack on the Yezidis, our panelists discuss the pursuit of justice in Iraq and efforts to hold perpetrators accountable.

Speakers:
Jonathan Agar, Legal Officer, United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD Iraq)
Pari Ibrahim, Founder and Executive Director, Free Yezidi Foundation
Naomi Kikoler (moderator), Director, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Natia Navrouzov, Legal Advocacy Director, Yazda

09/02/2021

Climate Change, Resource Scarcity, and Group-Targeted Violence in Nigeria

Climate change can put certain populations at increased risk of mass atrocities.​ Violent conflict between herders and farmers has increased in recent years. Our latest blog post looks at how Nigeria is pioneering a new initiative to change the way it raises animals for food and other products. If successful, this system could serve as a model for preventing group-targeted violence fueled by resource competition.
https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/climate-change-resource-scarcity-violence-nigeria

Nigeria is pioneering a new initiative to change how it raises animals for food and other products in order to prevent farmer-herder violence related to climate change.

08/25/2021

Genocide of the Rohingya: Preventing Mass Atrocities Four Years Later

Four years ago this August, Burmese military forces perpetrated brutal attacks on the Rohingya people, torching villages and decimating families. These attacks were part of the Rohingya genocide that has destroyed communities and forced more than 700,000 people to flee dangerous conditions there, with many crowded into refugee camps in Bangladesh. Burma’s Rohingya Muslim minority has suffered decades of government-led persecution, exclusion, and violence, including mass killing, torture, arson, and r**e.

Hear Rohingya survivors and experts discuss the deadly risks still facing Rohingya in Burma today, and what can be done to prevent further mass atrocities and dehumanization of this community. We also virtually tour the Museum’s latest special exhibition, Burma’s Path to Genocide (https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/burmas-path-to-genocide). The event is available in English, Rohingya, Burmese, and Arabic.

Speakers:
Kyra Fox, Research Associate, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Tun Khin, President, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
Naomi Kikoler, Director, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Khin Maung, Founder and Executive Director, Rohingya Youth Association
Wai Wai Nu ဝေဝေနု, Founder and Executive Director, Women's Peace Network
Yasmin Ullah, Independent Rohingya Social Justice Activist

08/24/2021

الإبادة الجماعية للروهينجا منع ارتكاب فظائع جماعية بعد أربع سنوات

لقد شنّت القوات العسكرية البورمية في مثل شهر أغسطس/آب الجاري قبل أربع سنوات هجمات وحشية على شعب الروهينجا، أضرمت فيها النيران في القرى وأبادت العائلات. وقد كانت هذه الهجمات جزءًا من الإبادة الجماعية للروهينجا التي دمرت المجتمعات وأرغمت ما يربو على 700 ألف شخص على الفرار من ظروف خطرة قاسوها فيها، لتكتظ بكثير منهم مخيمات اللاجئين في بنغلاديش. وقد عانت أقلية الروهينجا المسلمة في بورما من الاضطهاد والإقصاء والعنف بقيادة الحكومة على مدى عقود، بما يشمل القتل الجماعي والتعذيب والحرق العمد والاغتصاب.

استمع إلى ناجين من الروهينجا وخبراء وهُم يناقشون المخاطر المميتة التي لا يزال شعب الروهينجا يعانيها في بورما في الوقت الراهن، والأمور التي يمكن فعلها لمنع ارتكاب مزيدٍ من الفظائع الجماعية والتجرّد من الإنسانية في هذا المجتمع. وسنُجري أيضًا جولة افتراضية في أحدث معرض خاص بالمتحف، ألا وهو Burma’s Path to Genocide (https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/burmas-path-to-genocide). وهذا الحدث متاح باللغات الإنجليزية والعربية والبورمية والروهينجية.

المتحدّثون:
كيرا فوكس، باحث مشارك، مركز سيمون سكجودت لمنع الإبادة الجماعية، متحف الهولوكوست التذكاري الأمريكي

تون خين، منظمة روهينجا بورما في المملكة المتحدة
نعومي كيكولر، مدير مركز سيمون سكجودت لمنع الإبادة الجماعية، متحف الهولوكوست التذكاري الأمريكي
خين ماونج، المؤسِّس والمدير التنفيذي لجمعية شباب الروهينجا Rohingya Youth Association
واي واي نو، المؤسِّس والمدير التنفيذي لشبكة سلام المرأة Women's Peace Network
ياسمين الله، ناشطة مستقلة للعدالة الاجتماعية للروهينجا

08/24/2021

Genocide of the Rohingya: Preventing Mass Atrocities Four Years Later (Rohingya audio)

Four years ago this August, Burmese military forces perpetrated brutal attacks on the Rohingya people, torching villages and decimating families. These attacks were part of the Rohingya genocide that has destroyed communities and forced more than 700,000 people to flee dangerous conditions there, with many crowded into refugee camps in Bangladesh. Burma’s Rohingya Muslim minority has suffered decades of government-led persecution, exclusion, and violence, including mass killing, torture, arson, and r**e.

Hear Rohingya survivors and experts discuss the deadly risks still facing Rohingya in Burma today, and what can be done to prevent further mass atrocities and dehumanization of this community. We also virtually tour the Museum’s latest special exhibition, Burma’s Path to Genocide (https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/burmas-path-to-genocide). This video is in the Rohingya language. The event is also available in English, Burmese, and Arabic.

Speakers:
Kyra Fox, Research Associate, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Tun Khin, President, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
Naomi Kikoler, Director, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Khin Maung, Founder and Executive Director, Rohingya Youth Association
Wai Wai Nu, Founder and Executive Director, Women's Peace Network
Yasmin Ullah, Independent Rohingya Social Justice Activist

08/24/2021

ရိုဟင်ဂျာလူမျိုးများအား လူမျိုးတုံး သတ်ဖြတ်မှု

လွန်ခဲ့သော လေးနှစ်က ဤဩဂုတ်လတွင် ဗမာစစ်တပ် တပ်ဖွဲ့များသည် ရိုဟင်ဂျာလူမျိုးများအပေါ် ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်စွာ ထိုးဖောက် တိုက်ခိုက်ခဲ့ပြီး ရွာပေါင်းများစွာကို မီးလောင်တိုက်သွင်းခဲ့သလို မိသားစုများစွာကို သေကြေစေခဲ့ပါသည်။ ဤတိုက်ခိုက်မှုများမှာ ရပ်ရွာများစွာကို ဖျက်ဆီးပစ်ခဲ့ပြီး လူ‌ပေါင်း ၇၀၀,၀၀၀‌ ကျော်အား နေရပ်မှ စွန့်ခွာပြီး ဘင်္ဂလားဒေရှ်ရှိ ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းများသို့ ကျပ်ကျပ်တည်းတည်းဖြင့် အန္တရာယ်များသော အခြေအနေများနှင့်ကြုံတွေ့စေခဲ့သော ရိုဟင်ဂျာ လူမျိုးတုံးသတ်ဖြတ်မှုကြီး၏ တစ်စိတ်တစ်ပိုင်းဖြစ်သည်။ ဗာမာပြည်ရှိ ရိုဟင်ဂျာ မူစလင် လူနည်းစုသည် အစုလိုက် အပြုံလိုက် သတ်ဖြတ်ခြင်း၊ နှိပ်စက်ခြင်း၊ မီးရှို့ခြင်း နှင့် အဓမ္မပြုကျင့်ခြင်း အပါအဝင် အစိုးရမှ-ဦးဆောင်သည့် ဖိနှိပ်မှု၊ ထည့်မတွက်ဘဲ ဖယ်ကျဥ်မှု နှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်မှုတို့ကို ဆယ်စုနှစ်များစွာ ခံစားခဲ့ရပါသည်။

အသက်မသေဘဲ ရှင်ကျန်ရစ်သူ ရိုဟင်ဂျာများနှင့် ကျွမ်းကျင်သူများမှ ယနေ့ထက်ထိ မြန်မာပြည်ရှိ ရိုဟင်ဂျင်များ ကြုံတွေ့နေရဆဲဖြစ်သည့် အသက်အန္တရာယ်ရှိသော ဘေးများအကြောင်း၊ဤအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းအား လူ့ဂုဏ်သိက္ခာကိုကင်းမဲ့စေခြင်း၊ အစုလိုက်အပြုံလိုက် သုတ်သင်ခြင်းတို့ နောက်ထပ် ထပ်မဖြစ်စေဖို့ တားဆီးရန် လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်သည့် အရာများအကြောင်း ဆွေးနွေးမှုကို နားထောင်လိုက်ပါ။ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့က ပြတိုက်၏ နောက်ဆုံးထွက် အထူးပြခန်းကို ဗစ်ရှုရယ်နည်းဖြင့် လှည့်ပတ်ကြည့်ရှုကြပါမည်၊ Burma’s Path to Genocide (https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/burmas-path-to-genocide). ဤအစီအစဥ်ကို အင်္ဂလိပ်၊ အာရဗီ၊ မြန်မာနှင့် ရိုဟင်ဂျာ ဘာသာစကားတို့ဖြင့် ရယူနိုင်ပါသည်။

ဟောပြောသူများ-
ကိုင်ရာ ဖောက်စ် ,သုတေသန မိတ်ဖက်၊ ဆိုင်မွန်- စကုပ် လူမျိုးတုံးသတ်ဖြတ်မှုတားဆီးကာကွယ်ရေးအတွက် စင်တာ၊ ယူနိုက်တက်စတိတ်စ် ဟော်လိုကော့စ် အထိန်းအမှတ် ပြတိုက်
ထွန်းခင်၊ ဥက္ကဌ၊ မြန်မာ ရိုဟင်ဂျာ အဖွဲ့အစည်း ယူကေ
နာယိုမီ ကီကိုလာ၊ ညွှန်ကြား‌ရေးမှုး၊ ဆိုင်မွန်- စကုပ် လူမျိုးတုံးသတ်ဖြတ်မှုတားဆီးကာကွယ်ရေးအတွက် စင်တာ၊ ယူနိုက်တက်စတိတ်စ် ဟော်လိုကော့စ် အထိန်းအမှတ် ပြတိုက်
ခင်မောင် ၊ တည်ထောင်သူနှင့် အထူးညွှန်ကြားရေးမှုး၊ ရိုဟင်ဂျာ လူငယ်အသင်း Rohingya Youth Association
ဝေဝေနု၊ တည်ထောင်သူနှင့် အထူးညွှန်ကြားရေးမှုး၊ အမျိုးသမီး ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး ကွန်ယက် Women's Peace Network
ရာစမင်း အုလာ၊ လွတ်လပ်သော ရိုဟင်ဂျာ လူမှုရေး တရားမျှမှု တက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှားသူ

08/23/2021

Museum Concerned about Threats to Hazara

As we watch events unfolding in Afghanistan, our Museum is deeply concerned about threats to many segments of Afghan society, especially ethnic and religious minorities. The Shi’a minority who belong predominantly to the Hazara ethnic group are at risk of crimes against humanity and genocide. Read our statement about the precarious future facing minority communities in Afghanistan.

A Shi'a minority in Afghanistan facing risks of crimes against humanity or even genocide.

08/20/2021

Giving Children “Hope that They Can Have a Chance at a Bright Future”

Learn more about the amazing work The Wisdom House Project is doing to help young orphan​ed​ students in Syria succeed in the midst of horrific violence by providing not only a place of education, but a safe space for children to play and grow.
https://memoryandaction.medium.com/giving-children-hope-that-they-can-have-a-chance-at-a-bright-future-965876c336ed

When asked what they want to be when they grow up, the children replied, “a doctor, an engineer, a chef, a painter, a teacher.” Others said…

07/22/2021

DR Congo: Rising Concern about the Banyamulenge’s Situation

Interview with Eastern Congo expert R Delphin Ntanyoma highlighting violence against the Banyamulenge community in Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province: “Targeted killings of Banyamulenge could soon easily tip into mass atrocities and urgent attention is needed.”

Delphin Rukumbuzi Ntanyoma, an expert on Eastern Congo, discusses ongoing violence and risk of future mass atrocities against the Banyamulenge ethnic group.

07/19/2021

Local Populations at Risk of Violence in Democratic Republic of Congo

Read our latest interview on the Democratic Republic of Congo, featuring Dr. Naupess K. Kibiswa, a Congolese peace, justice, conflict, Holocaust, and genocide scholar. He notes the conflict is often mislabeled as a civil war, and "is better understood as a proxy war; an international conflict between the DRC and its eastern neighbors fought within the DRC."

Interview with Congolese peace, justice, and genocide scholar Dr. Naupess K. Kibiswa about drivers of violent conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo and recommendations to prevent mass atrocities.

07/16/2021

Social, political, and economic tensions raise risk of violence in DRC

In a new interview with Sylvain Saluseke, a Congolese expert and pro-democracy activist, we look at the current situation in Democratic Republic of the Congo and discuss the risks for mass atrocities.

Interview with Sylvain Saluseke, a Congolese pro-democracy activist, about ongoing violence and risk of future mass atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

07/15/2021

Why We Should Open Archives from War Crimes Trials to the Public

Dr. Iva Vukusic discusses the importance of making court archives accessible to scholars and the public ​to ​honor victims, establish a historical record, combat denial, and allow society to heal and reconcile in ways that criminal convictions alone cannot.

Accessibility to archives of international tribunals is key to understanding and remembering genocides, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

07/09/2021

10 Years After Independence: Preventing Mass Atrocities in South Sudan

Ten years ago, the Republic of South Sudan was born after decades of war. Yet in the years since its independence, the country has experienced civil war, failed peace agreements, and mass atrocities often based on ethnicity—including widespread sexual violence—against its own citizens. The violence has killed more than 500,000 civilians, displaced more than 4 million, and sparked warnings of genocide.

Hear from South Sudanese experts Adeng Leek and Gordon Lam about the urgent need to prioritize atrocity prevention and justice efforts in the country, the current threats to civilians, and their vision for a more peaceful and just future. A representative from the State Department will discuss what the US government is doing to prevent future mass atrocities in South Sudan, while helping victims and survivors seek justice.

Speakers
Naomi Kikoler, Director, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide
Gordon Lam, Executive Director, Dialogue and Research Initiative - D.R.I
Adeng Leek, Executive Director, South Sudan Women's Empowerment Network
Jana Ramsey, Senior Advisor, Office of Global Criminal Justice, U.S. Department of State; Contractor, Tuvli LLC

06/10/2021

Remembering Stephen Tyrone Johns (1969–2009)

Remembering Stephen Tyrone Johns (1969–2009)

The Museum will never forget Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns, who died heroically in the line of duty on June 10, 2009, while protecting Museum visitors and staff from a brutal attack by an avowed racist and antisemite.

06/09/2021

Ratko Mladic Loses Final Appeal in Genocide Conviction

Yesterday, a UN Court upheld the genocide conviction of former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic. Mladic directed Bosnian Serb forces to systematically execute as many as 8,000 Bosnian Muslim males in Srebrenica—the largest massacre in Europe since the Holocaust.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/world/europe/ratko-mladic-trial.html

The confirmation of the verdict against the Bosnian Serb former commander, convicted in 2017 of crimes against humanity for his role in the Balkan wars, closes a grim chapter in European history.

06/01/2021

Interview with Syrian Activist Amina Khoulani

Watch our interview with Amina Khoulani, founder of the organization Families For Freedom, and a survivor of the Assad regime detention and torture centers. Ms. Khoulani discusses the horrific firsthand experience she and her family endured under the Assad regime and in detention centers, her commitment upon her release to fight for the freedom of others in detention, and her pursuit of justice and accountability for the mass atrocity crimes committed.